I develop unreasonable attachment to inanimate objects.

I bought a gently crashed 05 Sentra SpecV a few months ago, fixed, safetied, installed header, checked oil consumption, was sad, bought a crashed Altima and swapped engines, drove long enough to determine the new engine was really good, then promptly drove it into the side of an SUV and knocked the front bumper off it.  First at fault collision since 1980.  And boy howdy, was it ever my fault...

Berkeley.

Settled with insurance for a reasonable sum, decided I didn't want to pay $600 to retain the salvage, waited for it to come up on bids.  Minimum bid was $600.  Didn't bid, and it didn't sell, so now its in a package of cars going to the wrecking yard.

I feel like I've looked my dog in the eye, and said, "Sorry boy, I'm not willing to pay the vet.  You gonna die."

I felt that way about my Nissan truck, but it ran so poorly today I am so over it.  I know it can’t be much, but I have no desire to diagnose it.  

I have never been sad selling a car. 

That always happens years later when the pain they caused has worn off. 

My wife and I bought a new 2002 Malibu when we got married.  We needed a new car for her and the Chevy dealer needed to rid themselves of this one so we became the proud owners of one of the most mediocre cars on the road.  Over the next thirteen years we covered 413,000 fairly trouble free miles before a minor collision and significant rust caused us to retire her.  She drove to the scrap yard under her own power with the Check engine light coming on as we pulled into the lot.  As we were walking out of the office with our check we stopped to say goodbye and the wife and I started crying.  

E36M3!!!!! I'm covered up with these objects y'all talk about.....

thread title sounds like something my wife would say about me.

boaty mcfailface said:

thread title sounds like something my wife would say about me.

Or she could say about herself!

Me too. I usually feel like I'm betraying a family member every time I sell a car 

Streetwiseguy said:

I feel like I've looked my dog in the eye, and said, "Sorry boy, I'm not willing to pay the vet.  You gonna die."

And like a beloved dog, even though you've abandoned your faithful companion in its hour of need, it's still not mad at you...Just disappointed. 

In reply to Driven5 :

idk whether to thumbs up this or thumbs down 

Selling cars mean I get a new project and get to learn about something else - always happy to sell.  There are some regrets down the road, sort of miss my 90 Eagle Talon TSi AWD, some days I miss the reliable 535 wheel horsepower of my supercharged C5, I don't miss my E55 AMG at all.  Occasionally miss my LSC or my beat up F150.  I think when I sell my WRX I will miss it, jury is still out on my Viper.  

I don't sell cars specifically for this reason.  In my life I have sold three cars.  The Sentra, I didn't GAF about too much.  It was an appliance that broke a lot and I still sold it for more than I had into it after two years of ownership.    The Golf, when sold, was sent off to its new home with a handwritten list of the weird stuff with it (like, the front brakes and suspension are from a GTI, the switch on the dash is for the rear wiper since I liked controlling it manually better than the VW automated system, don't close the door by pulling on the seatbelt or you will bend the door enough that you break doorhandles when you try to open it, etc)  I have a feeling the new owner drove it for a week or two and then parted it out, because that is what everyone did with Golfs at the time.

I didn't really "sell" the S40 so much as rehomed it.  I sent to to a farm far away where it can play with all the other Volvos.  At the same time, I know it's not mine anymore and what happens with it is by definition no longer my business.  I don't know if I could feel the same way about my RX-7 - I don't want to sell it because I would feel sick if someone hacked it up to go Lemons racing or something.

I'll be sad, but happy when I finally get to part with my challenge Miata....

It's been an ordeal since picking it up, fixing it, and not driving it.

Selling cars does make me sad, partially because I usually drive them forever so I've got a lot of time built up with them. Some make me more sad than others, but TBH I usually take a little less money for them so I can sell them to a good home.

My wife says some people adopt lost stray dogs to love and care for, but I do it with cars.  

I think probably most of us here suffer from that same issue. I've sold a few cars, but only ones that I hadn't had for more than a year or so. After a few years of ownership, I usually have so much time sunk into each of them that they feel like a little part of me, I guess. I've considered selling one of my cars numerous times (and have even posted here about it) but it would be way too hard to see someone else drive away in it knowing it would probably not be taken care of, and knowing I'd probably never see it again.

There are too many cars out there I want to check out, so I pretty much have to sell cars to give as many a shot as possible.  I also have a tendency to get tired of my daily driver way too often.  I’ve had my rallycross car for about 6 years now, and that’s an extremely long time for me.

For the last ten years or so, it seems like I only keep a daily for about 2 years max, although in at least one of those cases it was because my wife totaled her car, and decided she wanted my car rather than going car shopping.

Back to the original post topic, I do get a bit emotional about some of them, but usually they are worn out, or had just frustrated me enough by the time I got rid of them that it’s not too bad.  I mostly felt happiness when I replaced the Highlander with the Lexus GS last year.

One of the reasons I haven't listed the R63 publicly is because I think it's too special to just sell to anyone. I know that's wrong, but it still affects the way I think. 

Cars... bikes... guitars... I just hate selling stuff in general.

I definitely have a problem with attachment to inanimate objects.  The extreme level of crap in my house is testament to that fact.  I have stuff up there that I've hauled around for over 40 years.  It's bad.  If I have one real goal for 2018 it will be to make at least some progress with purging.

The only running car I ever got rid of was my Cavalier. We traded it in towards the Fiat and when we dropped it off at the dealer I left a note in it for the new owner to know it was a good little car with a couple minor quirks.  I also put the spare parts I had in a box in the trunk.  

I may have issues.

Wally said:

I have issues.

FTFY...I thought that was why we were all here.

I hung on to an old 5 series BMW for years. 

Was rotten beyond my skill set to repair, didn't stay running, missing a lot of important pieces, every panel had issues, lots of broken pieces.

Took 8 years to GIVE it away to a BMW guy because I just couldn't bring myself to a) drag it for scrap b) accept money for it when he was driving 2 hours to pick it up based on the shape of it. 

Guilty.

Sold our 34' Sea Ray (The REAL Salty Dog) last fall after 12 great years and still can't bring myself to look at pictures of it. The only thing that helps is the spreadsheet of money saved/not spent since selling it.

And I talk to my truck...

(No, it doesn't talk back, nor does it have a name.)

I have a hard time with selling stuff as I always think I will miss it. But I never do once it’s done. Although I have had the same two miatas since 2002 and 2007. Funnily enough, when I was thinking about the 1992 I bought in 2002, I asked on this very forum and people recommended against it. But it all worked out!

joey

I figure once we have swapped blood/grease during a repair, we are bonded for life.