Looking back on the past can be a tricky thing. Hindsight always has 20/20 vision, and it can be hard to know how decisions will work out without possessing a crystal ball or the ability to travel through time. But while regret often comes with negative connotations, it can be useful if a lesson can be learned from a specific mistake or error in judgement, even if said mistake is more perception than reality. Just don’t let it consume you.
My biggest regret? Selling my 1997 Mercury Sable. This car carried me all throughout my secondary and post-secondary educational experiences and beyond, and was proudly adorned with the parking stickers of each successive school. I learned the importance of having good tires when I almost rear-ended a pickup truck rushing to my first day of community college one rainy morning in the fall of 2005. It was a comfortable highway cruiser that shuttled me to various misadventures in New York and the Northeast with nary a complaint.
The cloth seats were amazingly comfortable. I found the column shifter oddly satisfying. The interior was always aesthetically pleasing to my senses. I was going to emulate Top Gear and make a couch out of the back seat when it had to go the junkyard.
Then the devil’s advocate kicks in, and I’m reminded why I don’t wholly qualify this as a regret. After all, it was a 16-year-old car that spent its entire life in the Rust Belt, and it was starting to show on the rocker panels. The passenger’s-side tweeter would buzz quite frequently, possibly because it was blown, and the seals around the driver’s-side door let in quite a bit of wind noise. Most importantly, I just didn’t want to sink more money into it after nine years of ownership.
So what do you lament, CC readers? A vehicle you should have kept? A car deal you passed up? A modification that didn’t work out as you had planned? A mechanical issue you failed to diagnose that backfired horribly? Let’s see your stories below.
Over the years, I’ve bought cars high and sold low…and a few times cars just flat “got away from me”.
So a generalized regret would be, I regret throwing away/spending a LOT of money on cars, a truck, and my motorcycle.
+1
In that order :
1. Not buying my grandfather’s BMW 315 (e21), a nice silver one with factory alloy wheels.
2. Not buying my grandmother’s Citroën LNA. To explain what is a LNA, try to think of a econobox, like a Festiva, with a flat-twin picked up from a 2 CV.
3. Not buying my uncle first-gen BMW 528i, same kind as Mesrine’s.
4. Not buying my father-in-law boxy Volvo 740.
Wish I had a Mr. Fusion de-Lorean to go back in time and slap me in the face.
My biggest regret was a bad CC purchase- a 1985 Nissan 300ZX 2-seater. It was one of those “friend of a friend” type deals. Worst car I ever owned.
It had all the right hardware- turbo, 5-speed, t-tops, air conditioning. But it was a huge, steaming pile of crap. Never ran right, wouldn’t pass smog, front balancer was coming apart, and a stray bullet hole in the hood. The car’s two previous owners were both unsavory characters, which would explain both the bullet hole and the car’s rough condition.
I only owned it a year before giving up on it. In 2006 I traded it in on my civilian model 2001 Crown Vic and never looked back. When I asked the salesman at the dealership where I bought the Vic what eventually happened to that car, he told me a funny story. After taking one look at it, his boss didn’t even order an inspection on it. He immediately called Pick-a-Part and had it hauled away for scrap.
Selling my 1955 Chevrolet 210 and my 1975 Ford Thunderbird. I made money on both, selling the T-Bird for five times my purchase price, so it wasn’t all bad.
My true regrets stem from selling houses, but that’s a different critter entirely.
I’m also still slightly bitter about us losing our clean ’74 Monte Carlo in a carb fire, not long before my parents were planning to pass it down to me. And also my dad and grams selling my late grandpa’s mint ’72 Caprice Classic 4-door hardtop without even letting me make an offer.
Similar complaint, my grandma sold her ’69 Charger with 60,000 miles on it without even asking my or my brother if interested. Sold it for $3500, she was thrilled because she paid $3400 for it in ’69. ugh….White with green interior/green vynil top. only a 318 but all original including tires.
My daily drivers so far, driver’s license since 1984: a 1982 Renault 5, a 1987 Ford Escort 1.4 Mk4, a 1995 Ford Escort 1.8i Mk7 (basically an improved and face-lifted Mk5), a 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser 90-series 3.0 TD and finally a 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser 90-series 3.0 D4D. Hobby car, bought in november 2010: a 1969 Plymouth Barracuda 340 Formula S.
Zero repair-horror stories. Zero modifications. Not one of them ever left me stranded or didn’t start in the morning. No horrible accidents. Treat your machinery well and your machinery will treat you well.
Oh…one minor issue: in 1990 the R5 burned down to the ground after a welding-job went wrong, to put it mildly. (luckily the barn didn’t burn down with it) So I guess I did have one repair-horror-story after all….
Still have nostalgia for my old ’70 Torino Brougham, because it was my first decent car. I bought it in 1978; it had about 60,000 miles then, and was very clean and mechanically in good shape. Pale yellow exterior, black vinyl top, dark green upholstery. It had the base 302 V8, automatic, power steering, and over-enthusiastic power brakes. I drove it for five years until I fell under the spell of a 1977 Honda Accord.
What was great about the Torino? Reliable drive train and suspension, great A/C, smooth, reasonably quiet. I could do some tune-up work on the engine. It didn’t leak. The only transmission trouble was a vacuum modulator that went bad. Replaced it, and it felt like new. It got 14 mpg in town, 20 on the highway.
