Anyone ever just kept what they already own?

ive had the 70 duster for arond 16 years now. the rest migrate.

i SHOULD keep what i already own as far as drivers go. im putting a motor in the ACR, so i have to keep it to break even on this one.

ebonyandivory wrote: I'm so freaking car/van/SUV/truck crazy that its negatively affecting my social life with Craigslist and everything else. Sometimes I feel like I should just keep what I own and ignore my fantasies. Anyone have any input? (I own a 2002 Protege5 and a 1995 F150 Flareside 4x4 Supercab)

I don't see a problem here...

My Wife drives a 92 Maxima with 260,xxx miles. The only thing that is taking this car from her is rust... I drive a 97 Jetta with 260,xxx miles also. I am keeping it. It is almost broken in... My fleet also has a 91 F250 Diesel and my 1986 GTi that is slowly rusting away also... Both with over 200,000 miles...

This reminds me....I have a GTI that's been sitting in the garage since I bought it in 2003......maybe I'll take a look at it today.....

I still have my first car, which I bought in 01. I've had my SC for 7 years now, and have no plans to sell it.

Of course, my dad's got me beat by a lot. He still has his parents' last car, (bought in 59), his first car (bought in 64), and his newest car (bought new in 90).

Hmmm... 200k+ on the 95 F15. Had the focus since it was new. Just decided to drop another Lima in the Danger Ranger, so there ya go. I like my old cars.

I plan to keep my '03 TDi for a very long time, or at least for as long as I'm driving as much as I do. It currently has 316K over the past 10 years (bought new). I need to pull it off the road for awhile to do some overdue maintenance, repairs and upgrades, but in general I still like being in the car for 2+ hrs/day.

Everything else... who knows. While I can't wait to rid myself of my E30, I have no plans to sell the GT6, Mini or 1800ES - but if somebody waved enough money in my face... The E30 will be replaced by a truck or van, but even that will be temporary while I work towards getting the Sprinter I really want, but can't afford right now.

I've considered selling/trading my Mustang a few times. But then I realize everything I'm looking at as a 'sports car' is less capable/slower/less comfortable than the pony. Plus, I've owned it since new and it just rolled over 100k last week.

Then there's the Explorer. I look at HD tow rigs frequently because the Explorer would be near it's limits towing the Mustang to the track. Of course, I don't actually track the car, and never have, and may not for a while....And I could probably tow it with the Explorer with a few reinforcements, it's rated to tow as much a brand new, entry level F150....And it does the camping/dog hauling/bike carrying so well....and we've had it since '00...

And the wife's MINI Cooper S...oh, wait just traded that in happily on the '14 Maz6. Got rid of it before it blew up and bankrupted me.

It seems that when you find vehicles that really, really work for what you actually do most of the time (not what you think you do, or dream of doing) then it makes sense to keep them until they can't be salvaged, or your activities change. That's one reason I don't mind buying new cars - if I'm spending that much money, I'm doing a ton of research to make sure I'm gettign the best possible fit for what I need and enjoy.

Which leads me to say that as my financials plane out I can see other cheap beaters rotating in and out to fill temporary whims/projects/pursuits.

Speaking of, I saw a 78 Bronco sitting on at least 38" mudders with a pipe farm's worth of steel tube accessories for sale when I was biking last night....I need to go look at that....

I've kept my first car, a 1966 Dodge Dart, and do not plan to sell it.

I had been contemplating getting another car to replace my BMW 328 which just hit 200,000 miles, but car shopping lately has been such an exercise in frustration that I've decided I'll just hang onto the BMW another year or more.

I am planning on keeping my Civic (but as a FSP autocrosser not DD) and Spitfire for a long time.

I'm constantly shopping.
My iPhone has the CL app that "dings" me when certain cars come up for sale. That way I don't have to sit at the computer several times a day.

I think its called CraigsPro+ or something like that. It helped me pick up a nice GC8 2.5RS Impreza last year.

I own one car that I paid more than $850 for. It is also the car I have owned the longest. $1250 for a 1969 Mustang convertible that I bought 37 years ago.

Current DD is 12 years old .with 379,000 miles and no signs of giving up, but I do have a spare engine/transmission ready.

Bought a brand new 1995 Mustang and kept it for 10 years, but we never really...bonded! Last 2 years I owned it it mostly just sat because I liked my 91 Escort better!

Bruce

I think I've only sold one working car in my life, a 95 dodge avenger. The rest I keep until they're dead, destroyed, or stolen. I get attached. I also spend a lot of time searching for the exactly what I want, so when I find it I tend to hang on to them.

Ive kept TOO MUCH of what ive owned! Im 28, ive owned about 50 cars, and i still own over 25% of them.

Longest ive owned any one car was about 11.5 years but technically the only reason i got rid of that car was because i 'cloned' it onto a nicer shell before scrapping it, so in a way, i still have that car.

