This is sad. I gotta sell my car already.

[devo1]

I'm sorry about the car but if you're "planning for an investment property purchase within 4 years" it's the least of your problems because the whole real estate melt down from the sub-prime fiasco will have sorted itself out and you will be paying top dollar to some one else.

As long as the car goes to someone who cares for it and not the scrap heap it doesn't matter who owns it.

[Jim_75Sahara]

I have to agree w/Blunt. My wife is glad to see me happy, then it's OK to be obsessed with an old, loud BMW. When she wants to fly to NYC to visit friends and see Broadway shows, that's all right since I have my freedom with the '02. It's good to see her happy also. Since you have a good (Sahara) one, hang on to it. Girlfriend needs to start enjoying your being happy.

[ClayW]

Your 02 wouldn't ask you to get rid of your girlfriend!

But seriously, it's give and take. My girlfriend understands both that my car is a great and positive outlet/hobby (drugs might be cheaper) and that I understand and appreciate it more than she does. She calls the 02 my "mistress." Of course, I spend time and money on both of them. As long as I'm not going broke for my car, she understands.

[ClayW]

I know, it makes me look bad. It's a crappy situation. I have so far blamed her 100%, but it isn't that simple. Granted still worth it in my book since I am more confident than she is, but...

The problem is that there is truth to her concerns. She's worried that the regular maintenance costs will be fairly high, and the inevitable part failure will put a huge damper in our funds and our schedules.

I'll have to perform minor maintenance more often, meaning I'll need to carpool with her and put her off her schedule. I agree that it isn't fair of me to make a decision that is 100% for myself when it goes right, but will impact her negatively if/when it goes wrong.

So, I was seriously considering an m20 swap with JP up at A1 to improve the reliability, but then I think about the $10-12k I'll have spent for the car after all is said and done, versus spending that much (or less) on a more practical car (size, cost, reliability, etc) - read 2001 civic... Bleh.

Basically, our life situations don't really allow for a luxury like this.

As I mentioned to c.d. before, I am planning for an investment property purchase within 4 years. I have to consider whether or not I want to spend my savings on that or this car in a worst case scenario.

Plus, neither of us are rich, and she's racking up $200k in law school loans. Her payments will be $2100 per month. I also have school loans, less than half hers, plus a healthy salary, but these cars are a luxury.

I'm our backup plan in the event something happens (car dies, accident, illness, etc). Sure I thought about this before I purchased, but hearing these things over and over has caused me to doubt my decision.

As I mentioned, at this point, I worry everytime I pass someone or accelerate if I'm pushing the car too hard, or if this or that noise is some catastrophic failure waiting to happen. The fun I'm supposed to be having just isn't there.

So, while I certainly recognize how lame it is that she's giving me a hard time, I have to be big about it and try to understand her view, which unfortunately has solid grounding.

To her credit she realized that she shouldn't say anything, but you know we can tell when they are giving us the stink-eye or thinking something. She's been telling me all day to keep the car now, cuz she realizes she shouldn't be shit talking. But again, it's like the experience has been ruined. I'm picking out the flaws, waiting for the breakdown, holding my breath, etc. And I know rationally that these things probably won't happen, but I also know how hard daily life would get for the both of us if they did (paying rent, loans, bills, etc). It isn't fair for me to make a decision for myself with that great an impact for her as well.

One thing I am trying to consider is a daily driver (beater) + insurance, then keeping this and going with Classic Car insurance. While I will still have spent a load of cash (that I don't exactly have/want to spend), I wouldn't have to give up the 02.

In your experience, is classic/collecter car insurance significantly lower than standard full coverage? Right now I pay 1200/yr - 26 yr-old male and got a speeding ticket last august.

Thanks for all the support here. We'll see how this offer to sell goes.

When my car is down, my girlfriend happily carpools with me. It's more time together.

Driving her Corolla kills me.

My 2002 is my sanity. I've been living on $15K/year through school and I've still been able to keep my 02. Sure, I do maintenance, but I tell everyone that asks me why, "I've spent less in total on my 2002 than you can buy a new Civic for....and I don't have to drive a Civic."

Make the best decision, but know that you'll never feel good about selling your car.

[Dave_PA]

I don't think i can anything else that's already been said. If you really truly enjoy cars, then i think you and your g-friend need to have a little chat.

My wife was made aware WELL in advance of getting married of what kind of car bug i've been bit by. She likes going to the gym and shopping and i like to get greasy and play with the cars. It's plain and simple. Either you are honest to each other or you'll end up miserable. She get's her time & I get mine, and with two little kids you need it!

Even though you have an old car you have one that is fairly easy to work on. Someone else mentioned it already the newer the car, the more $$ it'll take to fix it. Some of the most memorable times in my 02 with my wife, friends and family are in the 02 even when something bad happened and it broke down.

The long of the short is either you either deal with it now, or deal with it at divorce court.

good luck man,

dave

[H_Krix]

Get her to help you with it! Make it a bonding experience. Emily is helping me build new doorpanels for my 02.

My girlfriend couldn't care less about cars, but she knows Phoenix makes me happy, and she'd never dream of telling me to sell it. But she does like to come by the garage and listens patiently to me explaining dull nonsense like IAC valves and wideband o2 sensors.

When i was in college, I put my '02 in storage for 4 years until I could afford to work on her again. I'm nearing the end of that now, and thank god because I am in the same place as you - I need to put my money into real investments soon. But for now, I can pay my bills and have my hobby, and for that I'm grateful.

