As someone who has owned dozens of cars, I’ve had to make some really tough choices. You see, I don’t just buy cars for the content, I buy cars because I think they’re awesome. I never buy a car solely with the plan to sell it; every car gets a fair shake, and many cars end up causing me to fall in love. The problem is: I can’t own every car. There are practical considerations that force me to part ways with vehicles that have left lasting impressions on my soul, and this thread article here is the place for you to tell us about the automotive loves you’ve had to let go of. It’s a therapy session, and there’s no judgement.
My biggest automotive love that I ever had to let go of was my Postal Jeep. It wasn’t because the vehicle met an untimely demise only hours after I sold it (in many ways that just made the tale of the DJ even more legendary), it was that the Postal Jeep represented me in the most authentic, unfiltered way.
It was the very pinnacle of my time at my old work, Jalopnik — an insanely challenging project requiring to weld, do engine work, rig up a distributor, install new floors, fix a steering box, replace a bunch of suspension bits, and on and on and on.
It was a ridiculous project — madness on full display. A rusted-out $500 POStal Jeep has no business going on a 4,000 mile road trip from Michigan to Utah and back, and it has no business off-roading. But I didn’t give a damn. It sounded fun, it sounded difficult, and I was the singlest man on the face of the planet and just wanted to live the dream. And so I did:
I miss Project POStal. It captured my spirit better than any car I’ve ever owned, and it’s a vehicle that I’ll remember for as long as I live.
In truth, holding onto that POStal Jeep — and thus holding onto the past — is maybe not the right move if progress is the goal. I knew that, which is why I let go. I couldn’t use it as a daily-driver, I couldn’t really off-road it (since it was two-wheel drive), and I couldn’t use it as a truck (though it does fit more than you’d think behind the front seat). Keeping the DJ didn’t make sense, and I’m not upset that I let go of it, I’m just feeling a bit nostalgic that I had to part ways with my automotive best friend.
Let me know if you can relate.
Topshot: Alex Neville
1972 Cadillac Hearse, aka “The Doom Buggy” or “The Ambulance Chaser” (I was in law school at the time).
Circa 1993, I was living at home with my parents, half way through law school, and I had it on stands in the driveway, while I was replacing the starter. Code enforcement called, and said that a neighbor complained, and that I can’t park a commercial vehicle in the driveway. I argued that the curtains were taken out, the rollers were removed, it was simply a Cadillac Station Wagon, etc…
The guy said “Son, that vehicle is a hearse. Either put it in the garage or get rid of it…” So, I sold it to a guy that did drywall (I still had the rollers…)
I had a 1987 Jeep Comanche, 4.0, 5 speed, 4×4 long bed, and I loved it. I owned it from 2008 to 2010, and it need serious work to continue being a daily driver- a piece of the floor fell off one day, the motor mounts were shot, and the 4.0l needed someone more experienced than I was at the time to give it love. I sold it to a man who bought it for his son. His son’s XJ had just put a shock through its gas tank, and everything from the front doors back was burned. So, their plan was to take all the good stuff from the XJ and put it on the MJ. I really, really hope that they followed through with their plan, and I regular scan marketplace hoping to find it, although it would probably be unrecognizable by now.
The worst decision I made was to sell my 997.2 Porsche GT3RS. I had no space and had to make room for another car. Dumb decision and I still miss it but it is now over 2x what I paid for it new.
My persona fleet is a 1949 Plymouth Super Deluxe, 1955 Mercury Monterey and a homely 1996 Tacoma- the small 4 banger version. If given the choice all of them could go. Except for the Tacoma. Bought in brand new off the lot when I was 18. Now I’m almost 48 and still have it. I’ll have to be buried in it. Or pass along to my nephew.
Going through this right now with two vehicles. My 93 Dakota 4×4, 5 speed, 3.9 V6 extended cab short bed, and my 93 Mercedes 400E.
Bought the Dakota in 2008 right after I moved to Seattle, and It’s been a faithful friend on many outdoor adventures and doing anything I could ask a truck to do without complaint, including flat towing my 81 300D Benz from Washington back to Ohio. Rust has pretty much claimed the Dakota’s frame here in the Midwest, despite my patch jobs in the past few years. I’ve had a few random people at offer to buy it from me, but I just can’t bear to part with it. Probably just use it as a field truck till the frame snaps.
