Very few people own the same car forever. Sure, Irv Gordon got one hell of a run out of his Volvo P1800S, and some of us have friends who still own their first cars, but the more likely reality is that eventually, you’ll probably have to send your car on. It can be a crushing thing, one of the hardest parts of car ownership, especially if it’s not on your schedule. Today we want to know, when is it time to let a car go?
I generally hold the belief that the right time to sell a car is when you no longer love it. Before I bought my 325i, I had a six-speed G35 that was heaps of fun. It had all the requisite bolt-ons from a lightweight flywheel to a plenum spacer, rode on M35 Stagea Autech Axis wheels, and looked the business. However, as it was an older Nissan in the rust belt, it hadn’t been spared from the ravages of road salt.
More importantly, it had just become a bit of a pain over time. The seats weren’t particularly comfortable, checking the oil at every fill-up in freezing weather was annoying, and lots of dumb things were starting to go wrong. Seized caliper? Sure. Rear lower damper mount bushings going on strike? Yep. Trunk harness failure? You bet.
Over time, I fell out of love with my G35, and once I knew for certain, out it went and in came the 325i. Funnily enough, I’ve now owned the BMW for far longer than I’ve owned the G35, and I couldn’t imagine selling it. Even though it’s dumb to currently have two cars that don’t get driven in the winter and none that do, the 325i and Boxster have different enough use cases that I can justify keeping both around.
So, when do you think it’s time to let a car go? Whether your primary consideration is economics of repair or your answer is as simple as “whenever the lease is up,” we’d love to hear your answers in the comments below.
Top image: Stephen’s Jag with his best pal Reina, who clearly has doubts about the XK8.
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“When Is It Time To Let A Car Go?”
Six months before I actually let it go.
I told Gossin that Reina and the Crossfire were keepers. The rest of his Sarah McLachlan puppies should move on. However, the XK8 must stay until DT relents and lets him write a wrenching wrenching article about Ford era Jags.
The jag, SWG, and DT are in a weird Stockholm syndrome three-way.
When I can’t safely drive it to the neighbor’s junkyard that is <1 mile from my place. I’ve sold 2 motorcycles in my lifetime but never a car. Thanks road salt
That’s kind of a tough one. For me I think it’s when the emotional cost of seeing the car in a non-attended state outweighs the financial costs and assorted hassles of storage. Case in point – I always wanted a ’59 Cadillac. Finally got one, never got around to restoring it. Thought I’d keep it forever when I bought it, but then told myself I’d get rid of it if I hadn’t done anything aside from moving it to different storage garages after I turned 40. I just couldn’t stand seeing it in a derelict state anymore.
Doing that opened up some storage space that indirectly led me to eventually purchasing a total of three Jaguars (at one time I had a total of three ’59 Cadillacs, so this tracks). Speaking of, that lead picture is great, and when are we going to be seeing some Stephan-XK8 content?
Convincing DT is tough! The guy is just into Jeeps , i3s, basketball and non-Jaguar cats.
Still working on it; hoping for a breakthrough soon!
If he likes non-jaguar cats. Would he like a non-cat Jaguar?
When the ashtray gets full.
Or the gas tank is dry.
I have gone enough car shows and talked to enough old guys to know that you never sell a cool car that you legitimately love just because it’s janky or needs a lot of work.
Unless there is am emotional attachment, when repairs are equal to or greater than a new car.
When your neighbors start leaving piles of yard waste on top of it.
The time for me is when I’m willing to deal with a parade of CraigsList no-shows and hagglers. So basically never.
Before I even start shopping for the next project vehicle, my mindset is on finding a deal, fix it up and sell it within 6 months (a year at most). Been tempted to hang on to the vehicle several times (and probably would have if the yard was bigger).
Not saying it’s easy, but I find with enough discipline & focus its possible to let go and sell when the fixup punchlist is complete.
