spaceshoes:
The filament is cheap, anywhere from $16-$30 for a 1kg (2.2 pound) roll. I am using either Creality branded filament (get it from their ebay store for $17/roll shipped) or AIO Robotics ($13 for a 1/2 kg roll on amazon). I have not had any issues with either brand.
The car itself costs more time than anything. The direct material cost (filament/glue, not electricity etc.) for each car can't be more than $2 or $3. The time is where the investment is. To print all the parts takes 4 to 6 hours.
If you spend $200 on a printer, $100 on five different colors of filament, you could print hundreds of cars. Not to mention all of the other cool things you will find your self printing. Search any word that comes to your mind on Thingiverse and you will be amazed at some of the stuff that comes up (try searching the word 'cool'). Click this link (
https://www.thingiverse.com/KryptonicLo ... 10-2-16-19) and it will take to you to a collection that a user puts together each week with what they think are the best creations for that week. There is some really neat stuff that people are making.