The Benz is actually up for sale right now, and it’s been my favorite car to own and drive. A friend gave it to me in 2018 because the transmission was going out. I rebuilt it myself along with a lot of deferred maintenance (and a new wiring harness). Glorious German V8 sounds and a planted, predictable suspension kept me repairing this car despite being 30 plus years old and German. Unfortunately I’ve reached the end of my diagnostic capabilities with the primitive electrical throttle body, (plus a lot of little things no longer work right and it has 320k miles on the clock) and I can’t trust it to haul the baby around in. Hoping another enthusiast will buy it. I will sorely miss this one once it’s gone.
My dad and I (mostly Dad, thanks Pops!) bought a project 1967 GTO my senior year of high school. We did a lot of work to it. It ran and drove but was a basket case otherwise. Someone had tried to race it in a previous life. I re-did the interior, I tried to take it with me to college and the motor blew on the way there. We had the motor rebuilt. But it lived at my parents house while I attended college. It was in primer when we got it, I got it a Macco paint job and took it for cruises in the summer. After school and a couple more years of apartments and bumping around I got married and my wife and I got our first house with a one car garage! I was able to bring my muscle car baby home and work on the car more. Still cruising whenever I could. Then the first kid came. Then a job change, and a move to a state that required all vehicles to pass a safety inspection… and a house with no garage. That was a big obstacle. With kids (now two!) and no money there was no way I could afford to get it on the road. And frankly it wasn’t safe enough for me to put my toddler and infant in it. The Goat started to back slide from sitting exposed. Rust started on the lower quarters. Mice were getting at the interior and engine. I had to make a call, watch it rot until I could maybe, someday, afford to to get it on the road. Or sell it. I made the call to sell it, and I regret it constantly. The car may have been a basket case, but it had more sentimental value than I can express. The guys who bought it were psyched to restore it, and I take comfort in that even thought what actually happened to the car is anyone’s guess.
It’s not all bad. I kept the cash from that car and put it in “special car fund”. A couple years later I found my beloved “Lovey” (named by my two daughters). A pristine two-tone (red over white) 1979 C10 Chevy Suburban with a legit 17,000 miles on the odometer. The Burb is mechanically sound (and all original). Safe for the family. By any measure, a beautiful vehicle that is a better fit for my situation…but.. If I won the lottery one of the first things I would do is track down that GTO, or find another just like it. I love the Burban, but a boy needs his GOAT.
The car I regret the most is the 1986 Ford F-150. It had nearly 200,000 miles on the odometer and was a tank. Even with rear wheel drive it handled solidly in the snow. I learned how to cut and polish paint and when to take a mechanical short-cut in keeping it on the road. It had the best heater of any car I’ve ever owned. This is when my love for the inline 6 was cemented. It had no power; at 65-70 mph it would slow down to 55 when I put it in overdrive. So I would have to keep in third gear when driving on the freeway.
I replaced it with a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire that was four years old. That car was much more mechanically sound, but was my first soulless appliance car. I was in my last year of college and pretty broke. This car was cheaper due to the gas savings and my parents helped make the payments until I graduated college. It had some good options: sunroof, ac, power windows, but cruise control was left off. It was also my first time with car debt, which I despised after 1 year of ownership. I sold it about 18 months in for a Ford Ranger that I kept for over a decade and drove across the country.
My first car was a 1967 Chevy Camaro, I bought in 1995 at the age of 15, that car I
learned to wrench on and built it to go fast. EVERYONE said I would regret selling it; I don’t. It paid for tech school after college where I learned to program computers, and a roof on my first house. That car got me into a significantly higher income bracket, and put me on solid financial footing that I have benefited from for the last 18+ years. Now that I’m in my mid-forties I think about this car. I also realize there are other muscle cars that I can build and have fun in.
I do have an AMC era CJ-5, with the “patina”. That is a ride that brings me pure joy and I’m not letting it go, even though it requires ear plugs above 55 mph. It’ll be at its 2nd Easter Jeep Safari in two months. I’m working on sorting out my Howell EFI system.