Wow that’s a great description of the feeling. I do think though to extend the relationship analogy maybe sometimes when we let down the maintenance etc we find ourselves falling out of love more easily? But also sometimes you’re just bored/no longer interested and it’s time to move on. For me it’s been my DD ’08 Cayenne that was initially this surprisingly reliable car with swiss army knife versatility, but after a bunch of problem free good miles it stranded me and my wife in the woods twice when it wouldn’t start (a problem that still doesnt’ seem to be resolved after multiple trips to two Porsche mechanics) I’m mostly over it and now I’m seeing all the things that were there all along-it’s not a sports car, it’s a gas guzzler, it’s too big and heavy, too tall, kinda ugly etc. And I do have a work around now when it won’t start turns out disconnecting the battery for a few seconds resolves the issue-for now…but I think even if my mechanic definitively fixed the problem I’m probably over it at this point.
My wife has one hard and fast rule for my projects: if there has been no discernible progress for one year, it loses its project status and needs to move on.
There is that moment when I have lost trust in a vehicle. I know it is time to go. I had a Ford Ranger that would vapor lock and strand me in places if there was any ethanol in the gas and it was above 70 degrees out. After the third time, it was gone.
It’s like keeping a German Shepherd that bit you. Once the trust is gone, it’s gone.
It’s like with pets,you just know..
I usually just either get bored with a car and decide to try something else,or when keeping it just doesn’t seem to justify the cost of maintenance anymore.
In nearly 30 years of car ownership, I’ve never sold a car. So maybe I’m not the best person to ask. I drove a 1991 Miata for nearly 300,000 miles until my wife wrecked it in 2009, and I replaced it with another 1991 Miata. I’ve now got a dozen cars, so I’m much better acquiring them then getting rid of them. I was considering selling our 2013 WRX when it was approaching 5 years and about to time out of the extended warranty when it got totaled while parked…
When do you think it’s time to let a car go?
When SWG is offering to buy it.
And you know it’s way, way past time when SWG haggles.
For the wife, it was when her ’97 Saturn sunroof leaked so bad she needed to bail out the footwells any time it rained.
Her ’06 Mazda went when the battery would go dead at random intervals for no apparent reason.
For me?
’97 Dakota 188,000+ miles. It was going to need a water pump (again) and front wheel bearings and it had an exhaust manifold leak.
’06 Charger 88,000+ miles, was about to need a front suspension rebuild.
’08 Mitsubishi EVO X, I knew I was going to need a truck to help my daughter move to/from school and we were starting to remodel the house.
’13 Ram 2500 (diesel, 6MT) God, I loved that truck. But after a TPIM, windshield washer motor, and power steering system that grenaded itself, it was time for it to go.
’10 Jetta TDI, bought back by VW for more than I paid for it used after I had been driving it or over 3 years. (Dieselgate buyback) I do miss getting nearly 50 MPG on the highway.
’17 Golf R After 5 years I was getting bored with it (I can’t explain why)
The current fleet:
The Mrs. drives a ’18 Acura TLX she bought used from an Acura dealer that used it for a loaner, it had less than 8,000 miles on it and she got a great deal on it. Great highway cruiser. She’ll keep it for at least 10 more years knowing how she loves it.
I have a ’21 Bronco Badlands that I’ve got set up just about the way I want it. It’ll be a keeper until something major blows up.
And my ’18 Porsche 718 Cayman that I picked up last year from Carvana with less than 18K miles on it. I don’t plan on getting rid of that anytime soon.
Depends if its a daily, project or collectible. Dailys go whenever there is no longer need for their use (kids grown, no longer need a minivan for example) or when repair costs become intolerable. Projects don’t get sold until they are useable by someone else. Collectibles never, unless a financial situation dictates they must go.
I have a no collecting things policy in life for that reason. I’d rather own and sell a bunch of interesting cheap fun things than be some endless caretaker for some expensive thing.
I have such an opposite approach. I love seeing old iron and I want it all to be preserved. If I own anything cool enough to be worth preserving, I consider myself a curator who preserves it and cares for it, at least until it goes to a new curator.
Growing up I hung around around my friend’s dad. He was a gearhead who always had a revolving group of toys in his garage – dirt bikes, old Japanese motorcycles, go-carts, go peds, Joyners, all sorts of stuff. Used to let us ride them around and enjoy them. He was always flipping them for other new sub $1500 stuff.
