Do you ever regret it?

[Kentish]

Buying the cars that you have over the years, spending so much money frequently going from one mundane car to the next.

Ever wondered what you could be in now had you just bought cheap cars and kept each one for a long time and saved for something special?

[anonymous-user]

No, not really.

[Mr Daytona]

Worked out recently that over the past 10 years or so, I'd spent (and lost) enough money on various cars from an Alfa 156 to a Lotus Elise, to buy and run something like a 348 or 355. That includes servicing and insurance.

That was sobering for me.

And the irony is that the car I most miss was my first, a Pug 205 XS. 1988 on an E plate.

Edited by Mr Daytona on Sunday 10th August 00:22

[lamboman100]

There was a recent survey of the over-80s in the US.

Their number one "regret" was not saving enough money.

[lightthefuse]

Hell yes - two giant mistakes leap out, both Peugeot 607s incidentally, don't ask me why but I have a very soft spot for them.

I should never have got shot of my first one - oil leak caused by a gasket failure - didn't want to spend hundreds on fixing a part costing 50p. Beautiful car, all the toys you could want, interior absolutely perfect, low mileage. Possible collector's item if you're that way inclined. Saw it on the motorway a couple of months ago still going strong. Unfortunately I was on the top deck of a coach so couldn't give the driver the thumbs up.

I should never have bought my second one - old boy decided enough was enough after reversing it into a post. The damage was slight and thought to myself "I'll take care of that in time". Instead the clutch went, the brake discs warped on me, then to top it off after spending a pretty penny on fixing it only had some scrote break in, rip the interior, break an electric window whereby the mechanism was like rocking-horse poo to replace, then the piéce de resistance, throw some sort of gunk all over the exterior and interior. It was insured, yes, What got stolen? There wasn't anything to steal but they decided to take the service book! So that's all the stamps out of the window... felt so violated I took a hit and took it straight down to my local Pug dealer, traded it for rock bottom and instead decided I needed smaller and bought a new 208 instead. That decision I do not regret!

[Poopipe]

Not really

Ive owned these

Mk1 mx5, clio172,v2 sti-ra, megane cup

The total cost of buying and running those would probably see me in a medium spec new mondeo.

I think ive done alright

[Cemesis]

I worked out that in the first 10 years of driving I had spent £22 per day on cars. That included fuel, purchasing and everything but also included the money I made back when I sold a car (ie the cost was actually higher but I recouped some money when I sold a car on). That worked out to be £80,000 which is quite a lot.

A few years later I made a conscious decision to stop doing it so I bought a brand new car for £20k and intend to keep it until it actually dies a death and would be too expensive to repair. I bought something super economical that has a 5 year warranty, tyres, brakes and tax are cheap. It shouldn't rust, should cater for any situation I would need a car for and I filled it with options so I wouldn't be tempted to upgrade because it was missing something. In the first two years (whilst I paid off the 0% finance) I wasn't really saving any money compared to running a more interesting car but now its very much paying off.

I do still look at other cars and could afford to change but I don't. I don't regret the money I've spent but I cannot keep doing it forever. At the rate I was going I would have spent, inflation adjusted, perhaps as much as £1 million on cars. It sounds ludicrous but I could see it happening. As fun as cars can be, I'd sooner spend that money on other things.

[Kentish]

I ask because I regret it sometimes.

I've owned 50 plus cars over 28 years & spent between £500 & £10k with the average costing around £5k.

I could easily be driving a lovely Aston if I'd kept just a few of the ordinary cars for a few years.

[lightthefuse]

Cemesis said:

I do still look at other cars and could afford to change but I don't. I don't regret the money I've spent but I cannot keep doing it forever. At the rate I was going I would have spent, inflation adjusted, perhaps as much as £1 million on cars. It sounds ludicrous but I could see it happening. As fun as cars can be, I'd sooner spend that money on other things.

As an almost tie-in to the car vs. house thread, there's plenty I'd love to see in my garage right now, stripped out 850R that's almost track-ready, Saab 900 OG LPT that looked the business, but as much as I want a weekend toy instead of blatting the V70 around, I'd rather pay for a new flight of stairs to the basement, for example. Priorities I suppose.

[vrooom]

Kentish said:

Buying the cars that you have over the years, spending so much money frequently going from one mundane car to the next.

Ever wondered what you could be in now had you just bought cheap cars and kept each one for a long time and saved for something special?

therein lies the problem.

[Baryonyx]

No, but I look back to the A8 I sold and wish I had it. It's been the benchmark for 'luxury' cars I've tried since and it has generally held it's head high. Part of the sting was that when I sold it, I was reacting to an imminent change of circumstances that never transpired.

[otolith]

If I had all the money I have wasted on cars, I would waste it on a car.

[Kentish]

vrooom said:

Kentish said:

Buying the cars that you have over the years, spending so muchRoadsterquently going from one mundane car to the next.

Eered what you could be in now had you just bought cheap cars and kept each one for a long time and saved for something special?

therein lies the problem.

I'm talking about such cars as TVR-S; Alfa Spider; Scimitar GTE; Ford Thunderbird; Audi TT Roadster; various BMWs.

Mundane when compared with a F355 perhaps.

Which I could have afforded had I been content with something more mundane & cheap instead of keeping on compromising on cars and changing frequently when i could have been saving for something special.

[billzeebub]

Nope

[Kentish]

billzeebub said:

Nope

You' mean you're happy with mundane everyday cars?

Nothing wrong with that.

[Sump]

Nope.

[GravelBen]

I've had my current car for maybe 6 years and can't think what I'd replace it with other than a newer equivalent of the same thing, no pointless changing to regret there!

[Ekona]

Sometimes I do, but then I remember some of things I've done in the ones I've owned:

MR2 mk3 - carrying out one of the first turbo conversions in the UK without really knowing what I was doing
VXR220 - Finally understanding the balance of an MR car on a sunny day at Anglesey on A048s
350Z - My first trip to the Ring, and maxing it out on the straight
911 - Finally owning my dream car, and going on a 4400 mile round trip of Spain


All wonderful memories that I wouldn't have had if I'd driven something dull whilst saving for a Lambo. For me, that's worth every penny.

[STW2010]

Years ago I bought myself an RX8 as a reward to myself for finishing my postgraduate studies and getting a job. I then had to sell this car to pay for our wedding (I'm still bitter about that to this day). Anyway, after that upsetting event I had no enthusiasm so for some stupid reason bought a 1.6 Astra for £3k. Over the course of 3 months I spent over a grand sorting out various problems and generally putting up with the ste performance and extremely uncomfortable seats.

I soon came to my senses and sold the heap of st for £2,750. Which meant that I lost well over a grand in 3 months.

So, do I regret buying that Astra? Damn fking right I do. If I won the lottery I would hunt it down again so that I could buy it back and then burn it.

[deeen]

otolith said:

If I had all the money I have wasted on cars, I would waste it on a car.

Correct answer!