I really liked reading everyone’s stories 🙂
Edit: typo
Most of them….but I had two in a row that, because they were back-to-back were particularly painful.
First was a 1994(?) Mazda MX6 with the V6. Bought it in 98(?) with about 30k miles. Leather, moonroof, I was styling on a young teacher’s budget. Only downside was auto trans. I had a really good mechanic and took care of it but it developed some problems with the transmission and wasn’t worth going into credit card debt to fix. Oh and numbnuts neighbor wagner-power-spray painted his fence while the car was parked in front so it had little white specks all over.
Changed careers and was making some coin and really wanted the then-new 2000 Civic Si. They were so hot then that you couldn’t get one without paying full sticker, and only available in lightning blue, red, or black. Bought a black one at full sticker (last time I bought new). That car was TIGHT. Took Garden State Parkway bridge expansion joint bumps like they were 1/4” dowels. And it was quick and a manual (obs).
About 2 months later I’m stopped at a traffic light one night at dusk and see headlights in the rear view mirror coming up fast then BANG! Completely crushed up to the c-pillar and knocked me into the car in front so crumpled there too. Crumple zones are there for a reason! According to the police report the 89-year-old driver ‘did not recall the accident’. Was at the body shop for about 3 months.
After I got it back, it never rode right. Felt like a shoppong cart scooting askew down the road. Alignment, new tires, nothing would get it back to ‘normal’. And forget arguing with the body shop – of course they put it back together correctly!
I bit the bullet and decided it was time to let it go. With less than 10k miles IIRC.
I loved that car but fate intervened.
I hated selling my 78 Rabbit only to be stuck with my now ex wife’s 84 escort wagon automatic.
I hated giving my ex our 1991 subaru just AWD in the divorce.
I hated getting rid of my 1982 pickup I could not afford the repairs when in graduate school.
I should not have sold my 1970 trail 90.
There are probably others I could have spent buckets of money to fix up and keep but at the time and looking back there is not much regret.
My 2009 Chevy Malibu, I bought it brand new with only 3 miles on it when I joined the military, that car took me across country from NC to AK, was a beast in that snow with studded tires(and common sense) then took me back across the country when my time was up, never gave me a problem, I replaced the head unit with something fancier and better speakers, new wheels and it got me around perfectly fine until 2022.
Until It was stolen, police found it a week later, missing bumper, random parts and pieces stripped, all the speakers blown, suspension shot, it still cranked up but had damage there too, i miss that car, it was my partner.
I still hurt when I think of letting go of my 1988 Crown Victoria. It was the last car my great-grandfather ever bought. It had all the service records, even the paperwork that tracked it’s journey by train from the factory in Michigan to little Richland, GA. He custom ordered it (white exterior with no landau top, navy vinyl interior with a power bench seat, cruise, A/C, clock delete, AM/FM radio, 5.0 V8 with fuel injection, cop spec hub caps) because he hated the vinyl tops on what was available at the Ford dealership in town. I remember riding in the front seat when I was little on journeys to the post office, my legs dangling off the front seat.
I got it when I was 18, purchased for $250 from a family member. It still looked fresh, no paint fade, no cracks in the vinyl, the V8 drove really well. Passed it on to my little brother to drive to high school when I got my truck and moved to KY. Got the Vic back when I came home, down on my luck, working as a bartender. That old Crown Vic was ready to help me out again.
Eventually, it was time to move to Atlanta with my wife and we didn’t need to move to an apartment in the city with three cars (I had my pickup, she had her little Buick). My little sister’s friend’s mom was trying to get by without a car…so the Crown Victoria went to her at no charge because it was the right thing to do.
It’s still driving. Before my family all moved away from our hometown I was told you could see it parked downtown on Sundays at a high shine. It is 100% the one that got away and I would go buy it again if I could. Alas, I live in a town with no overnight street parking, regular snow, and expensive parking space rentals, so there isn’t a place for an old boat with RWD in my life right now.
my ’72 AMC AMX, which over the years, that I towed home, and initially reconstructed with with a free 6 Cylinder drive train, the put a rebuilt 304, which spun a cam bearing, then a 401. I did all the body work, and painted it. Installed a Pierre Cardin interior. I moved out of Massachusetts, and let the registration lapse, along with affordable insurance. No place to store it, I had to sell it. Learned so much working on that car, and how to mickey mouse repairs when you needed to, and how to do it correctly later. I did a “Tracy” on it, changing a water pump in a parking lot of a hotel that I was staying in.
