Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Saying Good bye, or good riddance.

Well, at least it's out of my life.

Why I hate selling a car. There are many reasons. 

"If it were only that easy!"

When someone suggests that I should sell one of my cars, that's what comes to mind, if it was only that easy.

That's why you shouldn't complain about your car situation with civilians. They don't really understand how you feel about your collection. 

They will say that any used car is worth a lot of money. Well, at least that's what they heard on TV. That really only applies to later model cars in good running shape. That doesn't apply to the kinds of cars that I own.

Exactly how much demand is there for any of my cars? 

I mean if I don't want them, why should anyone else? That's not a question that I like asking myself!

I could always sell them to a wrecking yard, I had to do that with my Explorer. It might be a good idea to get an estimate first. This will put a bottom line number on the selling price.

My Wife tells me that I should be prepared to get very little for them, but to keep in mind that what I really need and want is more space, not money. I could donate them to charity for that matter, if it came to that. But even the small amount of money I could get through sales would be a bigger benefit than the even smaller tax deduction. Besides I hate that "rock group" KarZ for KidZ commercial! 

Sorry, but I find this irritating.

If I do sell them, would I ever buy any more cars that would be comparable to what I've sold? Perhaps.

Although I think that I might get a whole 'nother type of car. Something newer that I could drive for a bit then trade off. Eventually putting me in the same situation! 

If I were to sell my Mustang, I am very likely to buy a newer model. That is one of my priorities. I might hold off on selling this one until I'm certain that my newer replacement is already on the way. I might even be able to trade it in to the dealer as part of the down payment. 

If I sold the old "51 Jag, would I buy another old car? Maybe, but it would definitely be something that is much easier and cheaper to get parts for. Something American. Maybe a Riviera?  I did just re join the Riviera Owners Association. There was a reason for that!

If I sold the XJS, would I buy another English GT car? Probably not. (So long, dreams of an Aston Martin!) Besides, I have always thought of the Mustang as the "Everyman's Aston" at least in function, if not prestige. So I'm going to have the GT thing covered. 

If I sold the XJ6 would I buy another luxury European car? Or any luxury sedan for that matter? Probably not. My Flex can handle any task that I might need. From everything that I've read BMW, Mercedes, and Audi all suffer from the same reliability concerns.

Selling everything would all probably be for the well and good, I'd be turning a corner in my automotive hobbyist life. There wouldn't be any going back.

I like to reference Peter Egan's column, "The Great Garage Massacre."  It details how he cleans house, or at least his garage, in order to make a new start. I think that I need to do this.

I was thinking this morning how I used to have two family cars, one for me and one for my Wife to drive. Well, I also had a motorcycle. For the most part the bike was my hobby vehicle.

Then I picked up my first hobby car. For a long time I was restricted to just one car.

I got to thinking about that because I happened to find a big collection of work orders and receipts from back in 2010-2014 from the '96 Mustang.I totaled them up and they added up to 1,700 dollars. I have spent at least twice that much since then. I had made a commitment to fix whatever the car needed. That's why I ended up with a good car. 

Delusions of grandeur have clouded my judgement and I started accumulating additional cars. I call this the "Jay Leno syndrome." Or is it a delusion? Unfortunately, I'm at a real disadvantage, as I  don't  have his resources to deal with them. 

I posted on the AACA forum that I was planning to get rid of three cars. I said that my plan is to buy a late model Mustang GT. I don't know how that will be received. I know that a lot of members feel that restoration is almost a spiritual thing. 

I have mentioned frequently that I would never pay new car prices for any old car. I know that some are rare and valuable but never the less, that just doesn't work for me. 

Cars are often offered for sale with extra parts. These are replacement parts that the seller had purchased with the intention of installing, but never did. A lot of times they are just included in the sales price, to sweeten the deal. I recently saw an old car offered on a site that included new weatherstripping. 

Why didn't the seller install them before offering the car for sale? Maybe because once the car is offered up for sale the seller wants to cut all ties with it. That's it! He is done with it! I know that feeling, I'm not going to spend any more money or put any more effort into it. If the new owner wants to install the part, let him have at it, once he's paid me my money! 

I have a new set of trunk support struts, a fuel level sender, a replacement seat belt assembly, and a bunch of new suspension bushings for my XJ6. If I'm selling it I'm certainly not going to replace the suspension parts, but there really isn't a reason that I can't at least install the seat belt and the trunk struts. 

When I first went to see my XJ6 I found that the seatbelt latch was broken, the seller said that he would fix that before I picked it up. I thought that he would replace the latch with another Jag item. Instead he used a different latch from a car he had around. The original latch blade wouldn't work with that, so he cut the replacement blade and fitted it to the original seatbelt. That fix worked in that it looks like the seat belt is properly in place, but it isn't. Under duress the latch blade will separate from belt rendering it ineffective. I really didn't notice it until I was ready to drive away. I had to return to L.A. to pick up the car so I din't make a big deal out of it. I was sure that I could find another replacement belt assembly later, which I did. 

Besides, the car has air bags, I wasn't concerned about it, Besides I had ridden motorcycles for over thirty years and there aren't any seat belts on those! 

When the trunk struts gave out I started carrying a length of aluminum tubing to prop it open. A piece of two by four wouldn't do, this is a Jaguar after all! Yes this works but it is an inelegant solution. Besides, I already have the proper replacement units. I just haven't gotten around to it. 

It might make difference in how easily I will be able to sell the car, it certainly wouldn't hurt anything, and I'm going to include them with the car anyway. 

Maybe I should just get around to it. 

I guess that it's been decided.