Getting a thick wad of cash can change a lot about your day. Maybe you can make some repairs to your car or pay some bills. The cash could go into your savings or perhaps pay for that vacation you’ve been needing for a while. Or, maybe you buy a bunch of dirt-cheap holy grails?
Stellantis brought home the bacon in 2022, scoring a $17.9 billion profit. That lump of Benjamins was a 26 percent rise in profit and revenue jumped 18 percent to $190.9 billion. As our Patrick George wrote in this morning’s news roundup, investors and workers are benefiting, too: “Stellantis is offering a stock buyback of up to $1.6 billion, and a $14,760 bonus to each of its 40,500 employees affiliated with the United Auto Workers union.”
Getting a $14,760 check isn’t the biggest thing in the world, nor is it a special occurrence for these employees. In 2021, the payout was $14,670. However, it isn’t pocket change, either. That kind of cash can go somewhere! For today’s winner 98Z28, the conclusion was obvious:
14k? This is like 30 Jeeps for DT 🙂
Reader 10001010 followed it up with:
And each and every one of them will be some sort of holy grail as well. I look forward to the articles!
Poor David, even though he’s shed most of his rusty weight, he’s still the king of cheap holy grail Jeeps. Though, perhaps the torch is being passed on to other members of the Autopian staff. I have more cheap beaters than anyone on staff and he’s passed the holy grail term onto my series about cheap-ish rare cars.
These comments get me thinking: what would you do with a $14,760 check? I would probably buy a new Indian FTR, or perhaps this Crown bus that a lot of you have been sending me:
I’ve been talking with the seller about it since earlier this month and am looking to get some more details. Of course, you’re going to read about this bus soon! Until then, Autopians, what would you buy with that kind of money?
That’s easy! Upgrade my Autopian membership, put a backup camera on the ’09 Jeep, upgrade the suspension on my ’97 Jeep (and take care of the racket coming from the muffler), then set the remainder aside in a place where it can earn interest or otherwise grow enough to cover a new set of bedroom furniture. I’m still using the set my grandmother bought when I was a toddler, along with a few pieces from the set my mom bought when she got her first apartment.
I would finally get a new passport for myself and my wife and with said documents in hand, book a cheap flight to the South Pacific with the intent of staying as long as the money held out. Then try and finagle a way to stay past my welcome.
Go home disgruntled but with a hell of a tan.
Pay for the repairs on my 914.
Not to rain on anyone’s parade here but a 14K bonus is going to be closer to 8K after taxes.
I could pay the Visa bill or put it in the ‘Ferrari and Range Rover Catastrophic Failure’ fund.
However we all know I’m going to buy books and boots.
What would I buy with a $14K cheque?
Nothing… I’d use it to pay off debt and/or pay down my mortgage.
Yeah I’m boring.
Okay… so let’s say there is some magic that is stopping me from doing that and the money could only be spent on a vehicle.
Well US$14K is CAD$19K. So after doing a quick search on my local autotrader, my top pick would be this low mileage 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid
autotrader.ca/a/ford/c-max/cambridge/ontario/5_57561051_20160415094958074
And my 2nd choice would be this 2012 Prius:
https://www.autotrader.ca/a/toyota/prius/oakville/ontario/19_12442808_
And my 3rd choice would be this low mileage 2015 Ford Fiesta with the 5 speed manual and 3 cyl ecoboost:
https://www.autotrader.ca/a/ford/fiesta/cambridge/ontario/5_57364569_20130805091635788/
Well, a few thousands would be spent on the house, but I would also be very tempted for a Ford Scorpio MK1 2.9l 6cylinder. Or a VW T3 “enkelkabin” pick-up.
I am trying to buy a house right now, so that would just go towards down payment. Boring I know.