I have had feelings for nearly all of my cars,where it was difficult to let them go.
By far the hardest one was the 89 Chevy Suburban. It had the 6.2 diesel so it was slow as shit and made all sorts of terrible noises,but it was also awesome and could do everything from road-trips to stump pulling.
We had to get rid of it because the body and frame mounts was rusted clean trough
and we didn’t have the space or opportunity to work on it.
Two vehicles come to mind:
1) My 1988 Fiero Formula. My dad bought that car when I was ten. I then got it at 19 and drove it all through college. Took me to my first real job post college four states away. That car taught me everything about working on cars, how to be a better driver, and why I despise anything made by GM. Fast forward to when I was 32; my wife and I just had our son and it no longer made sense to have that car around. I sold it, and while it was both easy and hard to let it go, I do miss that car.
2) My grandpa gave me his neglected 99 Ranger. I fixed everything wrong with it, sold my nice new car, and then drove it for the next five years as my primary vehicle. It was slow, fuel inefficient, and not special, but it was a GREAT truck and I regret selling it.
Pretty much most of them…. I don’t buy to sell, I buy to keep until forced off the road by the petty legalities of an unforgiving regime!
First car I bought with my own money: BMW E21 316 : Loved that little thing, like a terrier. Persuaded to sell by my father when the sills rusted through and the repair estimate was the same as the price I paid for it. Replaced with the ultimate lemon: a clementine orange Beetle: the one car I do NOT regret throwing back in the dealer’s face.
Daf 66: my Dutch grandfather’s runabout in his later life. Much more fun than you’d think, I simply moved on from it (to the BMW) and it eventually got scrapped.
Opel Monza: fastback version of the big Senator, 3-litre straight six and masses of room inside. I bought it because I was looking for an auto after convalescing from a major knee injury and didn’t think I would be able to handle a manual safely. The front upright supports rusted through (known problem with that chassis) and it had to be scrapped.
VW Scirocco : another auto: I passed on a 3litre BMW CSI when I bought the Scirocco: I wasn’t earning enough to keep the BMW running so “settled” for something cheaper: but it was a good car, fun to drive and easy to park etc. Gave it to a mate when the Nissan QX came up, and apparently he destroyed it after a couple of months!
Nissan QX: Bought from my brother, fantastic long-distance car. Eventually developed electrical gremlins and my wife (ex) didn’t trust it anymore and we shifted it on. (gave it away to a ‘friend’ who claimed it was for his girlfriend, but then promptly sold it for profit).
Saab 93 (the GM version): Bought from a family friend, great car, I loved the comfort and the night-driving and all the rest of the quirks. Can’t remember off-hand why I sold it….
Mercedes 230TE: Would have another of these any day of the week: fantastic road-cruiser with immense comfort and carrying ability. Sold to balance a divorce…
FIAT 500: (not a twinspark): Great little car, roomy inside, far better on motorways than you’d expect and great fun to drive: px-ed in the end.
Currently driving a 2010 VW Eos, (trade-up from the FIAT): bought because I wanted a cabrio, but also a winter-capable car after 2 weeks driving a convertible Ford Mustang around Scotland on a driving holiday). I keep looking at swapping for something a tad more practical…. but just can’t bring myself to do it.
I’ve only owned four cars I don’t still own. The first two died abject deaths to the demons of 1980s domestic car manufacturing. The third had no AC so I drove with the windows down in Los Angeles, which gave me skin and lung problems, and the driving position wasn’t kind to my knees. It was miles better than the first two and what we could afford then (not much) but I don’t miss it. The final one we kind of gave away to a friend and I do miss it, but its replacement has the same engine and it’s a bit more comfortable, so it’s not a terrible deal.
