“Aw man, I regret selling that old Holden Torana. I’d have made $50 grand!” was the type of conversation I recall hearing in rural Australian car-parts stores back when I was tackling Project Cactus. “Man, that old Jeep XJ I had would be worth like $20 grand now,” I hear from my friends all the time. Regret is a tricky part of being a car lover: You often have to let go of the cars you love, and those cars oftentimes gain value; it’s like watching your ex make it big. You find yourself looking from the outside in, watching the Bring a Trailer auctions climb and climb on a car you bought for pennies, a pang of guilt compressing your chest.
This is a universal experience among car-people around the world: Cheap cars you once owned become more valuable; it’s just inevitable. Car-lovers tend to buy cars that car-lovers enjoy, those car lovers have to sell those cars for one reason or another, and those car-lover-cars end up becoming worth something 30 years down the line. We’ve all suffered through it, and this website here is a safe-space to just let it all out and come to grips with the fact that, yes, if you’d held onto that car, you’d have a fat stack in your wallet.
But here’s the thing: You can’t just hold onto every vehicle you’ve ever owned. It’s impractical. Most people can’t maintain that many vehicles, and they can’t just rent a huge warehouse to fill with cars so that, in the future, they can sell those machines for a bundle. The cost of renting a big garage for 20 years is prohibitive. So, like me, you have to let go of machines that have potential. It’s just part of being a car-hobbiest.
I know that my 1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, which I sold for $4000, will soon be worth $30,000:
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I know that when I sell this 1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle for $8000, someone will clean it up and, in a five or six years, sell it for like $40,000.
I know that my minty five-speed 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I sold for $9500 could someday fetch over $20,000 on Bring a Trailer:
And then of course, there’s the “stolen” 1958 Willys FC-150, which I sold for $5000, and which will be worth $20,000 with a bit of elbow grease and some new paint (the blue FC-170, which I sold for $4000 and which is shown in the top photo, will likely see a similar high-dollar fate):
And then there’s my minty five-speed 1991 Jeep XJ. Sure, it has a salvage title, but just look at it. You know this thing will command a mint in due time:
But that’s OK, and though we can jokingly regret selling cars that have gained value, we should always remember: We sold the car for a reason, and it was reasonable at the time. This is the hard thing about regret: Regret is just you being unable to put yourself into the mindset you had in the past. You were a logical, intelligent person then, and you made this decision for a reason. It’s OK. Don’t feel bad.
Now that I’ve made you comfortable, you can let it out: Which car that you sold has gained the most value? How do you feel about that?
All my cars except one have been scrap yard ready by the time I got rid of them. Or maybe a little before that final day. Three were traded in for the ~$300 the dealer offers. One some guy gave me ~$300 and picked it up. One I drove to the scrap yard to get the extra $50 because I was off work that day. Probably could have got more for my protege5 than the $2500 trade in but my patience for dealing with tire kickers is minimal. No regrets on selling any, it was their time.
1973 VW Thing, bought for a steal at $2000 from a dealership too lazy to clean the gallon of oil-soaked moths out of the air cleaner, and I was able to dicker them down from $3000.
Ran into some hard times and personal troubles, and sold it (non-running, probably just needed a light engine rebuild) for $1000 to a guy that came halfway across the country with a trailer to get it, sight unseen. In retrospect, it was worth a lot more than that, even not running.
I miss that vehicle…went so many stupid places with it, and it never let me down.
1964 Cadillac Sedan de Ville…bought for $5K in 1995(?), eventually needed new brakes and I was flat broke…sold it for $400 to a guy who lived down the street and who mounted a bike rack on the trunk lid.
1984 Chevrolet Suburban hearse conversion, bought for $1300 off eBay, tried to do minor maintenance myself (I have zero skills) and fried some electrical stuff under the hood…sold it for maybe $500 to someone who ripped off the vinyl roof and converted the back into a plumbing work truck.
This is why I’m not allowed to have nice things.
The only vehicle I regret selling was my 1984 Nissan 720 4WD with a rear bench and custom cab made by FabCo.
I painted it black, put some LED fog lights on the black tubular front bumpers + some 30″ BFG KO2 tires and it would look like the cousin of Marty McFly’s truck.
Mine had a clean title, working A/C, longtube headers + Flowmaster 40, alarm with power door locks and vinyl padding/stitching on the dash.
It also went through an engine rebuild, a clutch, 2 fuel pumps (I could replace it with a screwdriver in 10 minutes) and a carb rebuild over the last 2 years I owned it and god forbid if I dared to get into a carwash as the rivets holding the fiberglass cab to the B pillar leaked if being subject to pressure washing.
As you might tell I was getting tired dealing with the quirks and features of a 35 yr old, 280K mile truck I had been using as a daily driver for about 12 months so I put the truck for sale for $5000 since my thinking was it would never fetch Toyota money (and I was right). 1 week went by and no takers, by 3rd week some guy walked through the door and offered me $4200 and the old Nissan was gone. 5 years have gone by and my finances are much better now, but heck what a difference would’ve been if I had either kept the truck or sold it a 2-3 years later for double.
