Too many cars?
Discussion
In an attempt to stop my main car (newish Discovery 4) being damaged at the train station, I've bought a rather nice old Saab 95 and I must say I really like it. There's something nice about owning an honest old car that's cheap enough to not worry about. It's also really comfy and has character.
I also have my fun car (Monaro) and a bike. They all have a purpose yet it seems I keep accumulating vehicles which I don't have time to drive and am not prepared to sell.
Does anyone else have this illness ?
I also have my fun car (Monaro) and a bike. They all have a purpose yet it seems I keep accumulating vehicles which I don't have time to drive and am not prepared to sell.
Does anyone else have this illness ?
wormus said:
I keep accumulating vehicles which I don't have time to drive
This is the problem.The options are:
1. Buy a good car and accept it will get some damage but at least you are using it after spending all the money on it.
2. Buy a good car and drive the cheap car instead to save damage on the nice car.
Option 1 can be heart breaking. Option 2 seems a waste because it will still depreciate and cost you money but you don't get the pleasure.
It's a true PH dilemma and there is no correct option but as I get older I start to drift more towards option 1 and accept that things get damaged but at least I get to enjoy it even on dull journeys. Switching off the part of the brain that stresses about these things is the hard bit and I have genuinely had sleepless nights worrying about the damage that had been done to my nice car in the past. Not any more though and I'm happier as a result.
wormus said:
Does anyone else have this illness ?
Yeah, mostly because I hate selling. I know I'm getting a worse deal when part-exing so I don't like that; I know I'd get more money selling privately but I don't want the potential hassle of dealing with morons of the general public. Therefore, the only solution as I see it is to save up enough to buy my next car and keep the current ones.In reality I'll probably just part ex next time.
wormus said:
Does anyone else have this illness ?
Yes, and it caused our neighbours to say we have "more cars than bl--dy drivers!".But it works, because we avoid brand new cars. My last two brand new cars were awful, and cost a lot, so that cured me of that type of disease. Now we run several older cars instead, nothing newer than 5 years old, and we can easily run 2 of those for less than 1 new one.
I'm thankfully down to 2 now, Focus RS & a 205 GTI, although a few years ago I ended up with 4 at one point due to the 2 new purchases crossing over with 2 cars that had not yet been sold / collected by the buyer.
It was a bit of a hassle trying to find space at the house for a Caterham, Peugeot 306 Cabriolet, Focus RS and a Renault Clio V6.
It was a bit of a hassle trying to find space at the house for a Caterham, Peugeot 306 Cabriolet, Focus RS and a Renault Clio V6.
Edited by AlexRS2782 on Wednesday 26th August 23:11
Can definitely sympathise as I have 4 cars, 2 push bikes and take the train to work so none get used during the week.
Problem is I have sold cars in the past which I loved and to this day regretted. And because I only buy cars which I have wanted for possibly many years, it is very difficult to sell.
I don't agree with the notion that new and/or expensive cars are necessarily better and often I have taken at least as much pleasure in driving something old and fairly worthless.
Current fleet, akl are great ecamples and thetefore none of which I can see me parting with for a very very long time are:
Mercedes W124 E220
BMW E36 328 coupe
Caterham Superlight
Elise S1 Sport 160
Next addition will be a 911 of some description. ..
Problem is I have sold cars in the past which I loved and to this day regretted. And because I only buy cars which I have wanted for possibly many years, it is very difficult to sell.
I don't agree with the notion that new and/or expensive cars are necessarily better and often I have taken at least as much pleasure in driving something old and fairly worthless.
Current fleet, akl are great ecamples and thetefore none of which I can see me parting with for a very very long time are:
Mercedes W124 E220
BMW E36 328 coupe
Caterham Superlight
Elise S1 Sport 160
Next addition will be a 911 of some description. ..
Yeah, was my most recent acquisition that got me thinking. It's from 2003 and therefore old and I should do nothing more than tolerate driving it whilst I look forward to driving 'better' cars. However I quite like tinkering with it, it's a nice car and the fact it didn't cost much makes me feel good. In fact it has a couple of minor age related marks which I feel compelled to get repaired and I want to block pave the front garden to give it somewhere dignified to live (less crap than it sounds). Wife doesn't agree with me in this.
poing said:
This is the problem.
The options are:
1. Buy a good car and accept it will get some damage but at least you are using it after spending all the money on it.
2. Buy a good car and drive the cheap car instead to save damage on the nice car.
Option 1 can be heart breaking. Option 2 seems a waste because it will still depreciate and cost you money but you don't get the pleasure.
It's a true PH dilemma and there is no correct option but as I get older I start to drift more towards option 1 and accept that things get damaged but at least I get to enjoy it even on dull journeys. Switching off the part of the brain that stresses about these things is the hard bit and I have genuinely had sleepless nights worrying about the damage that had been done to my nice car in the past. Not any more though and I'm happier as a result.
An even bigger problem is buying a cheap snotter that turns out to be so good that Options 1 & 2 start over again!The options are:
1. Buy a good car and accept it will get some damage but at least you are using it after spending all the money on it.
2. Buy a good car and drive the cheap car instead to save damage on the nice car.
Option 1 can be heart breaking. Option 2 seems a waste because it will still depreciate and cost you money but you don't get the pleasure.
It's a true PH dilemma and there is no correct option but as I get older I start to drift more towards option 1 and accept that things get damaged but at least I get to enjoy it even on dull journeys. Switching off the part of the brain that stresses about these things is the hard bit and I have genuinely had sleepless nights worrying about the damage that had been done to my nice car in the past. Not any more though and I'm happier as a result.
Guilty. MG ZS which I just love but wanted to keep it in good nick so by chance an MG ZT came up on one of the owners clubs for £100 so got that, Nissan Almera Tino family wagon. By far the best car I've ever owned, it's more the family pet than just another car. Ford transit connect, it was £200, I couldn't say no. It sounds bad but at one poi t I had a little golf as my daily and 7 other projects. It's an addiction. 
I might go up to 12 cars when I move house. More than that and there wouldn't be enough time to drive them all. I increasingly have cars for the conditions, not all rounders. Why not if you've got the space? No different to horses, buses, traction engines, etc. Most petrolheads would have lots of cars if they had the space and money. Space is the big thing - you could have a big car collection for relative peanuts. I don't have any problem selling cars though and have no emotional attachment to them whatsoever. I recently sold a car I'd owned for 25 years - glad to see the back of it.
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