Back in July, I announced that I’m selling off a handful of vehicles, starting off with the projects that I just knew that I wasn’t going to finish. I’ve let go of a lot of vehicles I thought I’d keep for a long time and I’m finding their departure less disturbing than I’d have originally assumed. Instead, reducing my 27-vehicle-strong fleet has been refreshing. Now, I’m going to let even more cars go, and one reason why is making me excited.
For years, I’ve been known in various spaces as a serial collector. It used to be that I collected Matchbox cars. Then I started collecting obscure smartphones and later, custom-built computers and old iPods. In more recent years, I’ve pivoted to vehicles, buying and selling all sorts of cars and motorcycles. I mean, I’m the lady who loves Smart so much that I own six Fortwos and plan on collecting more!
Sometimes I let my collecting get out of hand and I think I reached that point. By the spring of this year, I had a total of 27 vehicles, 17 of which were cars, 9 were motorcycles, and one bus (plus a camper). Recently, I wrote an article about the cool cars you can import in 2025 and one of them, the Audi A2, is a car I want to import as soon as I find one that’s old enough. My excitement dimmed at the thought of adding even more cars to my fleet. Then I thought about it. Why do I own some of the cars I have? Why not just have nothing but my dream fleet?
That made something in my head click. One of the blessings and curses of working for a car website is that I don’t have a real commute. I wake up, I get showered, I get dressed, and I get my blood flowing before I sit down at a computer in my apartment. I could go weeks before I need to drive a car for a practical reason. So, if nothing needs to be a daily driver, there’s nothing stopping me from just owning nothing but the cars I dream about.
This has brought me to one conclusion: Everything that isn’t a dream car needs to go right now.
Now, I want to be clear that what counts as a dream car to me isn’t what most picture when that term is uttered. I have six Smart Fortwos because those are the cars I love so dearly. They’re also dirt cheap to maintain when you know how to work on them yourself. I could keep a Smart alive with my eyes closed. So, those aren’t going anywhere. I’m also not getting rid of the Saturn Sky Red Line or my Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI. Those are the cars I dreamed about owning when I was a kid and I finally have them. I’m so excited I get to say that! I also adore my Honda Beat and my Suzuki Every Kei cars.
Then I got to the rest of my list. I had two Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDIs, a very well-used Volkswagen Phaeton V8, a BMW 530xi wagon, a Volkswagen Passat TDI, a Buell Blast I wasn’t riding, a Genuine Stella scooter that doesn’t even run, and a Volkswagen Touareg VR6 that required far more in repairs than it was even worth.
I’ve been going through my head over and over with these vehicles, asking myself a few questions. Why did I buy these vehicles? What practical value do these vehicles add? How much does it cost to keep them around? And perhaps most important to me, someone who doesn’t actually need a daily driver: What do these cars do for my feelings?
The answer is that all of the cars on the above list don’t actually do much for me. I bought the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI because I was searching for the holy grail of Volkswagen diesel wagons. That was also the same reason I bought the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI and the 2005 Volkswagen Passat TDI wagon. Until recently, these cars lived side-by-side!
How did I buy three diesel wagons in the search for the grail? The 2012 white Jetta has a DSG, and that didn’t do it for me, so I bought the black 2010, which has a six-speed manual. That was better, but once the honeymoon wore off it sort of just became a car to me. It defaulted to being the closest I had to a daily driver. I then picked up the Passat TDI because it had a manual swap and I thought finally, that car would be the grail.
I’ve come to the confusing realization that either these cars are not the grails I’ve been searching for, or maybe I’ve just fallen out of love with Volkswagen diesel wagons. Either way, I lost the feelings I had for these cars and they aren’t dream cars, so it’s time to get rid of them. I sold the Passat TDI earlier this year and in typical Volkswagen fashion, it fell apart on the owner on the way home.
A few weeks or so ago I sold my 2010 Jetta SportWagen TDI to a diesel fan. I haven’t heard much from the buyer since, so I assume things are going pretty okay. I sure hope so. Now, it’s time to let go of the 2012 SportWagen and its impressive 355,000 miles. There was a time I thought I was going to take that car to a million miles, now I don’t care.