I bought a 2003 F150, regular cab, long bed 4×4 with the 4.6L V8. I paid $3k in 2019 when it was very close to killing the engine due to a broken timing chain tensioner. $3k worth of parts and tires later, I had it in very good condition (except for some small rust and work truck dents/dings.
I kept it for 18 months to haul tons trash a property I owned. Once the job was done in September 2020, I sold it for $3,500. The one person that showed interest it said to stood out in that price range because I took the time to fix everything. He was tired of wasting him time looking at barely running, clapped out junk. Needless to say, he bought it on the spot. If I waited another year, I probably could have gotten $7k at the peak of the used car crunch.
There’s a lot of hate for Harley’s around here, but my answer isn’t a car … it’s a Harley. I daily’d a Sportster during the summers and had a lot of fun. When dating my now-wife, it mostly sat in the garage. After the wedding I meant to tune it up and sell it, but it wouldn’t start. Developed electronic problems while sitting and the gauge cluster only received intermittent power. Bad ground? Mice chewing on the wiring harness? Who knows. I had been hoping for $3500 but ended up selling it for $1700. At the end of the day though, I know it will never become valuable. Like David’s Grand Cherokee and XJ, they are dime-a-dozen toys that are not collector’s items. Sorry David.
Air cooled VWs. First car was a 72 Westy bought for $900. Sold it 3-4 years later for $300 after I chased down the truck a hit&run driver had hit it with, took him to court, and got, I think, $500 for damages. I bought & sold the flat-window Super Beetles in the 90s—mostly just for the fun of reviving them and helping friends out. Sold my grandfather’s 68 Beetle for 1700 in the early 2000s—and my sandrail around that time. Think that was around $1000.
I had fun…sometimes a >bit< wistful, but no strong regrets. Life moves on. Babies are born with their hands grabbing everything, but we go out with our hands open: life is too damn short to let your possessions own you
My 99 Miata. I sold it in late summer 2018 for $3,000 because it needed a clutch, a new top, and I just completely lost interest in the car. But besides that, it was a legitimate rust free, originally from California car with less than 100,000 miles on it and ran perfectly. The paint and interior were still in very good shape with only a few minor scratches here and there like you’d expect an almost 20 year old car to have.
Had I held onto it for another few years, which I realistically could have, I could have easily gotten at least double that even with the issues it had once used car prices really blew up during the pandemic.
I traded my M235i as part of a three year plan taking into account the expected depreciation and cost of ownership over that time. That was in December 2019. If I had kept it until my planned need to sell time, it would have been worth what I paid for it due to the pandemic car shortage and instead I lost $10k.
Selling my 1970 Ford F-100, with an insulated bed cap, 5th wheel mount, four on the floor, and a 390 with a blown piston for a six pack of coca-cola.
Was it New Coke, because that shit is worth money now?
Pretty sure it was regular “classic” coke. This was around 1991.
I’d love to see that Bill of Sale =D
2000 Subaru 2.5RS. I sold it running for half the price an empty shell would bring. I sold it to a family friend, so I wasn’t in it for the money, but I definitely could have sold it for substantially more money than I did.
My 95 Miata. I bought it for $2k, kept it 2 years then sold it for $3500. When I listed it I thought that was fair, but when I had 75 people message me in an hour I definitely priced it too low. Then a few months later is when prices went crazy on them and it’s now probably worth $7-8k.
The only one like that was my 71 Coupe DeVille. So minty. Bought it for $14K, put about $2K, sold it to some rando on the street for $25K fifteen months later.
It was literally “Hey, what do you want for it?” conversation. One week later, I was rolling hundreds through a cash counter (the purchaser brought his own)
Sort of regret selling it, but I took the money and made another poor decision and bought my current 2001 M3 convertible.
I guess I could include my bike in there. Although I know it will never be worth much, but it was tough to let go for $400. (2003 Aprilia Caponord)
My 85 Trans-Am, I bought it with my own money when I was 16, did my first engine swap, transmission swap, basically learned every vehicular system on it with my brother and my dad. Shortly after everything was done including a repaint, I had to move away from college, and was very broke, so I sold it in 2013 for an amount that wouldn’t buy me a rolling rusty hacked up shell today. I keep saying I’ll have another sooner than later, but considering the market for them we’ll see I guess.
I don’t really regret selling any cars, but I do wish there was some way I could have kept my first project car, or at least been able to anonymously follow it’s journey. 2 first gen RX7’s combined into 1 working car. I fixed everything there was to be done to that car mechanically and electrically and already bought my next non-running project car, so it was good to see it go to someone that had a love for those and wanted to take on the cosmetic aspects.
None of them were too cheap, not even the cars I gave away for free. Come to think of it, especially the cars I gave away for free.
That’s a hell of an assumption to make around these parts.
You can’t factor in other people’s work into the selling prices they MIGHT get in the future. Frankly, I’ve been shocked at how much you’ve been able to sell your Jeeps for. You got $4000 for that pile of rust that vaguely resembles a Jeep FC? Sure, MAYBE it will sell for a bunch of money someday. AFTER somebody spends a bajillion hours and a CRAP-TON of money fixing it!
