When do you know you have too many vehicles?

Its a trick question. To weed out the non GRMers

When adding one more car means you can't afford to maintain any of them. In my experience, anyway.

JoeyM wrote: I don't understand the question

ditto... it's an unpossible situation..

Maybe it is secret code for "not enough shop space"

spitfirebill wrote: When you don't anywhere to hide them from SWMBO.

= 1,000,000,000

When any one of them requires enough attention that the fleet becomes a public service announcement about deferred maintenance.

I've got some nice cars I've let slip the past year while I've spent a horrifying amount of money and time on racing.

I love 'em, but I was genuinely envious of the 2011 WRX Sti a friend brought by so I could flush the brakes and do their tech sheet before a track day this weekend.

Nice, comfortable, practical fast car that needs no work.

I was with the "I dont understand the question" crowd, but then I thought about it.

914Driver had a quote I printed and placed on a project car. "When your project becomes a storage shelf, you are on a very slippery slope." Oddly enough, I ended up not finishing that car.

Thats not the answer to the original question, but certianly a symptom.

I ditch projects by a nine to one ratio over finishing them. And thats OK, sometimes its the act of working on them that I find realxing. I can get months of pleasure from going to my garage and simply taking a vehicle apart, putting the good bits on CL or fleabay and then junking the rest.

My hobby is further complicated by moves every 3 to 4 years and deployments in between. Invariably toward the end of a deployment, I over estimate my free time and ability and underestimate the commitment involved. My recent lust for the Porsche powered LeGrand in the $2K13 section for example. Glad it sold, I was about to be in trouble.

I say that in order to say this;

When you go to your shop or garage and you are paralyzed by choice, or overwhelmed by the work presented to you to the piont where it isn't pleasurable, or you aviod the area all together, then its too many. For the guy with kids, a demanding job, and volunteer efforts, that may even minor mods on the DD to autocross three times a year. This is compounded by your skill set, availible space and tools. So you take a guy like 914 Driver or JWth8t and the threshold is larger. But I have seen even both of them forced into a great "garage purge" to reset and focus on things they can actually get done.

The original idea of this thread was the (very) funny picture of Tim the Toolman. But even that carries a note of caution. He is divorced. This is a woman that stood by him when he was in prison but wouldn't tolerate not being a priority. I read an interview when he picked up his Lingenfelter Supernatural Impalla SS. He something along the lines of I know one day I won't regret the time I didn't spend at work.

Sorry if this seems preachy, it just kinda happend when I started typing.

When do you know you have too many vehicles? When you ignore what really matters, and its not fun.

Now if you'll excuse me, Billy Bring Down has to go look at the $2k13 Classifieds

I sort of mirror his sentiments. I've almost given up on the hobby completely. I have a Miata that i daily, and HATE. I have an every option thunderbird Turbo in need of significant restoration, something i used to DREAM of doing, and it sits. And it will continue to sit, probably till i tire of looking at it. It is, and likely always will be my favorite car ever produced, and i love the one in my barn, but family, work, and life in general have pushed it so far back on my list, it has sat literally untouched, for years now. I dont even remember now, as it sit here on break, why i like the car... I'm sure there were reasons, probably used to have reasons for liking that damned Mazda i drive, too. But its all gone now.

It kind of feels like when you were 10 yrs old and there was this 'thing' you wanted, more than anything in the world. Doesnt matter what it was for you, but it was something for everyone. Then you turn 30, and find that 'thing' in the attic or basement, and smile to yourself at how completely rediculous you were at 10. Then you throw it away, or even worse, you stuff it back in the box, with some kind of psychotic delusion that maybe your kids will have the same desire at 10. Spoiler alert: They wont. At least not in my expierence.

Isn't it funny how a simple funny picture can conjure up this kind of nostalgic regret about the past, truthful shame at the present, and complete fear of the future?

I think it may be time to clean out a 17' X 6' spot in my barn...

-J0N

Fine guys, be a buzzkill.

Here's a nuanced, more thoughtful answer than my earlier "I don't understand the question," that is a little less depressing than your answers. GRM recently sold a gorgeous little yellow MGB for an absolute steal of a price. I did NOT buy it, and I'll explain why.

I don't believe that "too many cars" is a valid answer for a GRMer. I do believe that "not enough money to finish it", "not enough space to store it," and "not enough time to work on it" are reasonable, valid answers.

The yellow MGB was the right car (old, odd, cute), at the right place (GRM HQ is an easy drive from here), at the right price (cheap)........but it was the wrong time. I'm not done with the datsun, and that meant the MG would have to sit outside, neglected, for a long time before I could give it the attention it needed.

I don't have too many cars, but I do have too little time to take on another project if it cannot sit for a while. That car was gorgeous, and it deserved much better than sitting outside. I struggled with it, and came close to buying it.....but I let the purchase slip through my fingers (TWICE!!) because I didn't think it was right to do.

Rad_Capz wrote: 88 Nova Twin Cam sitting out rusting

I feel absolutely ridiculous because this is the car from your list that I saw and said... 'Hey... I want that.'

I need to drive them. I'm not a 'cars as art' type of owner. I'm glad that other people are, but I get enjoyment from driving cars. It's not unusual that I'll drop my kids off to school in one car, stop by home and swap cars to run to the store, and pick them up at the end of the day in a third. I could probably take on an extra car or two, but how much would it be driven? The worst part right now is that I've recently become forced to drive my truck more for kid stuff. I have four kids and one is playing the tuba. The only vehicle that will handle all of that is the crew cab truck and I don't really like it. I can't figure out what to replace it with that will truly excite me though.

I am working on finding the answer personally.

So far, all is good.

When keeping up to date on the work needed crosses the fun / PITA threshold.

Too many cars? Make one car.

Have lifted truck.

Have Miata.

Only one space.

Miata truck.

JoeyM wrote: Fine guys, be a buzzkill. Here's a nuanced, more thoughtful answer than my earlier "I don't understand the question," that is a little less depressing than your answers. GRM recently sold a gorgeous little yellow MGB for an absolute steal of a price. I did NOT buy it, and I'll explain why. ...

I cannot express how happy I am I missed that

JoeyM wrote: Fine guys, be a buzzkill. Here's a nuanced, more thoughtful answer than my earlier "I don't understand the question," that is a little less depressing than your answers. GRM recently sold a gorgeous little yellow MGB for an absolute steal of a price. I did NOT buy it, and I'll explain why. ...

I cannot express how happy I am I missed that

Mental wrote:

JoeyM wrote: Fine guys, be a buzzkill. Here's a nuanced, more thoughtful answer than my earlier "I don't understand the question," that is a little less depressing than your answers. GRM recently sold a gorgeous little yellow MGB for an absolute steal of a price. I did NOT buy it, and I'll explain why. ...

I cannot express how happy I am I missed that

Just in case you needed to make the point more clearly I reposted it, again