Inability to settle with a car (Aka Bramz fever)

[mrbenn]

1 minute ago, danthecapriman said:

It’s probably a personality trait! 

I rarely change cars, I’ve had the same job for 13 years, lived in the same place for 15 years... I don’t like change!! (I’m also extremely lazy).

You are me, AICMFP.

[Eyersey1234]

2 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

It’s probably a personality trait! 

I rarely change cars, I’ve had the same job for 13 years, lived in the same place for 15 years... I don’t like change!! (I’m also extremely lazy).

I'm like this, rarely change cars, had the same job for 12 years and rarely move house. 

[dozeydustman]

I've only had one car I've not gelled with, which was the Ford Fuck-arse I had when I joined this forum. It took me about 4 days to realise it wasn't the car for me. Every other car I've owned has been long(ish) term; a minimum of a year though the Golf was a pure stop-gap measure after my Felicia wasn't worth fixing.

I normally like or dislike a car pretty much after a test drive. I think the Focus I had was just a bad one, as in the past I'd driven them and enjoyed them (Probably the test drive wasn't long enough for me to find out it was a shitpot)

[Six-cylinder]

No comment to this thread!

[Split_Pin]

46 minutes ago, SRi05 said:

So long as Autoshite exists, I'll be tempted by something 

This, unfortunately!

I went through this phase last year and came out of a 13 year ownership of my Astra Coupe. I've never looked back.

I'm quite settled now as the Audi 80, 172 and Corsa are all different enough to provide a bit of something.

When I get myself a new job I may instigate a change, or maybe not!

[jon.k]

I went through a similar patch of serial car ownership a couple of years ago. I’d like to share with the group that the answer for me was to get the cheapest, nastiest golf that I expected not to like, expected to break, fail an mot, snap its cambelt etc,  and as a result everything has been a bonus. I’ve gelled with the feeling of freedom that comes from really not caring about it.

 

 

(I do also have two keepers which belong in the “another bill to add to the folder” category. I gelled with one because it was my first car, and one because it was a low mile mega barg).

[carlo]

It would be easy for me to say try a 405.  I've had six or seven since 2005 and have driven nothing else since.  However, a couple have been very poor examples and had these had been my first exposure to the model I probably wouldn't have carried on with then.  I suppose my advice would be to try and pick the one that does the most for you, then find the finest example of it.  And yes stick with a car you like rather than think there's something better around the corner all the time.  

[TrabbieRonnie]

Most of my fleet is pretty long term at the moment, the Audi, at two years in, being the newest addition.  Surf 5 or 6 years, Trabi at 10, and the Hiace camper at 16!  The 'modern' is a 2005 Outback, ours for around 4 years now. 

Always looking, always obsessed with something (the good Dr's 3phew3 at present!), and of course there are certain cars I'd really like to try...  Would kick the Subie out for an old Camry awd estate, or the Audi for a mk3 Firebird (Knight Rider one). 

Apart from that, I have a set of criteria that I apply... If a car has one of the following, I'm interested.  More than one, I'm in trouble...

Flip-up lights

Frameless Windows

Longitudinally mounted engine

Motorised aerial

 

Weirdly, applying the above to my fleet, the most ordinary, 'normal' car I own is a Trabant, so I am obviously speaking fluent shite!

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, SRi05 said:

So long as Autoshite exists, I'll be tempted by something old and fucked and been bummed by cavcraft

run away now

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

No comment to this thread!

big difference between you and bramz

 

[Six-cylinder]

5 minutes ago, hairnet said:

big difference between you and bramz

 

I own/have owned 3 Ex bramz cars!

[hairnet]

15 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I own/have owned 3 Ex bramz cars!

you keep most of yours

 

[Angrydicky]

I find buying and selling cars very stressful, hence I tend to hang onto stuff for several years! I do have a very clean and tidy Maestro I really need to sell if anyone is interested at around £850?

[eddyramrod]

2 hours ago, TheDoctor said:

Lada Riva. Just because of ease of working on and smiles per mile. Sadly their popularity has made the market unattainable.

