I think it's pretty rare that you can actually get every penny back that you put into a car, unless it is a very rare or original Hemi car. A lot of times I see listings where they say they've got something like $80,000 into it, but might only get $50,000 for the car. Now I'm sure the $80,000 would be a bit of a stretch, but it probably is more than what the car sells for.