My other friend’s dad had a 911. Never drove it. Never let his wife drive it. Never let his son drive it. Kept it in the garage under a cover. Literally just owned it so he could brag about owning it.
That reminds me of that red Ferrari in the glass garage that I saw some time ago, until some teens totaled it. They thought running it in reverse on a jackstand would cover up the miles driven while the dad was away.
If I’ve owned it for 35 years without ever making it operable, it’s time to drag it into the street for the next owner:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53155461865_9152264564_c.jpg
Well, it was probably time, anyway. I admit I may have rushed it.
My uncle Bob bought a 1928? Ford Model A in I think the early 1950s. It was supposedly a car he bought for his little brother (my father) as a daily driver.
I don’t think my dad ever drove it or if in fact it was in running condition when he bought it, somehow I don’t think it was.
Growing up every time we visited uncle Bob, I’d go out to his garage and see if anything had changed. My entire childhood it was in the exact same shape. It was facing the front of the garage with the hood off, interior was not all put together and it never moved probably in over 50 years minimum.
He also had a 1950s Truimph motorcycle of some sort that likewise never moved and a early 1980s Harley sports that he did ride and an ice boat disassembled in the rafters.
Fortunately he Did get the Model A running within the past 6 years, which means I think it is safe to say there was an approx. 70 years since it last ran!
When it’s worth more to someone else than it’s worth to me.
My purchase of a used 2006 Mazda 3s was a desperation move given that my car was suddenly totaled through no fault of my own while navigating a divorce. The rebuild title Mazda was a bit of a risk, but the rebuilder shared the original damage and it was not a front end hit. The car got me divorce, and years of child support, but the repair areas were starting to bubble a bit but the car looked presentable. That’s when I purchased my current 2016 Mazda 3.
Only really regret selling one…’16 ND. But with pandemic insanity I made $5k on it and I needed the cash.
At the end of the day it was relatively easily replaceable, although I did so with an NB.
Sometimes it’s a practical consideration, like parts availability ot structural integrity, but if you are passionate enough these can be overcome. Sometimes it’s because there is a bigger priority, like your kids.
But most of the time, in my experience, you just know you’re done with a certain car.
I remember reading a Perer Egan column where he related how he was repairing something on his Porsche 356, and thought something along the lines of “I like working on cars, but I’m not going to.work on this one anymore.” He finished what he was doing and sold it.
I have done this too. I have even made plans to finish the repairs a car needed before selling it, only to realize I was never going to turn a wrench on that car again. There is a point of no return, and when you hit it, there’s no unringing that bell.
Growing up I subscribed to R&T and Peter’s column (always at the back of each monthly issue) quickly became my favorite and something I’d look forward to reading each month
For a while, it was the only reason I ket subscribing. Then Larry Webster took over, brought in Sam Smith, and it was worth it again. And then they all went to Hagerty….
Depends if it’s a “forever vehicle” or daily driver/provides some sort of utility.
I have a few forever vehicles. Some I actually drive, and some are mostly just being stored for when I have the time and money to do what I want with them. Not in disrepair, but also not queens in any regard.
I also never buy any car that I don’t plan to keep forever. Of course, I don’t still have every car I’ve ever bought. Two were lost to wrecks, one, well, was hit twice in parking lots, and I was tired of the little gremlins that ensued, and the fact that no matter how flawless I had kept it, it was no longer perfect because body shops don’t care.
So, I’m not the best one to ask, cause I clearly haven’t learned. But at least I never will!
I’m not a good person to ask. I hold onto cars for a long time. I’ve owned my weekend fun car since 2002, and my Lemons race car since 2008.
I did recently sell my daily driver 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 that I bought in 2012. My reasoning there is that I’m a firm believer in having at least one car in my stable that’s reliable and not a project – something I can hop into and turn the key at any time and know I can drive anywhere without thinking about it. The MS3 is a bit high strung and maintenance intensive and it was getting to the age/mileage where it was going to require some serious attention. I already have 3 other cars in my fleet which are projects and always require some kind of work demanding my time, and I didn’t want my daily driver to become that too, so I sold it on Cars and Bids.