I've owned Rivas, and their 124-shaped predecessor, when they were worthless.  It feels very strange to read those words in that order!  If Ladas are out of reach, what hope is there?

[clayts450]

I've got so much catching up to do on car buying, as I definitely do want to try a few different marques (yes, really and no not MG....yet) before I hang up my driving gloves. That near-20 year hiatus I put on driving means I've missed out on some prime chod in the late 90s/early 00s, which is only now entering shed territory and can be picked up for nowt. Even things like Ford Focusseseses are on my 'must try' list.  The shame is a lot of the 80s stuff I really want a go at (eg Audi Quattro, early Alfas etc) are now silly money, so I suspect a lot of cars I want I'll never get close to.

In terms of disposables vs long-termers, I view the 420 as a VERY long-termer, and possibly the Streetwise too (future classic possibly ?), both cars I have thoroughly gelled with and love driving. The 620 is 'take it or leave it' if I'm honest and the 214 is first out the door as soon as I get it fixed (mainly because the 420 serves my R8 needs now, and the 214 offers nothing the Streetwise doesn't apart from being older).

On the radar, constantly, are a real wafty barge (Jag/Merc), a big estate (Volvo), a 4 x 4 (OLLI) and a sporty little coupe or poss cab (Alfa GTV top of the pops right now). 

My ideal fleet size really should be 3 - a city car, an estate and a plaything. However, 4 seems right at present. So if I constantly rotate the spots currently filled by the 620 and the 214 I should be able to sample some prime shitters.

That's the plan anyway.

But yes, totally get the 'not gelling' thing - the 620 is growing on me, but my first go to car now is always the 420, even the Streetwise struggles to get a look in and gets reserved for shit weather/daily commute duties (ie a quasi WBOD)

[catsinthewelder]

I usually hang onto stuff for a year or 2, longer term residents have usually broken in a way that should be fixable but isn't high on the priority list so they end up sat for years.  I should really try and get down to a smart daily mile muncher, a scruffy daily workhorse and one project car but don't want to scrap anything or see anyone wanting to buy them.  I also struggle to work out where any of the cars fit on the list. The 220 would struggle to ever pass as smart again but isn't big enough to be the workhorse so should probably go but I'd like to MOT it first and I know when I do I won't want to get rid.   Essentially the only thing stopping me buying more cars is the knowledge that I own 2 more than is sensible and 4 more than is normal.

[DoctorRetro]

10 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

I've owned Rivas, and their 124-shaped predecessor, when they were worthless.  It feels very strange to read those words in that order!  If Ladas are out of reach, what hope is there?

Try finding a roadworthy Lada for less than 1500 quid. I remember people thinking I was crazy paying 650 for a mint low mileage Riva estate a few years back. 

Wish I'd kept it now. G124XMH. Now in Ireland apparently. 

[Six-cylinder]

41 minutes ago, hairnet said:

you keep most of yours

 

That's the bad bit, there is not much of a problem changing your car often but buying and not selling! 

[chaseracer]

5 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Long term ownership is, genuinely, the answer. 

Agreed.  

With the 205's departure from the motor house of Chaseracer Towers, I have just two cars.  Neither of them currently work, true - but that's not important right now.  I've had the Blingo for 13 years, and the Dyane has been mine since 1990.

[cort16]

I used to be a compulsive car changer. I'd change my car pretty much every month, trying to escape or claw money back from the previous disastrous heap.

The thing is in most cases it wasn't even interesting stuff it was just run of the mill old chod. It totally ruined me financially and wasn't great for my head as I'm pretty sure I was doing it for other compulsive reasons even now I haven't got to the bottom to.

For me it was the need for a reliable car for work that changed it for me. I could be skidding around with old shite I needed to pay for something reliable so all my free cash went into paying finance on a 3 year old Clio Dci,  which did a great job for me and kind of opened my eyes to having a car I didn't need to worry about. As I got a better job and had some free cash I got back in the games with older stuff then 5 years ago ended up with 4 BMW's I didn't really want I spent ages fixing then sold for a loss. That put me right off and I just went back to fannying around with old more interesting stuff.