What wasn’t great? The driver’s seat was uncomfortably upright, with nonexistent lower-back support. The A/C rumbled–a quirk of the piston-style compressor, perhaps? I never could get 20 gallons into the fuel tank–something about the vapor-recovery system prevented that. The power steering would get “sticky” and respond a bit sluggishly after I drove the car for a while. The engine was supposed to run on regular gas, but always pinged on acceleration (that’s been true of every Ford we’ve had!). The power brakes were overenthusiastic until I learned a very, very light touch on the pedal. There was a fair amount of wind noise–the downside of a four-door hardtop with front vent windows. What finally pushed me toward a newer car was when, I guess, the heater core developed a leak and a humid vapor would waft out of the vents all the time.
Overall, though, this was the first decent car I had after a 1962 Valiant station wagon and then a 1961 Dodge Lancer wagon–underpowered rattletraps. The Ford was quiet, reasonably comfortable, solid, decently powerful, and even in pretty basic form was NOT a stripped-down car. So it has a special place in my heart.
Selling my ’68 Formula S Barracuda 340 4 spd. To buy a house. Wait. No, selling the house that I bought with the car. Big regret. Oh, there are a few more, but none as classic as Jim Belushi’s line…”You sold the Bluesmobile for a microphone?”
Classic! Ok, a few more…Selling ( there’s a theme here) my ’66 Olds 98 Convert, my ’64 Coupe DeVille, my ’67 Dart, my 396 Impala…meh…Wait! Not BUYING my buddies ’68 Formula S 340 auto with ” the infamous recalled mags” Dammit. I need a drink.
First regret that comes to mind is selling my 2000 Silverado to the junkyard in 2008. A base model, standard cab, 8 foot bed with a 4.3 V6 and automatic, in commercial white, with 126000 miles. I really liked it; the way it rode, handled, and looked. I had recently replaced the AC compressor, ABS unit, rebuilt the tranny valve body and added an auxiliary cooler, even re-shimmed the driver door hinge, and replaced the buzzy speakers, not to mention 4 new tires on a Thursday. But alas, on Monday it started to tick, by Wednesday it was a full blown knock. My mechanic said $2500 for a new motor, you got less than 50 miles before it slings the rod. Another proposed a junkyard motor for $600, but wanted $100 up front so he could go drinking first. Let me get back to you on that… Now, this truck had moderate body damage all around, but I liked it that way. Everyone said it wasn’t worth a new motor; it was worth less than a new motor, with a new motor in it! So I drove it to a junkyard, they gave me $1000 cash, it would have been only $500, but it did have brand new rubber on it. As I had another truck I wasn’t in a bind, but needing a second truck a picked up a 2001 F-250 XL, another stripper work truck, for $5000. Always wanted a 3/4 ton. What a mistake. Gas economy sucked, it rode like a brick, the seats sucked, no storage except for the glove box (I got used to those door pockets on the Chevy), and I had to slide out as my feet did not touch the ground when getting out, and it handled curves like crap. That was my biggest CC regret, not putting a new motor in that 1/2 ton Silverado. I’d probably still be driving it.
i worked at various car dealerships when i was young….took advantage of buying some decent interesting cars and trucks. i regret the purchase of a 1963 Galaxie. It was a evil car….got rid of it in a divorce, only for it to come back 15 years later. The car i wish i had bought was a 1965 Impala…low mileage, and perfect condition
…i would have had to sell my truck, and didnt want to do that. I was still in college and couldnt afford two vehicles. It was gorgeous. $1500 bucks!
dang.
It’s mysterious how it managed to come back
Yes, that must be an interesting story. If you can bring yourself, please tell.
i’m telling you, it was an evil car…it was black on black and wad determinded not to run….or else it caused misery to all it came in contact with . It ate money and relationships. My ex, poured money into it, then gave it too our son for his first car. It sucked him dry and HE GAVE IT BACK to her. Most cars respond to some love and attention. this car resented it. My ex decided I needed it back. It cost me about $1200…i agreed only to settle a family matter. (sorry the parties involved are still alive.) I sold it as fast as i could.
I’ve had 45 vehicles since 1980…everyone involved agreed in the end, that the car was mean.
oh yeah, the car’s name?
Black Betty…bam-a-lam….
Thanks for that, and don’t worry, you’ll get it all back and more when you sell the screenplay.
My number one automotive regret was choosing to scrap my trusty ’79 Monte Carlo when the engine died in the early 1990s and to replace it with an ’82 Olds Delta 88. The idea was that I can get a newer, lower mileage, larger, more prestigious car for not much more than the cost of the engine swap. Plus I had just moved in with my grandparents, so I thought they would appreciate being chauffeured in a 4-door Olds rather than the Monte.
All sound reasoning. But in reality the Olds turned out to be a nightmare of unreliability – I ended up replacing the engine AND the transmission TWICE on it, among other woes. I hated that Olds with a passion. Meanwhile the Chevy had been dead reliable and much loved, I missed it for many years afterwards, and it would have been a perfect chance to swap in a 350 and enjoy it even more.
This regret has been rectified 9 years ago, when I found a nice ’79 Monte exactly like my old one, down to the color. So, no regrets anymore…
Late ’70’s , I failed to buy a ’62 Impala 4spd.409/409 for $300. The car was in San Jose CA. It was wearing Tennessee plates and was really rough. I suspected that it was a bootleg car.
This was before this kind of car was really collectible and I just did not appreciate what it was. I was tempted, but I had too many projects going at the time.
