PROJECT CAR PATHS · GARAGE PLANNERDATA VERIFIED 2026-06 · DIY LABOR · NO JACK STANDS
BUILD & BUDGET PLANNER
Pick a generation & engine, paste the listing + target price, set a work-start date, then build the plan. Money grows over time: your cash on hand spends first, your monthly savings accumulate (set in the Settings tab), and the savings reserve only gets tapped when spend outruns income — so staggering a build later lets the fund rebuild. Any under-car phase auto-adds the lift (no jack stands).
📱 NEIGHBOR'S V6 FIELD GUIDE → the driveway diagnosis checklist — VIN-confirmed 1998 3.8L V6, updated with the 2026-06-07 findings & the do-not-crank oil rule. Progress saves on each device.
1 · Pick the Car
Generation, then engine · prices & phases update for both · base cost = inspection tools + your target purchase price (no baseline-service or upkeep padding)
2 · Phases of Work
Check what you'd actually do · each selected phase gets its own start date — stagger them out to let savings rebuild · 🔒 = price of entry · 🏗 = under-car work (adds the lift)
🏗 4-post lift auto-added (~$3,400, KATOOL plan, doc 06 §10) — you selected under-car work and this garage doesn't do jack stands. Uncheck all 🏗 phases to remove it. One lift serves every build and the 2026 GT.
3 · Budget vs Plan
Top bar = money available by the build's end (cash + savings accrued + reserve) · bottom bar = what your plan spends
Build Timeline
Funds vs Spend Over Time
Blue = cumulative spend · green = funds available (cash + monthly savings) · red dashed = funds + $20k reserve ceiling · gap below green = reserve being tapped
Every saved car + phase selection, computed with your current Settings · blue row = what you're editing now
Config
Start
Target $
Phases
Lift
Total
Reserve used
Margin vs $20k
Power
$/hp
Listing
Saved
⚙ Funding Settings
Global · applies to every car · saved to the server
How the money model works:
• Cash on hand is spent first — it's money that isn't coming out of long-term savings.
• Monthly savings accumulates every month from today onward. Push a car's work-start date further out and more savings pile up before you spend a dollar — that's how you stagger purchases and let the fund rebuild between cars.
• The savings reserve ceiling is the most you're willing to pull from existing savings. The planner only dips into it when a month's spending outruns cash + accumulated savings. Staying under the ceiling at every point in the timeline is the goal.
• Funds available at any moment = cash + (monthly savings × months saved so far). The reserve sits on top of that as your buffer.