biggest regret - car never bought,,,?
Discussion
Just wondering how many other people have HUGE regrets over cars in their past that they didnt buy for whatever reason..
I have many but their are 2 main regrets I have...
Not a regret of mine as such, but when I was 16 I begged my father to loan me $3000 to buy 2 (!) 1930/1 V16 cadillac open tourers - he thought I was a mentalist and refused a few years later I showed him auction results for a 1931 tourer...
A much more recent regret (about 5 years ago) and indeed a much bigger one was passing up the oportunity to buy an Aston DB4/5 pre production factory test car which ahd been in storage for about 20 years, I could have bought it for 25k up and running but had just bought 3 cars from the states which were still on the water at the time. The Aston workshop bought it in the end I believe. REALLY REALLY wish I had just got a huge loan and bought it. especially when I checked out current values..
I have many but their are 2 main regrets I have...
Not a regret of mine as such, but when I was 16 I begged my father to loan me $3000 to buy 2 (!) 1930/1 V16 cadillac open tourers - he thought I was a mentalist and refused a few years later I showed him auction results for a 1931 tourer...
A much more recent regret (about 5 years ago) and indeed a much bigger one was passing up the oportunity to buy an Aston DB4/5 pre production factory test car which ahd been in storage for about 20 years, I could have bought it for 25k up and running but had just bought 3 cars from the states which were still on the water at the time. The Aston workshop bought it in the end I believe. REALLY REALLY wish I had just got a huge loan and bought it. especially when I checked out current values..
BMW E39 M5.
This would have been around April/May 2004 so production had finished a while back. Wandering around the Ras Al Khor car place in Dubai and I came across one that had delivery milage, still had the wrapping on the interior bits - basically brand new - in the classic Le Mans Blue exterior/Cream interior combo - perfect.
Only problem was I wouldn't have been able to get a warrenty organised and I couldn't take the risk. They wanted AED190k - which then was around 27k pounds.
This would have been around April/May 2004 so production had finished a while back. Wandering around the Ras Al Khor car place in Dubai and I came across one that had delivery milage, still had the wrapping on the interior bits - basically brand new - in the classic Le Mans Blue exterior/Cream interior combo - perfect.
Only problem was I wouldn't have been able to get a warrenty organised and I couldn't take the risk. They wanted AED190k - which then was around 27k pounds.
Four years or so ago a friend had a 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Targa and I, half-jokingly, made him promise to give me first dibs if he sold it.
One day he emailed me to offer it to me for what he paid for it (£12k, and it was spotless) and I turned him down because I wanted to keep the Subaru Impreza WRX I'd bought a few months earlier.
What a tool.
One day he emailed me to offer it to me for what he paid for it (£12k, and it was spotless) and I turned him down because I wanted to keep the Subaru Impreza WRX I'd bought a few months earlier.
What a tool.
Unregistered Porsche 964 RS with 50km on the clock that was sitting in a dealers store in Holland.
Had been bought as an investment, but the price went down after launch, and so the owner left it in storage.
Unfortunately for him, in the Netherlands there is a 25% car tax payable on the original list price at first registration, and so anyone registering it there would have had to pay about £15000 in car tax
Only way to sell it would be to someone for export to a country without car purchase tax, such as the UK...
Contacted a few dealers in the UK but nobody was interested, this was around 1998 and the car did not yet then have the cult following it has now....
Had been bought as an investment, but the price went down after launch, and so the owner left it in storage.
Unfortunately for him, in the Netherlands there is a 25% car tax payable on the original list price at first registration, and so anyone registering it there would have had to pay about £15000 in car tax
Only way to sell it would be to someone for export to a country without car purchase tax, such as the UK...
Contacted a few dealers in the UK but nobody was interested, this was around 1998 and the car did not yet then have the cult following it has now....
Could have bought an Escort Cosworth Monte Carlo from my parents for around £10k ten years ago. It wasn't mint, but it was unmolested and they'd owned it from new. It wouldn't have cost that much to get back to it's former glory.
Instead I bought a Griffith. A poor decision financially.
Instead I bought a Griffith. A poor decision financially.
A really tidy Talbot Sunbeam with forest arches, roll cage and works rally team decals. It was about 1998 and my Saturday job at Halfords paid well enough to allow me to afford the paltry £400 the guy was asking for it.
I can't even remember why I didn't buy it now, I think it was because I needed a daily driver to get to / from uni and I questioned the reliability of an old car on the daily commute. Idiot.
I can't even remember why I didn't buy it now, I think it was because I needed a daily driver to get to / from uni and I questioned the reliability of an old car on the daily commute. Idiot.
t!!!!On the flip side just over five years ago I wanted a Triumph 1050 Speed Triple so bad I could taste it. I went to a dealer to ask about one and basically I couldn't afford to buy one without finace but the salesman commented that 'I can do you a Daytona for £5700 if you really want a new bike?'
So I dropped £5700 on a new bike without so much as a test ride and it was the best move I ever made, the engine is a peach and after having the suspension re-valved which is SOP for any bike it corners better than I do
So I dropped £5700 on a new bike without so much as a test ride and it was the best move I ever made, the engine is a peach and after having the suspension re-valved which is SOP for any bike it corners better than I do
i was living in Stockholm Sweden around 2001 , i wanted a convertible so i brought a XKR cab but in the same garage they had a 993 Turbo +50 it was imaculate and about 200,000- SEK more expensive , i could of afforded it but i did not go for it and took the Jag
That decision has haunted me ever since
That decision has haunted me ever since
Way back in 1999 I was offered a MkII Escort that had been stored a while. It was in great condition and just needed a few things sorting to get it back onto the road and in for an MOT. The bloke wanted 3k for it an I told him it was too much, I got him down to £2750 but I just couldn't raise the cash in time. It was a standard and original RS1800 
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