My first truck was a Nissan hardbody, king cab, 4×4, auto, power windows, sunroof, homemade diamond plate bed. It was ugly, worn out, I was the 6th owner. But it was so much fun to thrash around back roads, it topped out at 58mph, but I had more fun in it then in vehicles that can do 150mph. A week before graduation I hit a stump that stole the oil pan, drove it home not realizing, made it halfway to school the next day with nickelback blaring, when it felt like I hit a wall. Locked up solid. Got it towed home after school, bought a cheap silverado, made plans to fix it, but while I was away at college mom sold it for the same amount I originally paid for it. Local bartender had that diamond plate bed mounted on his 80s Toyota 2 months later.
There have been a bunch of them – the common factor was usually that I didn’t have the space to keep it, and now buying another is well out of my price range.
Possibly the one that has left the biggest scar was the one-owner Mazda RX-3 sedan I picked up for $150, which even back then (almost 30 years ago) should have sold for closer to $5000. I took the engine out to replace some weeping gaskets and clean up the engine bay a bit, and the rotary engine was ‘stolen’ by a ‘friend’ (long story). I didn’t have the $ to replace the engine, so had to sell it as a roller.
These days, an RX-3 as original and clean as that one was would be advertised here for at least $100,000, assuming you could find one for sale at all.
None. When I sold a car it was to upgrade or I was over it.
When we got married in ’84 the plan was to travel the US in our ’76 VW ASI camper bus. That meant that most of my fleet of five air-cooled vehicles had to go. We had limited storage capability. I had no mental issuses selling a ’71 Honda CB350, the ’67 VW Sunroof deluxe bus (it broke every time I drove it), and the ’64 VW Baha bug. That left the ’67 VW squareback I had purchased in ’78 and the ’64 VW sunroof deluxe walkthrough bus. I knew that eventually the bus would be more valuable, but I sold it, and I still regret selling it. It was utterly reliable, but top speed was 54 MPH. I still have the squareback though.
2006 BMW 330i. I can’t say I loved the car. I liked it the least of pretty much any car I’ve owned. But I had it for quite a few years, and I finally had to get rid of it when the interior was flooded during torrential rains and some plugged sunroof drains. I couldn’t sell it in good faith, so i donated it to the local public radio station. When the tow truck came, I swear I could hear the car saying, “Please, don’t let them take me away!” In the past I’ve sold my cars to people who wanted them. There was something different about sending one away to its potential demise. (Weird, but that’s the way it was.)
My 2000 Jeep XJ. Got stolen last Friday and recovered Monday. They drove it through a gas station glass wall and robbed the store. Then drove off and robbed a liquor store with it. I saw it at impound, they also ripped apart some of the interior and the fuse box so it can’t be started. It’s too far gone to save. It was one of the best cars I’ve owned.
Damn! That sucks.
Sold my 87 Grand wagoneer when I had a kid. It didnt play nice with modern child seats. and it was my daily driver. It was also a thirsty car, maybe the worst fuel economy that I have ever had on a car. But man.. clean white, no chips in the pain, perfect woodgrain. Red leather interior, all the electrics worked, the 4×4 worked.. it was so god damn nice.
Two years after i sold it for 19k the prices went through the roof on clean examples.
About 13 years ago. Moved to a city with a longtime GF to stay with her family to get ourselves established. Within a year we broke up. I was left in a strange city with no network, no family, and little resources. Began a career in real estate, commission only. I sold my ’77 911 (with 3.0 swap and SC hips) and it funded me while I established myself. It was a net positive, but I’m afraid I’ll never be able to justify buying one again at current prices. Having had the experience at $”X” once, it’s a tough pill to now pay $”5-10X” for the same experience a decade later. It’s not like they got any better in the time since.
Without a doubt, my ’99 Z3 Coupe, Arctic Silver over Tannin Red, slicktop. It wasn’t an M, just a 2.8 with the 5 speed, but it made the right noises and was quick enough with that combo. I was living in an apartment at the time and didn’t have one of their garage spots so it always lived outside. In 2011 I got a new job that required a lot of driving around the Chicago area and it didn’t feel right using a 1 of <1000 car as a commuter, so I traded it in on a 2005 Legacy GT wagon which turned out to be the worst car I ever had by a wide margin, before or since. Sometimes I'll search for the Z3's VIN online just to see if it ever pops up for sale again. Maybe I should do a Carfax, but I also don't want to find out it met an unfortunate demise. Don't ask the question if you're not prepared for an answer you won't like, and all that.