Embarking on the restoration of my 1966 Chrysler Windsor. It has been every bit as gut-wrenching an experience as I thought it might be, of not more-so.
That would have to be my 83 RX-7. I give it a brief mention in my Achieva CC, but it was keeper if I had had a place to garage it. Ran like a Swiss watch, ice cold A/C, very comfortable ride and handled like a dream. Although it lived in Connecticut till I bought in 93, not a tick of rust anywhere or a wisp of smoke from the humming rotary. 5 Speed dream that still looks good today.
Not selling my white ’87 Cadillac Brougham sooner. I was driving it in law school. It had low miles. It needed new brake pads and rotors, but nothing else. The gas station near my apartment had for sale out front an ’80 Cadillac Sedan DeVille in just as good shape for $2500. Dog dish hubcaps and baby blue exterior.
I literally had the chance to trade one car with a small block Oldsmobile engine, 4 speed 200R4, and sh-tstorm of vac lines, sensors, and other emissions control crap for THE SAME CAR with a Cadillac big block and THM 400 and -0- computer components. In a better color. Doh!
I kept my ’87 for 4 more years, during which time it developed numerous problems, the most expensive and time consuming of which were related to that stupid computer controlled carb and the attendant vac line hell. Someone bought it but I would have happily sent it to the crusher out of spite.
But 23 year old me thought that because it was newer, it’d be more reliable than the ’80. 3 years with a ’77 Electra, the stripped down equivalent of that ’80 Caddy, have proven that belief wrong. It would have climbed hills better and had simpler and cheaper parts meaning the inevitable issues would be simpler and cheaper to resolve. In terms of CC ownership, it was the most fiscally responsible decision I could have made (other than not attending law school such that I would graduate immediately before the 2008 crash when everyone lost their jobs). Hindsight is 20/20.
If you have a long commute, get the best, most modern DD you can. But I learned from this experience that if you’re going to have a CC, whether it is used once or twice a week as a normal driver or just as a weekend car, if you’re actually going to drive it my advice is always go for simple over complicated. That means no computer over computer, Qjet over eQjet, regular climate control over auto-temp, regular rear shocks over auto-level control, etc. The luxury components of your CC should be ones that can be easily fixed, like the a/c compressor.
My second biggest regret was a temporary return to the Cadillac fold with a relative’s ’93 Fleetwood Brougham. All the electrical problems of a 90s luxury car with none of the character of the prior Cadillacs. Someone rear-ended me, insurance totaled it for more than I paid, I got a cheapo repair done and sold it, making a $1,200 profit. So that story had a happier ending, I made lemonade out of a lemon. No more post ’80 Caddies for me.
Selling my ’70 Honda Trail 70. And not buying every Honda Trail 50 I saw for $25 back in the early 80s. Who knew…
Don’t regret selling any of my rides, as they are either starting to crumble to oxide, or are developing issues that require 4 figure cures.
Biggest regret was noting a couple things amiss in the 78 POS Zephyr before buying it, assuming the dealer would correct them under warranty and that would be that. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have followed my first impulse, grabbed the 78 Corolla Liftback SR5 that I drove before the Zephyr, and learned to drive nearly laying down due to the restricted headroom. If the Corolla had lived up to the reputation that model earned in later years, I would never have had the Zephyr, or the LeCar, or, sadly the GLC.
Not realizing that the three most interesting cars I ever owned-a `64 Riviera, a `66 T Bird Landau and a `73 DS Citroen would be hard to find in nice mechanical shape years after I sold them.Guess that old cliche is true-“you don`t know what you have until you lose it”.
I’ll go against the grain here and say my biggest regret is NOT selling my TR4 sooner. I should have immediately given up and started over with a salvageable car.
Regret #2 was not buying a 1971 GTX 440 6pack 4speed for $1,200 in 1984, although my regret is not that great since I probably would have been dead within 24 hours of buying it.
If I were you, I think i’d regret passing up that GTX too.
My ’79 Impala sedan, my first car, had it for about 6 years, stolen from in front of the house 2 months after we swapped a 350 for the 305. >:-(
Selling my Subaru SVX. I sold it for a good reason (putting my wife in a bigger, safer vehicle). Maybe it’s not a “regret” if I would still do it again…. but I wish I could’ve found a way to keep the SVX and still get her the new car.
My biggest missed opportunity was having to pass up a ’62 Buick Skylark 2 door hardtop offered to me for $50. It was baby blue with a navy blue interior. This was in 1990. Low miles and all….
..
Ouch!
I once owned a truly collectible 1988 Ford Mustang notchback law enforcement special. All black exterior, and factory blacked out alloy wheels. I purchased it at an auction in 1991 for $4800. It was 5.0, 5-speed, only 32,000 miles. Interior was perfect except for one cigarette burn on the console. It was a detective’s unmarked car–never used for patrol.
I sold it in 1993…to buy my wife’s wedding ring. She is still my wife, and the mother of my children… and I love her deeply…but that car is very, very rare–I have never seen another one like it for sale. It would have been a good vehicle to keep for appreciation.
I’m in a similar boat. I traded in my ’03 Marauder for the down payment on a Kia Forte plus cash, put my wife in the Kia since her Alero was falling to pieces and used the cash to buy her an engagement ring. I love my wife dearly and can’t imagine my life without her, so on balance it was a good deal and I’d do the same if I was in that situation again–but I still miss that Marauder.
