What car: Widower edition

I lost my wife of 20 years last week. It was sudden and unexpected and it sucks more than I could manage to ever write it down. To add insult to serious injury a freak snowstorm dropped 8 inches of snow the next morning and sent my carport crashing into my cars.

The Challenge Vespa is a goner, the 850 is repairable but if I am going to do it right there is a lot more body work to do so it will be out of commission for a while. This leaves me driving my wifes car. A 2001 GTI 1.8t. It is a car I have always been indifferent about and now it has some memories attached to it that, while not insurmountable make me take a pause when I need to use it.

The life insurance policy I had leaves me with an opportunity to replace the VW. But with what?

I have 7-15K to drop on a car and modifications that is practical and fun or at least entertaining to drive. I have 2 basset hounds that I do haul around with me from time to time.

Part of me says buy the nicest late E30 325is I can find and make it awesome. Part of me says get a pickup since I always seem to need one, but I hate driving them. Another part says "screw it, go buy a new Fiat 500" and make payments. Then there is the part that says go buy that awesome 1963 Falcon station wagon on CL and drop a 302 and 5spd in it.

The early Scion XBs haven't dropped in value enough for what they are ( I quite like them, though). Suzuki SX4 5spd AWD cars are dipping into the 8K range and being a Fiat fanboy I quite like the idea of getting the Sedici bits shipped over to tart it up. Early SC'ed Cooper S' are still floating in the 10K range and as it turns out as much as I love them I had never seen the interior in one before and was shocked by its garishness. I even spent a good portion of time looking into 911's last night thinking "when else would I have the chance?" but none of these seem "right".

Things that don't interest me at all are mazda 3s, Volvos, BMW 5 series, E36's, P71's........

And No. Sadly a miata just won't work.

What say you GRM braintrust?

First off, my condolences on your loss.

I think the 63 Falcon Wagon with the 302 sounds like a great plan personally :) It would do well enough filling in for the times you need a truck, especially if you add a hitch and a small trailer.

If you think a pickup might really be useful look at some of the "fun" trucks out there. The old S10 Extreme with the 4.3 V6 and a 5 speed is very un-trucklike to drive and can be fun yet still useful.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss, I can't imagine how tough it must be goinf through that. Best of luck to you.

Perhaps a wrx wagon, saab 9-2x, or forester xt

Sorry to hear about your wife..

Sounds like you have plenty of projects, I'll give you some advice that I never seem to listen to:

Buy something that is running, driving and ready to go and doesn't need to be fussed with.

Shawn

my condolences on your loss, i don't know what i would do without my wife.

car front - you have your project - fixing the 850. so...

screw it, go buy a new Abarth and make payments.

My deepest condolences to you on your loss.

As for transportation, go drive the Abarth then decide if it's worth it. Otherwise I like the E30 plan, and rent a pickup when you need one.

Trans_Maro wrote: Buy something that is running, driving and ready to go and doesn't need to be fussed with.

I'm trying but old pieces of crap are so......cool. Things that work are dull.

Thanks all.

MS3. They've gotten down to the 15k range, infinitely practical, easy to DD, get ok MPG (I have gotten 30 out of mine) and seems that if my wife were to pass on, she'd want me to be in something that made me happy. My ms3 is that car for me.

my wife of 20 years unexpectedly passed, it would be quite a while before I starIfd looking at cars. Bless you and good luck.

In reply to cwh:

If I am thinking about cars my mind is occupied and thus not able to think about other things.

Since you are in Oregon and I am always amazed that there seems to be an unlimited supply of rust free cars there. I am thinking of recommendations that are less popular but awesome.

'89 Intergra 4 door hatch

The original xB before the xB: WagoVan w/ or w/o 4wd.

A Subaru from the earlier days:

There are no words, my condolences.

I like the E30 idea personally. I've regretted selling my 318is for two years now.

911 seems like it would work for me so idk what to say on that score. with e36 m3 also out, maybe look at an e30 m3? or an e28 m5?
but a new abarth would be awesome!
or you can get a speed 6, which is one of the many many cars on my bucket list.

My condolences, I can't even imagine.

I'd probably be looking for a project if I found myself in that situation. Something to pass the time will probably be a godsend for the next few months.

Sorry to hear about your wife.

Instead of the Falcon Wagon, buy a running gen 1 Ranchero and be searching for a deal on a 302 & a 5sp. as well as some Mustang goodies to beef up suspension and brakes. Drive the thing until the Fiat is fixed. Drive the Fiat until the Ranchero is ready. That would be a cool DD if built properly and suffice for light truck duty.

Man, I am so sorry to hear about your wife! I can't even imagine. I'm only a hop, skip, and a jump away, so if you need anything, please let me know. Seriously.

I wish I could say something that mattered in regards to your loss. You're in my thoughts and prayers. I'm genuinely sad to hear that news.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/search/sss?catAbb=cta&query=renault&maxAsk=10000&srchType=T&hasPic=1&sort=date

My sincerest condolences.

What I would do is probably try to get rid of the Golf as I personally wouldn't want to drive around in a car that reminds you of your loss every time you use it. OTOH I would also try to avoid making massive financial commitments at this point in time - give it a few months of healing first. So i'd probably buy something to get me monbile, maybe something like a nice-ish E30 and then take it from there.

cwh wrote: my wife of 20 years unexpectedly passed, it would be quite a while before I starIfd looking at cars. Bless you and good luck.

I understand it completely. You're so numb/disoriented at that point, you just need to do SOMETHING other than mourn.

I remember getting some collision paintwork re-fixed a week or two after my dad died. The owner of the shop knew about my Dad's death and seemed a little puzzled that I was there worrying about a small detail on my car. I remember saying to him "I kinda don't even care if it burned to the ground right now, but I might as well get it fixed anyway."

VERY sorry to hear about your loss, OP. Terrible.

The roof collapse is just insult to injury.

I can not imagine, my deepest sympathy for your loss.

I'll echo the other comments here. I am very sorry for your loss.

Distractions should help--I would find something you could play with and flip if need arises--find something that has already taken the steep part of its depreciation curve (4-5 years old) and just have fun.

Good luck.

What about Woody's Dirty 911?

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss.

I feel for you. I lost my wife of 20 yrs also. Cars were the last thing on my mind for a long time.

But , then again, they might be good therapy.

No car advice that hasn't been already offered, but I feel for you and your family. I've been married just over 15 years and can't comprehend what you're going through. The GRM community is here for you, so let us know what we can do to assist!!

I'm sorry for your loss. The 911 would be a good idea; it's one of those cars that won't take as much of a hit on resale. The dogs might not be very comfortable in the back, though.

Also, I don't want to intrude, but try to spend time with friends and family. You've had a constant companion for 20 years; please don't spend all of that time alone now.