I also sold my beloved U-Haul CT13 earlier this year. I met up with the owner a few days ago and I’m happy to hear he’s made good progress on the restoration. He’s reconditioned the wheels and the frame, but sadly, the original 40-year-old curtains disintegrated into a sort of cotton powder when he tried cleaning them.
Once these cars are out of my life the only Volkswagen in my fleet will be the Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, and I’m okay with that! My Touareg VR6 was the subject of a different purge I did earlier this year and the Volkswagen Phaeton has already ended up in the hands of a dishonest flipper, who continues to have a hard time selling it.
So, what else am I getting rid of? I still want to rid myself of the 2005 Genuine Stella. I bought it as a fun project, got it running, let it sit, and then gave it to my wife to teach her how to wrench on a bike. It has served its purpose and I have no desire to keep it. I have so few feelings for that scooter that the picture above is five years old and it’s the best picture I have of the Stella.
I’m also saying goodbye to the 2007 BMW 530xi that I bought from the Bishop. This car is one of the nicest things I own. The Bishop took incredible care of this car and if it weren’t for the 180,000 miles on the odometer, you’d be able to fool me that it had maybe half of the miles.
But, at the same time, I don’t really have much attachment to this car outside of liking how it looks. I like looking at it and it is a comfortable drive, but it’s not a car that appears in my dreams at night or on my phone’s wallpaper. So, let’s get rid of that, too.
Once I’m done with this purge, my car list will contain the six Smarts, the Honda Beat, the Suzuki Every, the Saturn Sky Red Line, the Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI, the Plymouth Special DeLuxe, and the holy grail BMW X5 with a manual transmission.
I should also get rid of my bus, but I would love to have that be a part of my personal vehicle museum one day. I’ve been wanting one of those buses ever since I was a kid and I fear if I get rid of it I’ll regret it. At the same time, my heavy diesel mechanic friend has warned me that I’m truly boned if I ever need a major repair like an engine overhaul. He’s warned me that a transit bus engine overhaul at his shop would cost at least $10,000 and really, they are not meant to be owned by singular weirdos like me. That’s like playing with fire.
The good news is that I don’t need to make that decision right now. But what I do want to do right now is get rid of those cars that aren’t my dream cars. This is already having a positive impact as the cars I have gotten rid of have given me the time and motivation to fix my old 2008 Smart Fortwo.
It’s now all cleaned up, wearing newer non-snapped front springs, and ready to be a daily driver again. I even have a plan to get rid of the decals of the business from which I bought the car. As it turns out, I don’t need to buy new panels! Which is good since those are darn hard to find nowadays, anyway.
What’s next? I plan to keep the fleet on a downward trend, but I also want to chase nothing but my dream cars. In 2025 I will import an Audi A2 and then tell you how to get your own car from Europe. I also want to import a Rover MGF, maybe not to keep it, but definitely to try it out. How bad could a British Miata be? I have no idea, but I want to find out. I also have other cars I want to try like a first-generation Honda Insight and a BMW Z3. Again, I may not keep these cars, but the glut of non-dream cars I have sitting around hinders me from following my heart.
Until then, I’m just happy to have lifted a weight off of my shoulders. I’m going to be under 20 total vehicles for the first time in far too long. Hopefully, these next cars going up for sale will go to people who will appreciate them rather than try to offload them onto someone else with a dishonest listing.
Seems like you really enjoy the hunt, that’s the only way I can rationalize all the VW shitboxes. I have a friend who’s the same, except he sells them after a few months. He’ll find the example he wants, do all the required maintenance to get it road ready, then tire of it shorty after. His latest acquisition was almost out of spite, he went to look at a P2 Volvo that turned out to be misrepresented and wildly overpriced, and an hour later bought a P3 that he found on a marketplace search on the way home.