That’s easy. My beloved R8 had been serving loyally, demanding attention but rewarding the attention with lively and economical and COMFORTABLE running. Then her brakes started to fail. I replaced everything that I could replace, EXCEPT the master cylinder which was clearly the real problem. Its mounting nuts were rusted in place and none of my tools and methods worked.
A real mechanic with real equipment could have done the job easily. Why didn’t I take her to a real mechanic? Pure stupid pride. Lost a wonderful car to the sin of pride.
My cop Mustang looked just like this…but without the lightbar.
The CHP used those as pursuit vehicles for a little while out here and were readily available at auction for cheap. They were eventually replaced with 4th gen Camaro’s which then turned into S70 Volvos….wut? I do not think the CHP currently uses a dedicated fast pursuit car anymore. Though I do remember seeing special all black Tahoes……
I had a chance to pick up a 1975 Ford Courier that a car-evasive person wanted gone for free because the brakes had locked up all around. Couldn’t convince anybody to grab a trailer and meet me, so the person trying to get rid of it eventually had a tow-truck come and drag it to the crusher. Sometimes I hate how my family dislikes my obsession with cars, otherwise I’d be driving a micro truck right now.
Not buying the 1970 Thunderbird sportroof my friend’s dad was selling in 1981.
I regret more some things I haven’t done rather than those I have. It hasn’t all been plain sailing so that’s saying something.
No 1 Regret: Not borrowing the money to buy a one owner 280 SE 3.5 Coupe with sunroof and 4 speed back in 2002. It wasn’t cheap and took a long time to sell, but knowing what I do having gone in relatively cheaply on a 300 SE, it was a bargain that rapidly headed for the stratosphere.
No 2 Regret. Not being in a position to borrow further to buy a low mileage one owner Lancia Pininfarina 2.8 coupe when the former owner’s son offered it just as we concluded house renovations. The condition of some of the alloy castings worried me, as did the original tyres, but this car drove beautifully. The webbing of the bright red seatbelts was still stiff, the cylindrical leather tool container and its contents were works of art.
I’m sure I can think of others but it’s not acting on the bulletproof 3.5 coupe that I most regret. The feeling has only been reinforced with every subsequent car related drama since then and I expect will persist since we’re not out of the woods yet.
I felt quite good this morning until reading this thread…only hearing from a current or former Fiat 130 coupe owner will restore my equilibrium. Schadenfreude?
Hehehe. My 130 coupe was a nightmare of biblical proportions, but I still don’t regret the purchase. It was an itch I had to scratch.
There have been two cars in my long car history that I regret trading:
1. My 1980 Triumph TR7 convertible. Mildly modified for auto crossing, and also drove it on many very fun roads in the Smoky Mountain South. TR7s were legendary for problems, and deservedly so especially for the early ones, but much of that was sorted out in the later years. Too late for British Leyland to save the car, but mine was great fun and trouble-free, and I should have kept it (perhaps the only one who’s ever said that about a TR7).
2. My wife’s 1982 Camaro. Not a particularly great car, but we sure enjoyed it. The car was mechanically worn out, but there was no rust. We needed a good family car (especially something that could more easily handle a child car seat), but I wish I could have kept that Camaro and restored it. I’ve always had my eye out for a nice 3rd Gen Camaro to surprise my wife with someday.
My biggest regret was when I was 16 (in 1984) having and passing on the opportunity to buy a very well kept original owner 250SE Convertible for $3300. My father who is mechanically inclined took me at my request to view and test drive it. My dad was clearly impressed with it and he asked me after driving it “How are you going to pay me back for it?” My 16 year old brain heard criticism while my father was merely asking for my plans for repayment and I was employed at the time, just no savings. I had a temper tantrum and got no 250SE cabrio as my first car…instead I got a 1978 Honda CVCC Hondamatic with in red with ginormous racing stripes and red and orange velour striped interior…ahem.
For many, many years I regretted selling my ’84 Nissan Pulsar. It was near perfect for me, a reasonably fun runabout that was incredibly cheap to keep going.
Now, I just wish I hadn’t burned so much money on cars when I was younger. Hindsight is 20/20.
Not photographing a number of Curbside Classics in Portland quick enough and before I could not find them anymore.
When I were a younger man, I regretted a selling a number of cars I’d owned, but I’m learning to hold onto things a little more lightly as I age.
Long-time readers may remember when I sold my ’69 F-100 that had been in the family over 40 years (click for story). About a year and a half after I sold it, the kid that bought it called and said he had fixed it up and was driving it regularly, but realized he didn’t have the budget to dig into the advancing rust issues, and wanted to know if I wanted to buy it back.
Just for a split second, I actually considered it.
But I’d already made my decision when I sold it off and thanked him for giving me the opportunity…
No regrets at all.
My biggest regret is not having the 900 dollars at the age of fourteen in 1968 to buy what appeared to be a VERY well preserved 1939 Buick Roadmaster. The thirty nine Buick was definitely my favorite 30’s Buick and, as a subscriber to Cars&Parts for a couple of years, I was familiar with most of them. I still think of this car and often hope that it found an appreciative owner.
Selling my 1961 Chevy Biscayne….twice. It was my daily driver for almost two years the second time I owned it. I miss it dearly.
My biggest regret is selling my ’64 Impala SS convertible. Still miss her after 13 years apart.
