Does selling a car make you sad?

"RyanFrew" (ryanfrew) 10/03/2014 at 12:22 • Filed to: Emotions

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I've owned 4 cars in my life: A '67 Mustang, a '96 ES300, a '89 944 NA, and a '05 MINI Cooper S. The ES300 was easy to sell because it was a beater. The other three are still in the garage. But the MINI has been my DD for the past five years and I've fallen in love with it. It's been incredibly reliable, a blast to drive, and, as corny as it sounds, I have a lot of memories in it. But it's pushing 115,000 miles, which means that I'm either going to need to invest a lot in it to keep it on the road, or send it off. There's an '05 RX8 in my area with 50,o00 miles for $8k. Tempting.

Anyways, the thought of selling the MINI makes me incredibly sad. Selling it means never turning it into a race car and someday being told by my kids that I should've never sold it. It feels ridiculous to be this sentimental about a car. Do you think that automatically renders selling it the wrong idea?

E30Joe drives a Subaru > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 12:28

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At my dealership (before we split Mini in to it's own dealership and we were BMW+Mini) we would occasionally get this one first gen cooper S in... Crazy car. Completely stripped, 1 seat, caged, slicks, big(ger) brakes, cool aero, lots of carbon fiber, straight piped with misc. engine upgrades that I don't know about. Coolest Mini ever to drive and the clutch wasn't an angry clutch. Keep it and do that.

MachtSchnell > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 12:37

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Regardless of selling the mini PLEASE don't but an RX8, it's a GREAT chassis but a thirsty and unreliable engine. That said, you might regret selling the mini but it might not be too bad to find a new experience and if you miss it you can get a younger one (mileage wise) for the same total cost as you'd have spent on maintenance plus what you get out of yours. YMMV, but that's just my $.02

T5Killer > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 12:43

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If I sold my Cobra I would be a wreck. I have owned her for 15 almost 16 years (This December will be 16 years)

JGrabowMSt > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 12:44

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My Magnum has 147,500. Whats this big investment to keep it running?

Its an excuse for well thought upgrades, not OEM replacements left and right.

Anything you'll be looking to have work done on will be a consumable part you would probably have to do anyway at some point in time.

Keep the car, its been good to you, and now you can just make it better and better over time.

TwinCharged - Is Now UK Opponaut > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 12:45

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Our '05 Cooper S has been the family DD for nine years now. Once it's passed on to me, I've promised myself I'll never sell it. Far too many memories now.

RyanFrew > E30Joe drives a Subaru 10/03/2014 at 12:46

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Super tempting. Unfortunately, the racing scene for MINIs is pretty weak. They're wrong wheel drive, a pain to work on, and, even when people try, they still get beat by well modified Civics.

RyanFrew > JGrabowMSt 10/03/2014 at 12:51

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The car has never had the supercharger oil replaced. It has never been replaced, because doing so requires making the care look like this, and then pulling the S/C altogether:

6 hour job by a pro - it'll run me close to $1,000. Oh, and the head gasket needs replaced, as well as some other stuff that I can do myself. Point is, things are starting to go.

RyanFrew > MachtSchnell 10/03/2014 at 12:53

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Yeah...the RX8s are cheap, but I think I'm figuring out why. Just came across one gorgeous example . 45,000 miles on it, $8,000. The dude had to have the whole engine replaced 5,000 miles ago.

Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:02

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When I was about 20 years old, I picked up a '84 Camaro Berlinetta. It only cost me $500 so it had the type of problems you would associate with a $500 car.

I. Loved. That. Car.

It was fun. The previous owner had swapped the V6 for a V8. It was automatic but it was a cheap car so I didn't care. I needed it for school. A buddy of mine had a 2005ish C230 Kompressor and he loved going on cruises. So instead of me bumming around with him, I got to follow him and our friends for the cruises. It lit up tires like it was no one's business. And then, it stopped. Just died in my driveway. I was able to get it started by throwing in almost half a can of starter spray at it but it would only stay running so long as someone was pressing the gas. Since I drove about 30 minutes each way for school and work, I decided (regrettably) to sell it and get something that had a little more reliability. I sold it for the $500 that I paid and went and picked up a '94 Ford Ranger. I still wish I had found a way that I could have gotten a second car and kept the Camaro as a fixer.

I still miss it.

JGrabowMSt > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:08

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I would learn about the car and go nuts. You could look for a whole new motor, swap them, rebuild the original and then keep it running.

Keep it as a track car if its that hard to sell.

camaroboy68ss > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:12

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I get attached to any car that I own or my grandpa has dragged home. I usually can't be over at his place when he sell a car. Even when I know we are buying a car to flip I still get attached. It's easier though when we sell out of town. I can't stand seeing a car we owned running around because most of the time its treated worse. I sold my 97 Z28 and a week later the guy blew the motor up. I couldn't believe it.

flashkeyster > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:21

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Just sold my '06 Cooper S because a baby seat and 2 dogs wouldn't fit. My wife claimed I teared up as I pulled away but I swear it was just the high pollen count that day. ;)

CaptDale - is secretly British > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:24

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Yes it is very hard to sell one of my personal vehicles. Friends cars on the other hand are easy as hell.

Cash Rewards > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:33

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I had an 05 that looked just like yours in autocross trim:hyper blue metallic with black stripes, those same wheels, etc. I had the 17s that came with the sport pack but they weighed a ton each. Sold it at 98000miles for a mkvi gti because our dog is huge and we were planning on a kid. Love the gti, but I miss the hell out of that MINI. I made the sale for the same reason you're looking at, and it was the right choice. But, I miss the hell out of that car.

Cash Rewards > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:36

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yup, it was dominant in g stock but outgunned in d stock. And it lacks the displacement to run competitively (or is too heavy compared to an stripped down old civic si) in any of the street or mod classes.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 13:46

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It all depends on the car. Getting rid of the GTI was a blessing. I loved driving it, but it was such an electrical nightmare that I was happy to have something that wasn't going to leave me stranded - again.

The Rabbit pickup was fast, but too cramped, and to be honest, I'm not really a pickup kind of a guy.

The 320i went to a good home, and my friend still uses it regularly.

The W210 was, well, since I can't remember that much about it I guess I can't say I miss it. Cold and uninvolving, without the luxury that was once associated with MB. It was quick, but detached. I wish I had purchased a W124 instead.

The Windstar was a beat-up piece of frustrating crap, and getting rid of it helped put memories of a number of bad years behind me.

But parting with the E34 525i? That one still stings. It wasn't by choice, but at least she's owned by someone that loves and cherishes her, nearly as much as I did. I still get to drive her when I visit, but I wish she was still mine.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 15:04

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Yes, even selling my 2000 Mitsubishi Galant made me sad. God, I even miss my first car, a 1995 Corolla sometimes.

MachtSchnell > RyanFrew 10/03/2014 at 15:37

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My friend had 2 cats fail in 13 months 8,000 miles. His car had about 25,000 miles.

RyanFrew > MachtSchnell 10/03/2014 at 15:39

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It's starting to look like I'll only trade the Mini if there's an S2000 on the table.