You'll never get back what you put into it, so I'd suggest keeping it and buying something cheap and reliable as a commuter. Also, I agree with Pedro - if you ditch the car, its just gonna be videogames next month or maybe computers after that or who knows what you'll funnel your money and time into. If she doesn't understand what makes you tick, there are bigger issues.

[canadamatt]

Take your balls back from her purse and get a new girlfriend.

Haha wow Pedro, that is some funny stuff, just about choked on my coffee! .

And to CitizenChan, as someone said in another thread, you can do the m20 swap for fairly cheap if you want. M20's are fairly bulletproof, change a couple gaskets and throw it in. After its done, its an awesome ride. Mine is over the top now, but when I first did the swap it was a stock m20 with stock electronics, and I drove that car everywhere, ALL the time. Took it on a 1000ish mile one day trip, never missed a beat. Kinda makes me wish I didn't mod the absolute crap out of it, as its pretty much a track/autox/cruise night car now. DOOO ITTT !!!

Matt

[rx8rotary]

Not trying to tell you how to live your life but if your girlfriend is complaining about a car now and you get rid of it because of her, you can kiss you ass goodbye if you marry her. You will NEVER be able to have anything or do anything she doesn't approve of.

If I were getting rid of something , it would be the girlfriend - not the car.

BTW, I have been married 16 years and my wife fully supports my car hobby and basically anything else I do (within reason of course).

[KFunk]

Let's take it easy on him. We haven't seen pictures of the girlfriend, so we can't really judge him.

With that said, I also had very little confidence in my 2002 when I first bought it. On the street it seemed really rough and fragile and un-trustworthy. But then I got the green flag on the racetrack for the first time... and holy crap. my opinion changed entirely. This is a rock-solid and incredible car. Amazing how different it can be when you have the green flag and open it up and let it breathe.

This is the video of the first couple runs that I did with the car:

(same one you've all seen)

Next, you should know that the M10 is in no way unreliable. The M10 is rock solid. Mine has 200K to 300K on the bottom-end, and I still run it way past the redline a lot. The thing won't die. It smokes a lot, but oh well. I've done some preventative maintenance, yeah, but not that much. It probably would've been fine without that.

Just take good care of the cooling system, and you won't have to worry about headwork (my mistake from before).

An M20 would just accumulate money exponentially, and add greatly to the hassle of owning the car.

The real reliability issues would probably be electrical work if you don't understand, and little bugs here and there. It's not a new car and it never will be, and you make some sacrifices for that.

But, I've limped my car back and forth to work during periods when I had to hotwire it or start it with a screwdriver, and various other little issues. But no big deal, she'll keep goin. Currently my speedometer/odometer doesn't work at all again, and I don't really care. The exhaust is rattling, and there's a few other little things. But no biggie, the car overall is still rock solid and keeps on a going.

[PatAllen]

cant she do compromises ?? or could you just drive and enjoy it without her ??

when i met my gf, she was aware way before we even met that i was a car guy...she was driving a poor nissan when me met.

I bought her a 318is...she like the fact the she drives a BMW..she is adicted now and i think she understand my passion. Its matter of respect.

For my actual automatic project, i do side jobs a lot to pay for the project, so even if it is my money, it doesnt affect the home budget at all...and i have some left a well...oh yeah, side jobs...sometimes it pays more than my actual job, go figure.

good luck...

[rx8rotary]

Let's take it easy on him. We haven't seen pictures of the girlfriend, so we can't really judge him.

I have never seen a girl so beautiful that I would give up things that are harmless and that I truly enjoy just to be with her. If she doesn't care enough about me to let me enjoy something as simple as a car then she will never be good looking enough for me to overcome that. Sure am glad my wife has never been like that.

Maybe I am just different than everyone else.

[ifayeoh]

Talk to YOUR girl again and tell what is important to YOU and why, then decide.

as far as your car, if i read right you paid about 5k for the car? sounds like you may have bought a lemon if you have no faith in the car that you paid 5k for. that is a lot of money for a fixer upper. For $3.5k i would expect that kind of a car to make a trip cross country at the drop of a hat!

[TTyMiller]

Well I'm sorry to hear the situation is not good; however is selling your car that you love going to make it better. Heck her 200k in loans is enough to make me scream and your loans are half that., humm but they will be paid off jointly.

Dude keep your car and at the very least do what cd suggest. tell your girl that few things in life bring you so much joy her and your car.

Don't buckle because she will expect you to buckle everytime and thats when you will not win because unlike women we give and we give because we hate to argue.

Lastly if you give up your car your going to hold that against her for life.

I'm sorry but she would have to get a steppin

[Mike_R]

WHAAAA! to bad. To me it seems like a scam to try and get $7,000 for the car out of sympathy. Or just pic a price that you will never get and keep the car since you can't sell it. Hell I have 13,000 in mine. And I and everyone else knows that I would be lucky to get half that. And mine is well nicer that that. Sell it to someone who wants it and get a life outside of the controling girlfriend.

[72touring]

So sad. The real issue here is that she sees your 2002 as a 'car,' while you see it as a outlet for passion. The trick is to get her to come around to seeing your POV on the 2002. Like many on this thread, I'm pretty lucky in that my wife really 'gets' it (she describes the time I spend with the car as "having sex with the Touring"). Couldn't have said it better myself. Good luck in your 'conversion.'