My Favorite Chevy Ever! Except the convertible part. I just don’t like them. Rather have that hardtop roof that looked so cool that year; I was 7 in 1964 and I remember my Uncle Roy bringing his new Midnight Blue ’64 to the house and I just went crazy over it. Incidentally, the car in the driveway already (our car) was a 1961 Star Chief, quite a classic in its own right.
Haha purchasing my 2007 Versa. EVERYTHING has gone wrong on this car, fuel pump, breaks, bearings, air conditioner. Yeah I had it looked at before I bought it. By a trusted mechanic. He’s no longer my mechanic.
Not buying a clean black 2002 SAAB 9-3 Aero convertible when I had the chance in 2012. I always loved that generation 9-3, my favorite body style being the 5 door hatch. I was coming from a 2 door car and really wanted a 4 door car. That and my convertible-phobia stopped me. I live in a nice neighborhood though I frequently travel through some not so nice areas and I fear getting the top slashed. I’ve heard a couple of stories from friends how people’s tops, especially Jeep tops, would get slashed. I’m kicking myself now, it’s a risk I’d gladly take if I get the chance again.
Selling my first car is my biggest regret. A 1973 Ford Falcon XA 500 sedan that I acquired in 2005 when I was 17. It was an original one owner car, needing only minor bodywork and rust repair to be a stunner. Plus a little age related mechanical TLC.
I had my heart set on moving overseas, and additional funds for that were worth more to me at the time. I also did not have a good spot to keep it and work on it, and my mechanical aptitude back then wasn’t quite up to the task. I wish that I had somewhere to have put it into longterm storage, as i now have the resources to take care of it.
I also very reluctantly parted with a 1989 Mustang 5.0 convertible a few years ago when I moved again. And as much as I love my current car, a 2012 VW up!, I sometimes regret buying it brand new, as I was at my happiest when I was debt free and not making any kind of payments.
I’m torn between:
Trading in my bright-yellow 2006 Ford Ranger XLT 4wd extended cab for a Pathfinder. It was reliable, and easy to find in parking lots. Unfortunately, also easy to find by cops.
Impulse-buying a 1989 LaForza off eBay. It was something I read about as a kid and thought was awesome, and it was pretty much my only chance to own one. But it’s not particularly fun to drive, and the electrical system is craptacular – I jump started it a few weeks ago and now once again no longer have headlights. (when I bought it they didn’t work due to a short, and I guess it got re-shorted).
Not somehow getting my hands on my aunt’s 1980 Crown Vic (she sold it to someone for next to nothing without telling me she was going to)
Abandoning my first car, a 1963 Corvair Monza four door with the four-speed stick and uprated engine. It had a few minor issues, but the body was in pretty solid shape (had been an old lady car). This was in 1973, when I was 20, and I knew then that I would really come to regret it. It needed to go in a dry garage for twenty years or so, but I had no access to one. Just like this one.
This topic is very easy for me. It would be my first car that was bought for me, a 1977 2 door Nova. I was 15 at the time and it was a car that was in a small business parking lot off Rt. 64 near my families house. It was poop brown with ugly plaid interior, 305 under the hood and a burn hole in the drivers seat you could throw a party in.
My dad paid 250 bucks for it and there it was, my first car. I couldnt drive it yet so it was parked in the garage and we would sit in it from time to time drinking a few beers we may have stole from our parents. Sadly when I did turn 16, I was more occupied wanting to drive my dads truck or my moms Z28. I wasnt old enough yet to see the potential in the shit brown Nova that in my opinion at the time was also an ugly body style.
One day I went to the local Wallyworld and bought a few cans of flat black paint and went to town. I didnt turn out too bad, and with the rusted out muffler it became the perfect car to get pulled over in all the time and that none of your friends parents wanted parked in their driveway. After about a year or so driving, the drivers side front disc brake locking up and glowing, the rear quarter panel crumbling away, I sold it to a buddy for 250 bucks breaking even. He wanted to use it as a spectator car at Sycamore Speedway and away it went.
It wasnt until a couple years later when my dad passed and I realized what he was trying to do in getting it. He was given a 56 chevy at 15 which he put a 427 into before buying a new 68 Chevelle when he got his job at the phone company. Even in the mid 90s they were getting pricey, so this was his way of trying to get me something from another era that I could work on and turn into a decent little sleeper to terrorize the streets like he told me he used to tell me did.
One day I hope to be able to get a 396 Chevelle like my pops used to have, but something tells me that I will probably have that 77 Nova first…..minus the shit brown and the 305 under the hood.
2 things I most regret:
1. Letting my wife talk me into selling my Miata when our first child was born. I miss that car every time I get into a vehicle… I’d rebuilt everything on that car and it was in near-perfect shape when I sold it. It’ll be a LOOOOOOONG time before I’ll be in any position to have a “fun” car again. I know if I had held onto it, I’d still have it but we were having arguments about it every day, and I just couldn’t do it anymore (and getting divorced over a THING is stupid.)
2. Buying the 84 Ford EXP (think “Escort with no backseat”) I had a fairly decent, if slow and rusty Sunbird but being a dumb teenager I wanted something “cool”. I wanted a sporty car with 2 seats, and this is what I could afford… They were DOG slow, mine had been in an accident and repaired just well enough that I couldn’t tell (but it had a litany of problems that I paid dearly to just have a running car) Mine also was black with “limo dark” black tinted windows. It looked cool to me, but I got pulled over almost weekly because of it. The head gaskets on these motors blew with alarming regularity, the “ignition module” would break and the car wouldn’t start, mine was bent so every time it rained the interior would fill up with water. It had “Michelin TRX” wheels and tires, which were metric-sized (365mm, kind of like between 14 and 15″, NOBODY in rural Wisconsin sold these, I could have driven to Milwaukee and paid more than the car cost me for 4 new tires (that would be down to the cords again in a year because of the broken suspension) Basically the car that (should have) taught me about “throwing good money after bad”, I should have set it on fire the first time it broke down, instead of having it towed and repaired over and over again. Everybody told me “get a Honda, they never break” so I bought a Prelude to replace the EXP, and that car had almost as many problems as the EXP did. Ugh.
