Have you ever sold "the car you'd never sell"?

[Dick Longbridge]

25 minutes ago, Crusty Sills said:

I bought my Beetle in 2009 with some money that my mum left me when she died 

Went through a divorce, kids, 4 house moves and was finally finished in 2014.

Said I'd never sell. However in the years after being finished I only did 800 miles. It seems I enjoyed the build and the look of the car more than the driving.

Roll on 2021 and we decided to buy a house. The Beetle needed to go in order to fund this. 

I dithered and dragged my feet eventually advertising it. 

Young guy came to see it and loved it. Got money I wanted for it and @worldofceri did the delivery on a return journey. 

I literally cried as it went but soon after knew it was for the right reasons. 

Got a picture from the lad with it nice and snug in his garage and knew it was time for someone else to enjoy. 

The thing is with a car like your Beetle is that I'm sure you sold it for solid money and that the new owner will likely look after it reasonably well knowing they paid the higher end of the scale for it due to its clean, restored condition. 

My MR2 is very much currently at the lowest point as far as values go and I think it's unlikely the majority of future owners would bother going above and beyond the call of duty to preserve it when it could be replaced with another £2k sports car relatively easily. 

Having said all of that, when deciding whether to sell a special car regardless of value, rarity or general desirability, I always say you have to assume that you'll never see it again and that subsequent owners will ruin it. If you accept that may well happen and just want the £££ in your hand, then it's all good. 

[N Dentressangle]

2 hours ago, scruff said:

Yes,

Bought this with my now wife as a barn find, rebuilt it (underneath) and went all over Europe in it, dailyed it too. Wanted a series one 80" since I was 10 years old and said I'd never sell it, but...

Prices going mental coincided with first child arriving so I shamelessly cashed in. Probably never have another now, and for what they demand there's much better things to spend your money on.

That is a gorgeous Series 1, but your reasoning is spot on. They're not that much use most of the time these days. My Series 2A has sat in the field for months now.

[KitKat]

10 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I always say you have to assume that you'll never see it again and that subsequent owners will ruin it. If you accept that may well happen and just want the £££ in your hand, then it's all good. 

If you accept that and just want the money, it’s not a difficult decision to make. The dilemma is wanting the money as bad as not wanting the car fucked with. 

@Crusty Sills case sounds like a very happy outcome. And likewise, the build and technical side of it has always been my thing, rather than the driving. Knowing the new owner is willing to cherish the car as you did definitely softens the blow too. This was the case with my 205 XS, Falcon and Volvo 240. But then I never swore to keep those cars….that’s the key point

[twosmoke300]

Got the vegan bit in the first paragraph ! Nice nice 😂

[scooobydont]

Having owned lots of fastish cars including a 350bhp impreza just now, the one I miss the most ans should never have sold was the slowest. If anyone ever sees it please let me know, I would love to get it back:

 

 

 

 

[KitKat]

7 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

Got the vegan bit in the first paragraph ! Nice nice 😂

….I don’t get it

Anyway……

I might advertise the car on a “It’ll take £____ for me to part with it” basis, instead of the “I think it’s worth £____”.  Being an old Ford though, I’d be worried some geeezzzaa wide-boy with a transporter came and bit my hand off at a figure I thought was ambitious. 

[mk2_craig]

Said I'd never sell the XR2.

 

But I woke up one day and decided I was fed up of it cluttering up the garage, plus I had a willing buyer in the form of a colleague who has subsequently sorted out the bodywork. 

My wife cried when I sold it, which is daft because I know she never liked it but maybe it was just the thought of getting rid of the toys to fund other stuff (the twenty seven hundred quid I earned from selling the Fiesta was sunk straight into home improvement work) and now there's no chance of owning another, unless I get my hands on a basket case which no doubt would never get properly fixed up - that was part of the problem in the first place.

Sometimes you just have to do these things.

[dozeydustman]

The only car we said we'd never sell was the Corolla, which shat it's oil pump system last summer. We scrapped it for decent coin but had time and circumstances been better we'd probably have done a full resto on it.

Regretted selling a couple of cars, but there aren't really any others I wanted to keep forever. I'll quite happily keep Saab version 2.0 until no longer viable to keep running, it shits itself spectacularly or is written off.

[egg]

On 30/04/2022 at 19:22, KitKat said:

Did you feel regret weigh on your shoulders, or relief lift from them?

Always relief in the end. It's a fantastic object, but it is just an object and not a substitute for good health or relationships with human beings.

Having been around hoarders, you really don't want your possessions grinding  you down.

[KitKat]

18 minutes ago, egg said:

Always relief in the end. It's a fantastic object, but it is just an object and not a substitute for good health or relationships with human beings.

Having been around hoarders, you really don't want your possessions grinding  you down.

Possessions make you vulnerable, as they say