[rickvw72]

I’ve got a few all owned for many years,

old Beetle 19 years

camper 11 years

mk2 golf 12 years

Mk4 golf 4 years 

fourtrak 3 years

i do like to try stuff but I usually buy another and keep the old stuff too.

i find there’s nothing thing better for the job than I akready have, so stick with them. This has led to the values rising bizzarley, as they age. 

I do my own work, and use quality parts, so feel comfortable knowing my motley selection intimately, and try to keep them right. 

Take the Mk4 for example, 50 mpg, cruise control, climate control, heated seats. That’s a hard car to replace. As it’s not got the suspension hanging out and proper tyres and alignment, it even drives and handles well. 

I did try to replace it with V70 D5 2 years ago. It drank more, steered worse and all parts were 3-4 times the price of a Mk4 golf. It was bigger comfier and sounded better than the golf, but was it a better car?

[Flat4]

3 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I’ll stick my neck out here and suggest if your going through cars like you say, then you’ve not found what ‘works’ for you.

Im in the long term ownership corner firmly, but that’s because I know exactly what I want and what I like. I see absolutely no point whatsoever in  replacing something your happy with and still enjoy using with something you have no idea about.

 

THIS is exactly me, and the other half can't understand it!!!! The car that works for me is a Subaru Legacy twin turbo with Bilstein suspension, preferably a manual but an auto will do. Gen 2 or Gen 3. That's what I'm trying to find another decent example of on a non-existant budget because that's mainly what I've driven as a daily for the last 8ish years and not only do they do absolutely everything I ask of them, they make me feel alive every time I go for a drive. No other car has done that for me, and the only reason I'm looking at Foresters is because I can't fit the ferret's carry boxes in a Legacy with all the dogs if we're going on holiday and I'm hoping the extra height in a Forester will make that possible.

Saying that, the last 2 examples I sold because they were getting pretty high mileage wise and you could tell they weren't particularly happy being dailies, especially when I was doing 50 mile round trips 4 days a week to go to work. I'm now wondering if I can justify having a Legacy as a daily and a Forester as a tow car, along side the Granvia day van..... Or is that just greedy?

 

37 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

I find buying and selling cars very stressful, hence I tend to hang onto stuff for several years!

 

I'm the same. That and I normally lose money when ever I sell stuff on. Saying that, I had a really good run with my last GT-V and I sold the GTB for it's purchase price so it only cost me running repairs in 3 years I had it. I'm gonna lose a couple of hundred quid on the H6 when it goes but it's scratched an itch and taught me I don't really like Gen 4 Legacies as much as the older ones....

I have gone through the odd spell of buying random shite, Rover 620 derv I actually quite liked from the torque, couple of Mondeos, 2 x 2.0 Legacies, a 2.2 and a 2.5 but I really do need turbos in my life now  I actually prefer driving my diesel Granvia atm over the 3ltr petrol H6 (V6 but flat), and I think that might be a problem coz I've been spoiled by my very early choice of car.....

[Flat4]

57 minutes ago, clayts450 said:

Even things like Ford Focusseseses are on my 'must try' list. 

 

So it's not just me who has a must try list?  I would like a Focus at some point as it's what I learned to drive in and I couldn't afford one when I passed my test so I went with a Mondeo instead. I'd also like an Alfa at some point but it's finding an excuse to have one. Like, when would I ever use either of these if I ended up with 2 Legacies, a Forester and a Granvia?

[flat4alfa]

I like the term Bramz-fever and reckon it should go in the AS Lexicon

[flat4alfa]

Another may be Bickle-ification

/coat

[Spottedlaurel]

Quick summary: The cars I really like aren't readily available in good condition for a modest amount any more and I couldn't face the prospect of selling anything I have at present.