I'm a constant shopper, but a "buy and hold" guy in the end. I've had my MG Midget since I was 13 (so 24 years), my '02 WRX wagon since new (so 11 years), and my E36 M3 for only a year, but it's the second one for me.

I love all these cars, but feel a bit trapped, because I can't see myself selling any of them, and my family is growing so I'd like to get a nicer and slightly larger vehicle (like Ford Flex, new JGC, or something) that can tow an Airstream, which is our dream purchase. Can't pull the AussiesMG and keep 'em all either because military. I've wanted to sell the MG a hundred times, but I can't ever seem to pull the trigger, because when she runs, she RUNS.

I've had over 120 cars in 37 years. Longest I've had any of them is 5 years. Usually selling one pays for the next one or two, so I haven't really spent 120 cars worth of money on them, only a couple dozen cheap cars worth of money, so it's not like I could have afforded the classic Ferrari or GT40 I really want had I not had that many cars... And since no car I can really afford is my dream car (i.e a car that is exactly what I want), I feel no real loyalty to them, even if I like them quite a bit.

petegossett wrote: Coming form the IT world, I've adapted to RAID array to my fleet: the Redundant Array of Inexpensive Cars.

I have 6, 3 of them can be called upon to take me to work....

I like this Accord. A lot. Enough that I'm going to hold onto it for a long time, if not forever.

Wish I had another WJ V8 though. I miss that kind of utility and luxury.

I feel like im doing really well when i hit that 50% drivable number. I was over 50% a few weeks ago, then a power steering pulley broke on one car, my fiancee wrecked another one, and i ran one out of gas in the driveway yesterday so i couldnt exactly hop in that one and go either... LOL

Hmm, I'm not sure I held on to any of them longer than my few first cars in high school and college, for lack of budget reasons. But since 16 I've had: 1990 Accord EX Sedan (Stayed in the family from 1990-2002) 1985 Saab 900 SPG (for a week, blew its transmission and the seller took it back) 1989 Prelude Si (4 years till a tree fell on it) 2002 Civic (4 years) 1998 Pathfinder (Beater for a few months when I moved to Boston) 2003 Wrangler Columbia Ed. (3 months till I bought the car below) 2001 Lexus IS300 (2 months till I totalled it, leased the car below) 2005 Accord V6 Coupe (leased it, bought it out after 6 months) 2002 Saab 9-3 SE Convertible (total lemon, bought back by dealer after 1 month) 2001 BMW 330CiC (1 year) 2003 BMW 330Xi (2 years) 2007 Mazda 6 V6 5-speed Sedan (9 months, sold it when I moved and didn't need a car for a while). 2003 Nissan Titan (other half's truck. Hated it.) Another Wrangler, 2002 Sport with a bizzillion miles on it A 2003 Escalade (total blasphemy, also a total lemon bought back by the dealer and traded out for the car below. Only had it 4 or 5 months) A 2004 Infiniti G35 Sedan (still one of my favorite cars, sold it when I moved to NYC) 2002 Xterra (my other half's truck. Used this for 6 months of commuting between Boston and NYC). Sold the Xterra and we bought a 1-owner, unbelievable low mile 2004 Grand Cherokee Limited 4.7. Still have this truck, it's our daily driver, road trip truck, hauler of Boxers. 1983 Porsche 944. Still have this, but in the midst of trading it for an E30 convertible, which I plan to keep in the family.

I eventually realized its much more fun, and cheaper, to trade in and out of cheaper cars. I'm also totally unlike my parents who buy cars and hold on to them until they make their way through our family some how.

In reply to redhookfern:

Pics of said WJ. NOW. H.O.?

The longest I've owned anything that actually runs is my truck which I bought new 6 years ago. I tend to own yard art the longest, which makes me sad.
Right now I'm trying to come to terms with keeping five cars insured and driving them enough to justify their existence and have them not turn into yard art.

I have had my 68 BGT for something like 15-16 years now, and don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. Also I treat the Excursion as a "forever" car since there really isn't anything I could see replacing it. Other stuff comes and goes.

i bought my '96 PGT in the summer of '03, sold it in the fall of '12. if my current comp package didn't include a car, i'd still have the PGT as a backup slash winter beater to my '03 mazda6. i am definitely buy-and-hold, with an occasional flip here and there.

I tend to keep stuff forever, whilst my wife changes cars nearly as often as the sheets on the bed.

2005 Mazda MPV since 2005
1988 Mazda RX-7 TII since 2002
1985 Chevrolet C-30 since 1999

Wife is in a 2013 Honda Accord V6, which follows a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, which followed a 2010 Mazda 3 Sport...

I keep cars a long time. I think about them quite a bit, surf Craigslist and so on, talk about them incessantly, and read about them, but I rarely buy or sell one. It helps to have other hobbies, as well.