DT seems to be able to find people with too much money, and not enough common sense when he sells his crap.
Where are these folks when I want to sell my crap?
My old ’06 Subaru Impreza track car. It was a non-runner (rod knock), but I had it stored in a garage in a state I no longer lived in, the garage was expensive, I really needed to stop the bleeding and had no room in my life for a track car anymore. I sold it to a friend (who had helped with a heap of work done on it) for effectively the cost of the aftermarket CF trunklid that was on the car. The car started as a 2.5i, NA 2.5L with a 5-speed. By the end (again, non-runner, so the engine swap isn’t much of an upsell), it had a 3.6L EZ36D boxer-6 in it and was RWD.
Not including the H6 engine or the original purchase price, I had spent around $10K on that car. I sold it for the cost of a used CF trunklid…
None, I am the one who knocks. I buy cars for far too cheap and then fix them and keep or flip/part them. I have never paid over $5k for a car (excluding the V6 2004 Mustang I got in high school for $6500 that my parents bought me). My list is as follows:
1958 Bel Air – 4k (sat in a garage for 12 years)
1967 Mustang – Traded the Bel Air for this straight up and sold for $6500
2004 Mach 1 – $5k (abandoned 2 years, just needed battery and tires)
1999 Miata – $500 (repo with a blown engine)
2001 Miata – $2000 sold for $3500 3 months later after investing ~$250
2001 Miata- $800 this one was wrecked and parted out for a solid profit
2004 Mazdaspeed Miata – $2900 (spun bearing but had original hardtop)
2004 Mazdaspeed Miata – $2100, wrecked and parted out for profit
2000 S10 – $1000
The fact that you picked up an MSM with an OEM hardtop in any condition under 3k is absolutely absurd these days. Selling the hardtop means basically a $750 Mazdaspeed, which is absolutely crazy! Unfortunately dirt cheap Miatas rarely pop up in my area.
Yeah that was extremely lucky. It was owned by a friend of a friend and spun a bearing a week before he was supposed to move several states away. They called me and asked me to look at it which I did and diagnosed the spun bearing. It was audibly knocking and the owner was already pretty sure that was the case. He asked if I wanted it since he wanted to see it go to someone who would treat it right and get it back on the road. It is receiving its third engine soon since I broke a connecting rod in the one I put in to replace the spun bearing lol.
At least it’s a Miata, cheap parts, easy access (maybe not for a bearing lol) and just a blast in general! I got lucky buying my now former NA near the end of 2021 for $2800 running and driving, but a bit scruffy. Could have made a bit on it, but as my first project/fun car, I did far too many mods, and lost some money when selling, but 10/10 would recommend and have zero regrets. The next NA/NB I buy will definitely be a more pragmatic flip though
I went over the top on the fix to be honest. I did a fully built bottom end and cylinder head plus a much larger turbo and fuel system to match. But relative to what it could have cost for someone who doesn’t have the access to parts that I do it was not bad.
Ironic statement – But here’s the thing: You can’t just hold onto every vehicle you’ve ever owned. It’s impractical.
For me while some of the cars I sold would be worth more than I paid for, but typically when I am done with a car, I have gotten 5-10 years out of it and it just not worth fixing.
The tow truck. I ended up selling it to Speedycop for $800, basically what I got it for plus a few parts, since I was trying to clear the yard of vans in preparation for moving. This was after the city hit my landlord with a code violation because of the Ford Econolines just kinda splattered all over the place.
I basically took that as a sign that I need to man up and fight my own fight, so I bought a place mid last year. Now whoever accosts me about vans splattered everywhere will get an earful/pageful from me personally!
Speedycop will be using the chassis/powertrain for another one of his bizarre projects, so I have no regrets really.. but I think it would have been an easy 3-4K sell because it was just a fully functional 12′ bed utility truck as well.
Wait, SpeedyCop? You misremember, you definitely sold it for exactly $500 and it is definitely not a cheater Lemons car.
My mobile really doesn’t want to me click that picture link either….
I’ve never sold a car and the plan is to never sell one.
My Z4? It’s now more expensive than when I bought it 60k miles ago.
My Datsun? One that needs restoring would be twice what I paid 5 years ago.
My clio? Well it’s been worthless for a solid decade so I haven’t lost a dime on it.
My point is: if you think before buying, there’s no need to sell, ever.
umm
I know, I’m a bit of a pioneer.
There you go!
Buy first, think later
For me it’s more about the car going to a good home than the price. I care for my machines, I want their next owner to care for them too.
I once owned a ’74 BMW 2002 Turbo. Factory original with only some road rash on the front air dam and wheel flares… everything else, even the tires (Don’t worry, I took off to drive) was original and in pristine condition. Just an amazing little car, but kids and life required it to go (still a regret all these years later).
It’s been some time, but I think I bought for the eqiv of about $19k dollars (paid in Guilders, pre-Euro currency). Later sold (back to original owner) for about $34k dollars (converted to Euro at time of sale-back.) Because of currency exchange rates, we both “won” at time of buy/sell each time I guess.
In the condition she was in (and is still in)… they go for over $175k now.
Ouch.