I'm in that boat. Not that I dislike the car, I love it; but, for some reason I wish I would have just gotten a used car to tinker with. Especially since my daily commute is nothing much. Not a lot of solutions to get out of the hole; but, just thinking to myself, why was my past self stupid.
I wrecked my 03 focus and bought a 2014 focus, it was great and I liked it. Then I got a job with a company car. Well, that was a waste of time.
Meh, I bought the Abarth out of necessity, but I kept everything to tinker with.
Sell the new car, buy 2 cars with 250-350k miles. They'll keep you busy. I like to tinker with mine
I have been both places and I really like having the new appliance to drive so I don't worry about getting places. It let me build some wild contraptions over the years that did not have to run Monday morning after a weekend if tinkering.
I had a reliable car and got a bit bored of it, too. So I bought a $700 motorcycle to play with.
Where do you live where an Abarth is a necessity?
I bought a Fiesta ST, but I'm sure a ten year old Corolla would have 'done the job'. I sometimes think that it would be fun to have built up the e30 into an s50 powered dd, but then I remember how much time that takes, and that it would still be a 27year old car. Sometimes the idea of an awesome project car is better than the actuality of having one.
WOW Really Paul? wrote: Meh, I bought the Abarth out of necessity, but I kept everything to tinker with.
I have had my current car for about 2 months now, and I have not opened the hood since the day that I purchased it. When driving down the highway, I don't have to play game of, "What's that smell, and is it coming from my car?"
No regrets.
I've never purchased a new car. My dad, however? He can't wait until the Sonata is paid off so he can get rid of it.
i will likely never be in that boat. i can't stand new cars, especially the ones i could afford. numb, plain, characterless lumps with disappointing performance, and depression educing styling. the cars i could see myself enjoying, things like Si's, abarths, M-series cars, diesel trucks, lincoln luxo-barges, all out of my range, and i'm pretty sure id hate them once i got to know em. electro-nannies, TCC you cant turn off, CVT (i think i just vomited in my mouth a little), crash test requirements that make a-pillars look like church columns...i could go on, but this isn't new to any GRMer. nope, ill take a pass. my newest vehicle is an 06 odyssey, and that's SWMBOs. i drive an 88 tbird, and 86 tbird, a 93 bronco, an 89 suntracker pontoon, and a 71 wheel horse. and i park them all in front of my 1971 single level home. i don't like anything new, for whatever reason. so, to the OP, no i never have. thanks though!
-J0N
Usually this problem is solved by buying factory go fast parts that still keep your warranty valid.
No.
I've only bought one new car - and I still own it 12 years later - so no. But I have bought a couple of used cars/trucks that I regretted almost instantly.
Sorta. Realized my car needs now a days is just pure pleasure use (I ride my bicycle to grocery store / store and don't have a commute). So I got a small turbo Fiat. My heart though still likes big luxury cars with v6s or v8s. Even though I have no practical use for one. First week I was like "What the hell have I done?!" as I have not drove a really small turbo charged car in forever.
Car wasn't new though. I don't think I'd ever buy a new car as I like to pay cash for my cars and usually like to give the car a good 40k miles so when I buy it I know it's not a lemon.
Took me 6 months this time, but that was only when she asked for a divorce so the payment was more than I wanted to have not being a DINK anymore.
Only a month in? Don't worry, you're just going into crap-heap withdrawal DTs. It takes some time to adjust but it's worth it.
Seriously, it does. Once you're used to wrenching on something all the time, owning something that you never have to touch is a big change and it will take some getting used to. Of course, there's nothing to say you can't tinker on the new car either. Before I made my first payment on the first brand new car I ever bought I was pulling out plastic fake vents in the bumper and turning them into real vents with a dremel tool. It was satisfying. There are plenty of things you can still do to tinker with the car but you have to realign your perspective. If that fails, buy a $500 british car that you can tinker on forever without fear of actually making it run.
In reply to ultraclyde:
Or buy three British cars... so that with enough tinkering, maybe one of them will run at some point.
No. All the other stuff kept me plenty busy.
I have two TR6s, a newish and old Triumph bike, and my DD is a 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata. The Miata is getting a little up there in mileage, so I'm getting the itch to replace it with something newer and less likely to puke it's turbo. In other words, I've got enough stuff to tinker with and don't feel like tinkering anymore with my DD.
I'm going to test drive a 2016 Fiesta ST this afternoon. Hopefully I won't regret buying one if I do. But yeah, there is the concern of making that mistake.
bought my 2014 F150 because they were having great rebates etc and I wanted a truck, also my FIL who had been talking about selling his pristine 2002 f150 for 2 years kept putting off the date and i figured he'd never sell it.
one month later he traded it in on a 2015 f150... makes my blood boil. My DP on the 2014 could have bought his truck, put new wheels on it, a new motor, a new cap etc... and the interior was pristine on it.
We sold my wife's 2012 v6 mustang 11 months after we bought it to get her a 2012 mustang gt... (Had to be Kona Blue)...
I sold the wife's Edge for the f150 after she told me that the mustang was perfect as a kid hauler . Now she's telling me it is not and wants another car...
There's the time I sold my mazda3 1 month after paying it off for a 2006 track edition 350z. 5 months later in 2009 I get laid off due to the economy...
It's just the way some of us are built. I won't modify a new car, so my wife gets an occasional new one. A buddy asked me what I would buy if he handed me $50K because that's about what his SUV cost . I told him that was enough to buy at least 5 cars and have more fun. After I said it I had to think hard about what 5 cars to buy at about $10K each. I've only ever spent that much on a used car once and that was my MINI CooperS.
Our Smart car, we bought one of the first 100 imported into the USA (used Smarts 100 deposit program) back in 2008. Owned it exactly one month to the day, hated every second of it. We traded it back into the dealership we bought it from and at that time there was such a demand they gave us $1000 more than we paid for it to get it back, and had already resold it for more than that.
Only when the payment comes due.
Sort of. I have a love/hate relationship with my BRZ. Some days it is great, but what I wish I had done was to buy a newish appliance and then an awesome toy. Maybe something like the best 240Z I could find, or something similar, and perhaps a Tacoma or FJ Cruiser to drive to work. Problem solved and I could collect more crap to go with the toy of choice if needed.
Only new car I've bought was the 09 Mazda 5. Never regretted that, although that doesn't mean I'll buy another new car ever. But it's been great having one vehicle in the fleet that hasn't needed anything (except tires, brakes, shocks/struts).
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