“get a Honda, they never break. ”
It’s the No. 1 problem in customers, as those cars with more durability ( or by rumors ) get far more neglects than usual and any advantage in longevity if they have vanished for that.
Daan-
I hear and read stories like yours all the time, and it never fails to make me ill. Why are women so insistent on making their men get rid of their toys- or else?
I had a chance to buy an avocado green with black interior ’70 AMX. 360, 4 spd and right at about 100K miles. This was in ’92, Id just graduated H.S. and the guy wanted $10K for a pristine car. I mean not a flaw on it. Granted, I only had about half the $$ available but I should’ve twisted my dads arm a lot harder. What a car!
My ultimate regret was taking my ’81 CJ-7 Laredo out in black ice when I was 19 y/o. Future COAL will tell that story.
Ive missed out on several opportunities recently. While Im at work, I can scavenge the list of craig as well as read on here. Ive come across and missed:
–’85 Plymouth Gran Fury. 106K miles, granny-owned immaculate car advertised with no issues whatsoever. It had the slick top, 318, dark blue over lite blue. It was listed for $2500, but Im not a sedan guy. When it hit $1200, I considered calling. When the price went to $650 I figured that’s practically a free car in that condition and I could add flowmasters and Keystone classics to make a SWEET freeway bomber. Nope…SOLD.
–’81 Reliant coupe. CL find down in Redding. It was a clean low mileage car with a 4 in the floor! Distance was a deterant and the car ate its tranny according to the last ad before it was gone.
–75 Scamp. It was only a slant 6 but immaculate, local to Beaverton and listed for $2500. Skunked by the early bird again.
–’79 LeBaron coupe. Im actually 95% sure its THIS one: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/cohort-capsule-chrysler-lebaron-turbo-trans-am-snapshots-from-the-golden-age-of-divorce/
The price was ludicrous cheap at $1400 and the car looked clean. I texted the owner and set up a time to look at it but got ahold of some sketchy food and tried to reschedule. Seller was a total A-hole about it, but at the same time craigslist flakes DO suck.
In 1968 I bought a 1963 Ford Galaxie 500XL convertible with a 427 and 4 speed. I sold it in 1972 instead of the 1966 Galaxie I had. While there are cars I would like to still have the 63 Galaxie is the only car I kick myself for selling.
I reckon my second biggest regret is buying a 75 Rabbit. That was the biggest pile of s… I ever owned.
Subscribed .
-Nate
Every darn day. Sending my beloved 1967 Chevelle Malibu to the junk yard. Body was in awful condition and then I discovered too much rust in the frame. I had hoped to find a donor body but with the frame issues I rationally decided there wasn’t much there to save. I stripped the car of anything remotely useful against the needs a replacement Chevelle might have. 25 years later I still have the parts my garage attic and the engine still awaits a call to duty in my mother’s garage.
My number one and biggest regret was getting rid of my father’s 1968 GMC pickup truck under unhappy circumstances in 2007. Either get rid of it or be evicted. At the time the truck wasn’t running and was in poor condition, although I had plans to fix it up someday.
1968 was a memorable and special year for me. I was nine years old when my father purchased a new 1968 GMC pickup truck. The GMC was basic 1/2-ton Wideside 2-wheel drive CS1500 model with the 8-foot bed and wood floor. Exterior color was light yellow with argent front bumper, grille, wheels and rear step bumper. It was equipped with a 292 inline 6 with 4-speed manual transmission, and 3:54 rear axle. No radio, air conditioning, no power steering or brakes but had full instrument gauges.
My father drove the truck for only three months, then shipped the truck (along with our other belongings) to Japan where he planned to retire. Plans didn’t work out so we shipped all our belonging and truck back to the U.S.. When we picked up the truck at the San Pedro port we found the truck had been badly damaged. Hood, left door, windshield, shell camper were smashed. Rear step bumper was bent. The truck was repaired shoddily, i.e, left door and hood was replaced with a 1967 parts that was noticeably (even to my ten year old eyes) mismatched. Even the paint was mismatched. But my father, who was quite ill at the time, let it go and paid the repairs.
After my father died, I inherited the truck. It was my first vehicle and I drove it as a secondary vehicle for almost 30 years. During those 30 years it had been in two major accidents, had two major engine repairs. The last accident left the truck with heavily damaged front end where the bumper/grille/hood/fenders had to be replaced. The body shop replaced the front end with a 1971 parts, which I wasn’t really happy with, but 1968 parts were unavailable. By 2003 there were so many things wrong with the truck that it was no longer safe to drive. But I kept it the truck for sentimental reasons with hopes of someday fixing it up.
Over the years I had bought many cars (but never bought a pickup truck) used as primary transportation but never had the emotional attachment or close bond to those cars that I had with that old GMC. I still have the original owner’s manual and shop/service manuals and some of the salvaged parts, i.e, horn button, shift knob, hubcaps and hood/fender emblems and a few pictures as reminders of that wonderful old GMC pickup truck that serves as a link to my childhood and memory of my father.
