What cars have you given up on?

My recent E28 test drive left me with a certain intangible emptiness that I didn't have the first time. Maybe it was the traffic or the A/C blower on max with the windows up, but it just wasn't as giggle inducing as the first time.

Other cars include:
G50 Porsche 911s- I still love those cars, but the 993 is such a better car, driving and looks wise.

Porsche 914- I used to be obsessed with performing an EJ25 swap, but the examples I've found are just too expensive and too broken.

W123 coupes- sellers always want too much for a 7/10 car with a crappy color combo.

E30 BMWs- unless I get one for a screaming deal, meh.

X100 XKR/X308 XJR- the engine (if original) and trans are made of explodium, the coupes are pricier than the convertibles and an LS1/T56 swap would be a PITA. I can get a DB7 GT for that money.

E28-39 M5/E31 850- I don't want the owner$hip experience that comes with them.

BD Legacy GT wagon- they're all trashed and have automatics

M100X CUCVs- the 6.2 diesel sucks and they're all automatics

'79 K5 Blazer 4WD 454 4 speed- rare-ish, I couldn't afford to fill the tank for a run to the grocery store

Any Porsche 928- Porsche V8 used engine repair- it's super effective! Wallet has fainted!


I should mention that I still look for these on CL/eBay/etc., I just don't ever expect to find a good example/the right example.
 
Last edited:
All cars other than my Jeep. For the moment.

I'm sick of being dirt poor with more than one car in the driveway. It's useless because I can only ever drive one, then I feel like I'm neglecting the other one. So I'll probably (try) to stop my car buying habit until I start making some real coin.

Until then, the list of cars I want will only grow.
 
Ultra Rare for good price
GMC Typhoon

I was looking at those when I bought my Explorer, but realized my primary reason for buying another car was to have a relatively new DD. I would have hated to put a Typhoon through that abuse.

Hard to find in good condition
Ford Bronco 1966-77
Especially if you are looking for stock. If you can find one, expect to pay big for it.
 
Re: What cars have you given up on?

Saturn SL's

*waits while half of Final Gear members drop their drink of choice on the floor mid sip*

It would have to be a limited edition (yes there were a few) to truly get my attention but meh to the rest. Everyone's gotta move on sometime....
 
I'm no longer searching for a Citroen DS is usable condition for under $10,000. DS' pop up occasionally here but all require more work then I'll be able to aforrd for a while.

Still holding out for a mid 90s Niva in decent condition for under $3000. Nivas turn up on craigslist every couple of months but the last few have been dogs and held together with bondo.
 
I'm no longer searching for a Citroen DS is usable condition for under $10,000. DS' pop up occasionally here but all require more work then I'll be able to aforrd for a while.

Still holding out for a mid 90s Niva in decent condition for under $3000. Nivas turn up on craigslist every couple of months but the last few have been dogs and held together with bondo.

Aren't they all?
 
Ok, starting from where I was young...

Audi 80 B4 - I wanted one, but as I had the money, it got too old.
Any larger Alfa Romeo - Some looked cool, up to the day the rust showed up.
Opel Kadett E - rust.
VW Golf Mk3 - right up to the moment where I found out, that it was made out of russian steel.
Opel Calibra -
Opel Kadett C - good ones: too expensive, bad ones: rust.
Porsche 944S - Prices kept rising.
Audi A8 - Actually looked at 2, but the A6 Avant had more Bootspace, and the insurance cost on the A8 was from outta space.


I've sometimes ended up with cars even worse, I had a Corsa/Nova and a Vectra B for instance. :lol:
 
Porsche 928.
 
Infiniti Q45. I looked at a couple before buying my Crown Vic, and they were falling apart inside and generally drove like crap.
 
First gen/G50. The ones I was looking at weren't enthusiast owned, so one that was would have likely driven/held up better.
 
Yeah, any car that age that's not enthusiast owned will be falling apart by then. The worst, though, is enthusiast owned on a limited budget, where you're likely to end up with a half-finished project.
 
Owning any car, at the moment. It doesn't make sense from a practical point of view: my apartment only has (scarce) street parking, my daily commute to the lab involves a ten minute walk followed by a ten minute bus ride, and the fun things I do on the weekend are done with friends, so I hitch rides with them.

From an emotional/enthusiast point of view, for the dozen or so times a year when I've wanted to go somewhere alone, I've rented a car, and I've really gotten addicted to the feeling of driving a different car each time. Since January, I've rented twelve different models from six different manufacturers, ranging from tiny hatchbacks to midsize/large sedans to SUVs. The variety has been great (I've only gotten the same car twice, and it was a Focus, so I wasn't about to complain :D), and I've been able to get first hand experiences of cars instead of just arguing about them on the Internet (Kia Rio? More fun to drive than a Ford Fiesta, and the Fiesta's not exactly boring, either). I know the emotional link to a car you drive for, at most, two weeks isn't anywhere near as strong as it is to one you own for a decade, but I'm enjoying my automotive one night stands for now. :cool:
 
Porsche 928, Ford Fairmont, '03-'04 Mustang Cobras, Trans-Am WS6
 
my three first cars Merc w116 380SE '79, Datsun z240 '79 and Chevy K5 Blazer '82 are cars that i miss from my youth in the 1990'ish. just couldnt afford such cars when i was 20 years old and a student.
 
Last edited:
2001 BMW 325ci. I think every electrical component in the car was bad. It was purchased at auction with a clean title but I swear it was a flood car that was never turned in.

Bought it for $11,000 in around 2007-2008 and dumped it for $4,500 about a year and a half later with more problems than I cared to attempt to fix.
 
There are always those attainable cars that you used to find interesting, desirable, and worth buying at some earlier point in life, but which later on lose their luster for one reason or another, especially if you can afford it now. I was thinking about the cars that I would constantly search Craigslist for, but now have no longer bothered with. It's quite a long list, actually:

1995-1999 supercharged Buick Riviera
1995-1999 Oldsmobile Aurora
2000-2001 Chrysler Concorde LXi
1999-2004 Chrysler 300M
1998-2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (without the WS6 nostrils)
1997-1998 Lincoln Mark VIII
1995-1997 Jaguar XJ6
2002-2003 Nissan Maxima SE (with the 6-speed manual)
1990-1996 Nissan 300ZX
1990-1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4
1987-1993 Mercedes 190E 2.6

Cars that are just about to fall off the edge of my radar include the (gulp) 1991-1995 Toyota MR2 Turbo and the Jaguar XJS and XJ12.

So, what cars make you think "I used to like this car, and at this point I could conceivably buy one, but I can't be bothered now" ?

Dude get out of my Brain holy shit we have about the same list. Subtract the Aurora and add a Supercharged Bonneville then subtract the 190E and add first gen Sentra SE-R. I would take add XJR to XJ6 though. I still look for those cars from time to time but I don't have auto searches set up for them anymore. I do scroll our recently appraised car lists looking for them from time to time. If a deal fell through on a car like that at the right time I might go after it myself privately.


First and Second gen DSMs still roll through occasionally in fact we have taken three in trade within the last year but one was rusted so rusted I cannot believe they were still driving it. The front strut towers were over 50% gone. Both rockers were rusted through and the rear fender wells rusted mostly through. A good sized pothole probably would have broken the car in half.

The other two had so many mods on them that they were just too scary to contemplate.
 
Top