I almost envy that impulsiveness as I’m the opposite. I research the hell out of a car, spend weeks looking them up on marketplace only to never actually contact the sellers out of a combo of laziness and anxiety, and I’ll have talked myself out of the whole thing within a month. My own P2 Volvo needs to go, but I haven’t listed it yet, and the same for my LS1 firebird that I haven’t driven in over 2 years. I’ve probably relegated that poor car to parts car status through neglect.
Audi A2 over a Smart Coupe? That seems like an unlikely flex for you.
A friend named my collection an “Empire of Junk”, consisting of old cars, trucks, farm and construction equipment, boats, and a motorcycle. Luckily I’m on an old farm and can store it all where most people won’t see it.
Good luck Mercedes, you’re doing the right thing. I will too… someday. All this junk can weigh down on you.
The most I owned at once was when we (me and my wife) had my 2010 Suzuki sx4, 2 x 1997 jeep TJs and her 2011 Elantra.
We own 2 cars now, but I also do have a snowmobile, a UTV, a diesel sub compact tractor.
I read that as diesel sub, compact tractor! Wondered for a second where you park a submarine!
For some reason the diesel sub is always going between Mexico and California…
I do miss my SX4… except filling it up; it used as much gas as my old Volvo 240 Wagon.
Awd got even smaller gas tank too
I think I said this when David cut down on his fleet a few years ago but good job realizing that you had too many vehicles. It’s very Mature. I have had this happen in my life but not to this extent. Also, it’s good that you will not end up like Davids Friend in Michigan (whatever happened to Ron Dauzet?)
With the Stella I have two leads if you don’t have any already. Cleveland Moto in Cleveland OH deals with scooters all the time. Or talk to Bagel from the Motorcycle and Misfits Podcast. The guy is an avid collector. Or hold onto the Stella until AMA vintage days in July of 2025. You should have no problems selling it at that event.
Why own multiple Smart Cars? I would have the same question for other vehicles too. Why not keep the best one, maybe keep a parts car, and sell the rest. Post the sales on fan sites to ensure they go to a good home.
How about that motorcycle with the rotary engine? That was a very cool find.
Between my partner and I, we have 12 vehicles. I’d love to reduce that, but I can’t figure out how. We either like or need them all, and the ones that are least needed are also the cheapest to run. She says not to worry about, because we have the space, but I also manage the whole fleet.
For example, we have a Beat and an Acty, neither of which we need, neither of which costs much to run, both are a hoot. We also have two Boxsters, one is her track car and one is my street car. That doesn’t make a ton of sense, given we have three other convertibles. It’s not unsolvable, but I don’t like any of the choices.
In the spirit of downsizing I sold my Mk6 GTI last year, and I still regret it. That car was dope.
We drive like 30k miles a year between us. It’s dumb. But we like cars.
I’m in Missouri and also confused. But if it works for MS, then fine.
at some point one learns, unless funds are unlimited and one wants a museum (see Leno) then more is note better. Especially if one has shitbox tendencies.
Its part of growing up
The thing that’s always made it possible for me to part with things I was hanging on to but never using was to realize that someone else could actually be using and enjoying them. It was selfish for me to be hanging on to something I wasn’t using when it could actually get the love it deserved.
That said, I still suck at actually remembering to realize it sometimes. 🙂
Aside from being noticed by Code Enforcement, the big motivation to divest for me came from helping the widow ready her deceased husband’s fleet of 56 Ford trucks (and 3-4 decades of parts-collecting) for auction. I knew my daughter didn’t want to deal with all my derelict Subarus
Yes, helping deal with someone else’s collections after they’re gone will certainly make you rethink your own. My mother went through a HUGE downsizing of her things after having to clean out her own mother’s house. (And I did as well, after helping in the process.)
As we readers know if it isn’t appreciated in value and you aren’t driving it let it go to a fan that will drive it
This sounds like growing up! Realization of your actual wants and going for it! For all of those saying they can’t imagine the registration and insurance: keep in mind that most of these vehicles are not being used, and therefore most of them are probably not insured or registered for road use. Good luck Mercedes, can’t wait to see what consolidation can help you work your way into! 🙂