Tried to find a 1968 GMC equipped like my father’s pickup, but most trucks advertised for sale are customized Chevrolets with short beds, 350 V-8 and automatic transmission or basic with the 250 inline 6 and three-speed manual. Not quite the same.
Regret number two: I didn’t take auto mechanics/body shop classes in high school. Never had the time to take night classes or continuing education either.
I paid $1700 for a 1997 Ford E350 box van one year ago. I was planning an event, and I needed a larger truck (Or so I thought). The event was postponed to the next spring (Bought the truck in late August). The trucks rear brakes were completely shot, so there went $600 on them. That was the start of it all.
Whenever I needed the truck, it was always something. I ended up building a box for my 1987 Chevrolet R10, and I worked way beyond what it should be able to do. I fell in love with my Chevrolet for saving my rear through that long year.
I only was able to drive the truck a total of 700 miles over my one year of ownership. Eventually the engine quit on me, and I parted out what I could sell (Not much), and sold the rest for $800 to a guy to make a trailer out of it. The frame was so bad that I was able to kick my foot through one of the crossmembers. I stopped putting money into it at that point, but all in all, I lost over $2500 on a POS that I never could use. I did five collection events with it- I broke down on four of them.
That truck hurt me so much that I probably won’t buy a Ford for a long, long time, if I ever do buy one.
It’s Ford’s fault that you bought a used up truck that gave you nothing but trouble? Good to know… *smh*
Not buying a 64 Galaxy convertible for £450 in 1982.
Selling my Vauxhall PC Cresta
I’ve had a couple of cars I regretted selling:
My ’74 Roadrunner, which I had modded to the point it was running 13.50’s or so at the strip. It was pretty much bulletproof after replacing the weak, out of a 6cyl rearend which died from a bent (so slightly you had to put a run out gauge on it to see it)driveshaft which killed the pinion bearing. I had an 8+3/4 rear put in it, and it was trouble free. I stupidly decided I wanted a 4×4 truck, so I traded it for the lemon of lemons, a ’77 Dodge Power Wagon, a total piece of crap.
My ’79 Trans Am, which was as quick as the Roadrunner was after major mods. I got the hots for an Iroc Camaro, and after buying the Iroc, I sold the T/A to some guy. One good thing, after several years in a garage, it’s back on the road, with super bad paint (It was never too good, a lot of factory flaws), but with the original engine, etc. The same guy still owns it, and it’s had the carpet and door panels replaced, both front quarters rehung, and paint is soon to follow by a local guy who does amazing work in his barn. Supposedly a custom “chicken” will be airbrushed onto the hood, something I was about to have some guy do for me back in 1986. I wish my Challenger had the throttle response the T/A did/does.
I have two:
NOT buying a rust-free Mayfair Maize ’65 Catalina Ventura for $3000 in 2000, and not buying a first-generation Riviera when they were still under $5000 for a decent one.
On the bright side, your two biggest regrets are cars that you wish you’d bought, not cars you wish you hadn’t sold or scrapped. 🙂
First, not buying the pristine low mile 70 Newport coupe for $800 in 1981.
Second, picking the worn out 61 T-Bird for $1200 instead of the beautiful 71 Mark lll for $3500 around 1988.
Third, selling my 29 Model A coupe after the second child was born.
Trading my perfectly kept, one owner 1968 VW Beetle for a lightly used ’75 VW Dasher. I was 25 and making fairly good money, and thought I should step up to something with a bit more, er, dash. I stepped in it, all right. The “Trasher”, as it was soon christened, was the car that put me off VW-Audi products forever. Yes, the Miami Blue paint was deep and beautiful, and the little 1471cc four sang like a Wagnerian tenor, but the rest of the car was rubbish. After two years, I gave up in disgust and sold it. My next transport was a 10 speed Raleigh Record. I still have that one.
My first car was a new 1969 GTO. If I were doing it over I would have at least looked at 1969 Chevrolet Impalas. Had I then bought 69 Impala, perhaps with A/C and the turbohydramatic, then all of the cars I had after that would almost certainly have changed.
When my wife and I got rid of her ’74 Spirit of America Nova. Her parents owned a dairy farm and we could’ve stored it away until a more opportune time to work on/drive it.
LOL ~ having lived & worked on a Rural Dairy Farm in the 1960’s , I well remember the dozens of clean old 1920’s through 1950’s classics sitting there covered in dust & cob webs .
You’d have done well to save that Nova .
-Nate
Should have bought the ’64 Volvo 122S that I learned to drive on, when my mom upgraded to a 245 in 1986. She offered it to me (not free) but it just seemed like an old car, though it was in very good condition. She sold it for what it cost new. A few cars that I actually owned, that I sometimes wish I had today: ’81 Trans Am, ’85 Vanagon Westfalia, ’93 FZJ80 Land Cruiser. And not exactly a CC (yet), but when our kids started driving I asked myself why I had sold our ’93 Corolla 5 speed wagon just two years earlier. The reason was that I had bought a 5 speed Turbo Forester (since sold). But I would have preferred them driving a 15 year old Corolla. Oh, one other regret: that my neighbor’s sister did not sell me her ’56 Chevy convertible for $200 (cosmetically and mechanically in fine shape) in 1972, instead giving it to her nephew who immediately traded it for a ’64 Impala that he turned into a budget low rider. But $200 was a huge amount of money for me then, and I probably hesitated too long.