I got out of the habit of buying and selling cars by ending up with a varied older fleet that ticks a few different boxes. Early '70s (effectively 1960s design) through to the '90s, 2- and 4-door saloons, hatchback and estate, FWD and RWD, 4- and 6-cyl engines, spartan to luxury. From memory I've had them all for at least three years, eight for the Camry and the Laurel is now my longest ever at 10+ years.

It's not that I wouldn't like to get anything else (maybe even something non-Japanese?!), but I'm realistic about the cost and hassle of keeping 4-5 cars on the road. None of them cost me much to buy but I've spent money, time and effort getting them all to a state where I can reliably use them for whatever I choose, and it'd be a shame to lose that.

Also I wouldn't really want to let any of them go, they're all one former owner examples and I feel I owe some sort of commitment to the legacy (not Legacy) that I've been left with. Sentimental nonsense I know......

The only thing I really want in the near future is another LS400, driving Semi-C's Mk2 recently reminded me of the one I had and how even my current RX450 just doesn't offer the same feel. But what would I sell to get one?

I'm not quite the same with my modern, although I kept my Avensis diesel for over four years. It's only in the last year that I've gone through several cars, but now I've found a really nice RX with low miles and again one former owner I can see it becoming a keeper.

[wuvvum]

41 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

(maybe even something non-Japanese?!)

Who are you and what have you done with Nigel?

[wuvvum]

I used to suffer from a similar affliction.  This thread prompted me to update my owned vehicles spreadsheet, which I hadn't done for a few months - the total now stands at 559, in 22 years of driving (and 25 years of mopedding to be fair).  I used to chop and change all the time - some cars I only owned for a matter of hours.  I've slowed down a lot recently though - I think there's a variety of reasons for that, partly because I know that some of the fleet would be pretty much irreplaceable now if I were to sell (Renault 6, Innocenti), partly because I don't get bored as quickly as I used to, partly because chod has become more expensive so the days when I could pick up a CX, an SD1 and a Morris Minor in a weekend and have change from a grand are long gone, and partly because I can't really be arsed to spend every single weekend running around after cars any more.  (Although I am picking up another car on Saturday.)

I am in a bit of a quandary at the moment as my current fleet is made up entirely of cars I don't want to sell.  I have the reliable, comfortable modernish daily (Rover 75) which I like far more than I expected to, the van (LDV Maxus) which suits my vanning needs perfectly, the permanent members of the fleet (Renault 6, Carina E, Innocenti, Rover of Doom) and then more recent impulse buys that have ended up becoming semi-permanent as well (Y10 and CX).  In fact at the top of the list for selling at the moment is the Volvo 164, which I've owned for 15 years - the inclination to sell is more due to guilt at how much I've allowed it to deteriorate than any real desire to get rid.

[iainrcz]

I'm hoping I can keep my Gt86 for more than 5 minutes, unlike my last few cars. My first 407 was about 2 years, second one about 18 months, 508 and RCZ about the same. Longest I've kept a car for was my 406 that was almost 5 years.

[anonymous user]

I have slowed down now. I find selling more stressful, buying is easy, but fortunately lack the space now to have more than two on the go.

When I was younger I did have a long list of cars that I wanted.  All but one got ticked off the list; however I have bought loads that were never on the list in the first place. 

Some of them I never got on with and was glad to see go. Some I wish I hadn't sold. 

There is my list of things I really liked and would buy again.

Volvo 240 estates, Land Rover Series or Defenders, Austin A35s, Citroen C15s, 

My list of things I like, but don't think I'd buy again (either too expensive or I can't get in and out of them anymore, or both)

Morgans, Lotus 7s, MG Midgets/Healey Sprites, Alfa Spiders.

I've had loads of competent but boring cars, nothing special but just transport, all were better than walking or taking a bus.

If I had to choose one car, to see me out (and I could afford to get it fixed and keep it in fuel) it would probably be a Volvo 240GLT estate, or a Land Rover Defender

At the moment I have neither