Selling your 'toy'

[Uncle Henry]

It may be time to sell up and move away from decent cars for a while

We might be buying a business and need the capital that is tied up in the car ($40k ish).

If I do sell, the chances of me affording to get back into the car game for a very long time are almost nil.

Anyone else been in a similar situation and had to sell up?

I'm pissed cos the car has been in the country for 3 years now and due to other commitments its only done about 200k's in the whole time its been here.

[GTREA]

I have a toy myself but as yet have not been put in this situation, although all that money tied up in a car that doesnt get used puts it in a pecarius position at times....

Would be a hell of a shame to lose the cossie!

[GT R31]

I have, but more for convenience for anything else... I regret selling my old datsun, and as of an hour ago my dirtbike. Selling the dirtbike hasn't sunk in yet because I've got a fat wad of cash in my pocket which I'll appreciate more, but I think I'll miss not having the opportunity to go for a ride.

If you can hang on to the car I'd do it, but having driven 200km in 3 years, well, to me thats just impractical.

[Uncle Henry]

Thats the problem, it just doesnt get used enough.

But it took me forever to get it through engineering etc as I did the work myself in my spare time. Then when I finally got it all registered, rwc'd and engineered the engine loom melted in a small under bonnet fire. So I decided to convert it to Autronic and go whole new loom, ecu etc etc. Now, 18 months later, its all finished and just needs dyno'ing to finish off.

Amongst all this we have had a new house built , done all the landscaping, painting etc etc ourselves and now have a 4 week old baby. So freetime has been virtually zero for the last 2 years.

It's now at the point that once its dyno'd I'd be using ait a whole lot more and getting it to a few track days etc. so to have to sell it now would really suck balls!

[Brent]

dont do it....

Toys are ment to be impracticle. It is what makes them fun, this adds to the exclusivity of owning them. Dont try and justify them with a fiscal value.

Plus, it is a Cosworth. My father spent most of his working life with Ford.
Cosworths are what my teenage dreams were made of.

I would have loved to have seen the V8 coupe my father built as an apprentice. (The one he sold so he could have a family).

How much are GTHOs worth these days?

[Dave]

do it, start business and buy a rotax or a dirt bike

[Dave]

I regret selling my old datsun, and as of an hour ago my dirtbike.

Are you gay?

:D

[Sprinter]

I spent quite a lot of time and a truckload of money modifying my Sprinter. Along came child number one and it proved impractical (it was our only car). Ended up buying my parent's old Camry (yes I know what you're all thinking :p) and hardly used the Sprinter. I would have considered de-registering it, however we had nowhere to store it.

Ended up deciding that the money would be better on the home loan. The problem is now we have renovated our house and I have shitloads of room for a project car, however now have a huge mortgage and can't afford one

[JamesB]

I'm moving to Canada in a few months, so I was in the situation where I had to decide on whether or not to sell a car I bought new in 1979. I decided to keep it and a mate has offered to store the car in his workshop/garage (he's a car buff and already keeps his 60's Mustang, Lotus Europa, Cobra replica in there) until I either permanently return to Australia in 5 to 7 years time, or decide that I'm not coming home (in which case, I'll do a minor tidy up restoration during an extended Christmas trip home and then stick it on the market).

[Madhatr]

business earns the money. Money means you can buy the pretty toys. Business wins.

If you need capital and you are prepared to really make a go of the business, imho all non essential assets should/could be liquidated. Sucks, but you have already said the money tied up in the car could be put to use in the business, so i think you have already made the decision. Who knows, 5 years down the track things might be going real well and you might even see the same car forsale.

[oldcorollas]

Who knows, 5 years down the track things might be going real well and you might even see the same car forsale.

or it might be going badly and you are stuck with neither business or toy...

what will make you happier in the long run? life is short

[SPDRCR]

Perhaps not as tough a decision as yours Cosworth - but when I started my current business I sold my 02 STi. It wasn't so much the capital (I had it on lease and only had about $10k equity in it) but more of a psychological thing. The car wasn't cheap to keep running and I didn't want the stress of trying to get a new business off the ground (I had zero revenue for a year during product development) and at the same time having all these outgoings on the car.

For me it was a good motivation to work hard and make the business successful so I could go and get another nice car. It worked too - after the first year with no revenues we launched the product and started making money straight away. I was able to go out and buy a Z4 which was a great reward (I enjoy it MUCH more than the 02 STi).

The question you should probably be asking is why you would be going into business if doing so means that you won't have the opportunity to buy toys again soon (businesses are meant to make money!).

[Madhatr]

or it might be going badly and you are stuck with neither business or toy...

what will make you happier in the long run? life is short

Yeah, so its better to stay in the same job working for the same person right? I mean, you wouldnt try and get out by yourself and start you own business because thats just stupid isnt it?

[hostile]

been trying to sell mine for a year good luck

[baggins]

Perhaps not as tough a decision as yours Cosworth - but when I started my current business I sold my 02 STi. It wasn't so much the capital (I had it on lease and only had about $10k equity in it) but more of a psychological thing. The car wasn't cheap to keep running and I didn't want the stress of trying to get a new business off the ground (I had zero revenue for a year during product development) and at the same time having all these outgoings on the car.

For me it was a good motivation to work hard and make the business successful so I could go and get another nice car. It worked too - after the first year with no revenues we launched the product and started making money straight away. I was able to go out and buy a Z4 which was a great reward (I enjoy it MUCH more than the 02 STi).

The question you should probably be asking is why you would be going into business if doing so means that you won't have the opportunity to buy toys again soon (businesses are meant to make money!).

About sums up why I sold too.