My biggest car-selling regret? On July 10, 1973, this:
My favorite retired school teacher childless aunt bought a new 1976 Camaro LT-firethorn red with rally wheels and every option available and refused to trade in her 1967 Midnight Blue with double white racing stripes Camaro SS. My father beggared her to sell it to him but she had promised it to another relative. If that wasn’t bad enough..once an adult and with one classic of my own my father & stepmother retired and sold her(owned from new) 1967 Firebird Convertible with 67k miles in 1998-I said really–you didn’t think of me?
Selling my 1964 Chevelle Malibu SS Convertible when I was in the Navy (circa 1975), I’d bought it out of boot camp, new blue paint job and a new top for $650 off a car lot in California.
Selling my 1963 Alfa Romeo 2600 Spyder, which I’d bought while in the Navy, engine blew, hauled it home when I was discharged, picked up a 2600 sedan for parts, then things happened, and sold the whole deal to ‘friend’ for $1500. A few years later, things changed again, I offered to buy it back, at a profit to him, he agreed, but when I went to pick it up, some Alfa fan painting his barn had seen it, and offered him $100 more than I had. He never called to let me match, or beat, the offer. We’re no longer friends.
Cars I wish I’d bought? A cherry, one owner, 1964 Bonneville convertible with a blown transmission for $150 shortly out of high school. It had been sitting in a barn since about 1967, when the trans went out. Car was Red/White, with Red interior, immaculate condition. Why didn’t I buy it? Because I stopped to look at it on the way to work, took too much time going “WOW”, and agreeing to buy it, so was late to work and got fired 🙁 hence no funds.
Well, there’ve been a lot of cars that I regretted selling, but if I hadn’t sold them I couldn’t have bought some of the subsequent cars I’ve had, so I guess that has to be regarded as a wash. 1962 Lincoln Continental convertible sedan, 1955 Packard 400 hardtop, 1960 Chrysler New Yorker 2-door hardtop, 1964 Mercedes-Benz 230SL, 1965 Chrysler 300L hardtop are a few….
Cars I wished I could have bought but missed out on for one reason or another: A 440 4-speed Road Runner for $2500 (didn’t want to sell the 300L hardtop to buy it), a 1970 Road Runner 383 4-speed convertible, no rust, driving and running and good looking for $1500 (I don’t know what I was thinking, I should have bought it on the spot and borrowed the money).
I regret selling my ’59 Edsel Ranger 4 door hardtop and my ’90 Mark VII LSC.
My biggest regret is killing my 1971 Olds wagon, a true COAL for me. I drove this beaut for 4 years, having rescued it from a junkyard where it was bound for the demo derby. It was always fun cruising between Seattle and Bellingham, and to the mountains. I took it with me to community college and WWU. Then, ran it bone dry out of oil on a trip to Grand Coulee. She burned a quart every 500 miles after that. Had to move across the state and in a weak moment, I sold it for next to nothing, deciding instead to keep my other car, which was 20 years newer and got better mileage. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Needless to say, I check my oil every 100 miles now, no matter how reliable a car has proven to be, just in case something starts leaking without warning.
73 Sport Bug. I have posted the story before. Hit 3 times in less than 2 years, parked once and stopped at red lights twice. Hit and run (and dragged halfway down the street) when parked. No insurance from at fault driver stopped at red light once. Steering pin engaged and locked while driving. And much more. A German “Cristina”. Even after sold it cost me more money. But another VW, my 86 Jetta has served me well for the last 24 years (and counting) and over 300k miles with original engine and trans. So that evens things out.
I regret driving the piss out of my first 3 real Curbside Classics, all bought or leased new: 1985 Corolla GT-S, bright red; traded in with 92000 miles in 2 years on a 1987 Corolla FX-16 GT-S, white and mean looking; with 83000 miles in 4 years; traded that in on a 1991 Nissan Sentra SE-R, white also. Nice grouping of early Japanese rockets, wouldn’t you say? They were all I mint condition when I got rid of them, save worn out clutch on the 1985. Young and foolish.
You shouldn’t ~ you bought them specifically to hoon and enjoy then you did .
That you kept them looking nice means you’re _way_ above the average owner , be proud you did that .
-Nate
Regrets: Selling my ’67 Cougar XR7 because of the first arab oil embargo of the mid- ’70s. The second is not insisting that my brother keep his ’64 1/2 V-8 Mustang ragtop w/factory air before trading it in for $300. Depressing.
My Ford Fiesta MK1, was a former car from a driving school, but I loved that thing, it was my first car.
I am probably the only person who would like to have again a 92 Pontiac Sunbird. I traveled all the American west and I loved it.
Biggest regret is selling the ’03 Marauder. (We’ll call that one a future CC.) The reasons were compelling (put my girlfriend in a newer more reliable car, and gave me money for an engagement ring with which to propose) but I do still miss it.
Not really something I can regret, because it was a matter of timing that was out of my control. I guy showed up at Chryslers at Carlisle one year with the most beautiful 1964 Chrysler New Yorker Hardtop Wagon in champagne with a white top and every conceivable option, including reclining seatbacks and headrests. He wanted $9800 for it in the mid ’90s. 5 years later we decided to pass through the car coral first thing when we got there. The same Chrysler apparently showed up after we had been through. When we passed through the coral a second time, it was sitting there with a sold sign on it. $5500.