Flashiest thing locally although I’d never buy used luxury (again) is a 2014 BMW X3 AWD for $13K
What I’d actually want would be a customized 2008 Jeep Wrangler X 4×4 2dr for $14K
What I “should buy” would be av2015 Toyota Camry SE 4dr Sedan for $15K
Silly buy, a 2001 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 2dr Convertible for $15K
After a quick perusal of the local CL, found this very clean ’75 Capri for ~$11k. Use the extra cash to fix the rust in the driver’s door and pep the Lima 4-banger up a bit.
https://austin.craigslist.org/ctd/d/austin-owner-1975-mercury-capri/7591704569.html
It’s not enough for a new car so I’ll try to figure out how to spend it on my 00 4 cylinder Camry. Id probably buy a Ct26 turbo, new headers, tires and an exhaust system. From there I’d see how much I can use to modernize the interior
I’d spend a little on both cars, the Civic would get some better suspension bits, and the Jeep would get a new body tub, and an audio system upgrade.
OR maybe I’d build a lifted AWD minivan……
I would simply buy 3 Mazda MX-3 GS with the V6, and 1 Mazda MX-3 RS, with the inline 4. I have owned one MX-3 RS, and it was a perfect car, besides the clutch slave cylinder being located behind the engine subframe, and the rear shock tower rusting out. It had automatic seatbelts (cool!), was shaped like a space ship (cool!), an engine that was happiest singing away at 4k and above (very cool!) and got 33 MPG no matter how hard you drove it (affordable!).
Me personally, I love a high revving V6, no better sound.
Pay the taxes then put the other ~$10k in the bank. ::cue groans::
One day I’ll have an ND Miata and/or TT(S/RS) as a fun car but today (and this year) ain’t lookin’ like it. Overland Cayenne is high on the list too…
Three early-aught vehicles at about 5 grand each-
A big 4X4 SUV, for blizzard duty, Suburban, Navigator, etc.
A small, manual-trans fun car, like a GTI or Miata
A big-assed sedan, Park Av, DeVille, Town Car, maybe an LS if the right one is available.
Buy a Yugo GV and some paid Autopian membership
With a $14,760 windfall, I’d do a fly and drive to LA to try to find a decent 15+ year old Boxster to drive Mulholland Drive, the Pacific Coast Highway, and then home. Anything left over goes toward a 2 post lift for the garage or similar, to make servicing easier.
FJ cruiser 4×4, just did this recently. Great choice!
69 Dodge Superbee!
Eggs. I got hungry grandkids.
Mark 1 or 2 spitfire, then stuff a nasty rotary in it. Proceed to die with smile on my face.
Based on my searches recently, it looks like I’d have barely enough left after taxes to buy a set of K5 Blazer seats 🙁
Realistically, it goes toward a house. Practical considerations aside, maybe a hardtop convertible. Every time I look at one, I stop myself, and a bonus like that would make it easier to get past that hesitation.
Same here! The house always seems to win, but I would love to get back in a convertible, especially a hard top. Now if I could only fit in some of them.
Honestly, modern-ish soft tops are really good regarding noise and heat insulation. I considered getting a hard too for my first gen Z4 but after driving it a while I was like “what’s the point?”. So beyond looks I see no point in a more complicated hard too over a soft one.
Maybe I just haven’t been in the right ones, but visibility seems to be better in a hardtop. That’s the main reason I’d like to go that route.
If you are driving with the top up, you’re doing it wrong.
I mean, sure, but I am not looking to garage something too much. I want to be able to drive it in the rain and maybe even snow once in awhile. And I’d like good visibility when I do.
I’m with you. I’m too practical to go “blow it”. I can easily spend it on the house and probably be happier with the outcome.
Although taking a quick look, I can get a pretty nice looking Miata still for $15k, so maybe that is where it’d go.
There are some 135i convertibles too that would be fun, although I’d worry the $15k BMW is going to be a problem real fast.
128i is going to be a lot less of a problem and still a lot of fun.
+ 1
Or in my case, take that money and pay off the debt that was caused by repairs I had to do to the house. LOL
Too bad it’s not enough to buy a new car anymore 🙁
Stellantis should bring over the Panda or whatever the cheapest Fiat, Pug, or Citroen happens to be lol
Congrats on COTD
First new car was a 2001 Hyundai Elantra I bought for about 14K. Was a perfect car.
$14k? Pay off every credit card I have, buy cheap go-fast bits and Chipotle burritos.
Chipotle burritos are cheap go-fast bits.
This should be Reply of the Day.
As a bonus, it’s even accurate and true.
Liable to blow an o-ring with those!