Working in automotive media is both a blessing and a curse. This really is a dream job, and it affords me a kind of life I never thought I would have. Some of my colleagues have bought houses and had kids, or live in some seriously expensive postcodes. I’m different. I live in a cheap apartment in the Midwest that’s near cornfields, and I instead spend the vast majority of my money on vehicles and healthcare. I have amassed 23 vehicles, more than most people not named Derek Bieri or Ron Dauzet. Almost all of them work, too! But it’s wild to keep them going. Here’s what I had to fix this year.
I’ve always had a collecting bug in me. As a kid, I had a few thousand Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. I was probably one of the biggest Hot Wheels collectors back then and didn’t even know it. My parents purged most of my collection as I got older, and now I’m down to a more reasonable 300 or so diecast cars.
When I was younger and much poorer, I collected stuff like cheap used Apple iPods, vintage iMacs, and old video games. That would later transition to collecting smartphones from failed startup companies and then computers that I built myself. At first, I had just one car, the trusty 2012 Smart Fortwo that I bought new. Sure, that car took up most of my McDonald’s income, but it was a dream come true.
Real Cars Are Just Big Hot Wheels, Right?
I accidentally got into collecting real cars when my 2012 Smart caught fire in 2016. A good friend who worked at a Mercedes-Benz dealership scored me a deal on a brand-new limited edition 2016 Smart Fortwo Edition #1. A requirement was that I trade the 2012 in, but we later found out that shipping the car to California would have cost more than the trade-in value. So, honoring the deal he made, my friend gave me the trade-in value, anyway, and let me keep the car. Oops, I had two Smarts.
A year later, I’d get a third Smart when a kind fellow in Colorado gave his 2005 Fortwo away entirely for free just because he couldn’t figure out a minor wiring issue. How could I say no to free? Crap, I had three Smarts.
A year after that, I would get a motorcycle license and discover that there was a whole world of awesome motorcycles that cost well below $1,000. Before I knew it, I had something like six ’80s Japanese motorcycles in a parking space at my apartment. Working for Jalopnik supercharged this. Now I had money. Sure, I could have thrown this money into an investment account, and honestly, I should have. Instead, I started buying up all of my teenage and childhood bucket list cars.
That’s sort of where I am today. I have most of the cars I adored when growing up, and a good chunk of the cars that I love as an adult. My secret? Most of my cars have tons of miles, are usually somewhat broken, and were acquired for well less than they would normally be worth. Sure, many of these cars have dings, dents, a couple of missing pieces, and broken air-conditioners, but I don’t care. I feel quite happy and lucky that I was able to accomplish this.
Speaking of blessings and curses, working from home is one of them. On one hand, I don’t have a commute. On the other hand, it means I drive my vehicles only for fun. I don’t have a “daily driver” because I don’t have a daily drive. My own cars basically move only on weekends. It also means that my own vehicles drive around 5,000 miles to 7,000 miles a year. Do the math, and that averages out to something like 300 miles per vehicle, or basically a tank of gas for the average car. That’s about right with my experience. Most of my vehicles go for a drive to the beach or out in the country, and then they come back home.
My rule is that everything has to be driven at least once a year, and everything has to run. I don’t want to be like ol’ David Tracy with non-running cars sitting for years. That means if something breaks, it has to be fixed. It might take me time to fix it – I do write 4,000 to 5,000 words a day, after all – but there has to be progress and an effort.
The Fleet
In case you’ve forgotten, here’s what my current vehicle list looks like right now:
Cars
1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe.
1989 Suzuki Every.
1997 Honda Life.
1998 MGF.
2006 Volkswagen Touareg V10 TDI.
2007 BMW 530xi.
2003 BMW X5.
2012 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI.
2008 Saturn Sky Red Line.
2005 Smart Fortwo.
2006 Smart Fortwo diesel.
2009 Smart Fortwo Cabrio.
2012 Smart Fortwo Coupe.
2016 Smart Fortwo Edition #1.Motorcycles
2024 CFMoto Papio SS.
2023 Royal Enfield Classic 350.
2005 Triumph Rocket III.
2005 Buell Lightning XB9SX CityX.
2005 Genuine Stella.
1978 BMW R 60/7.
1976 Suzuki RE-5 Rotary.
1972 Yamaha U7E.Buses
2002 NovaBus RTS-06
I was curious how the fleet adds up, so I crunched the numbers: my vehicles produce 1,991.3 horsepower; have 72 cylinders and one rotor; displace 39.99 liters; roll on 78 wheels; and shift through 110 transmission gears.
Anyway, let’s jump into it. To save this piece from being 10,000 words long, I will only write about the vehicles that needed more than routine maintenance. If I don’t mention it here, it’s because I had a great year with that vehicle.
2002 NovaBus RTS-06
This is the vehicle in my fleet that’s the most in flux. When I bought the bus, it was my understanding that an RV plate was all I needed to legally drive it. That assumption was wrong. Illinois is one of the states that requires the drivers of large RVs to have a license with the correct weight class. In this case, I need a Class B license to legally drive my bus. This means that the bus has been parked for over a year.
The difficulty here is that, to take the Class B test, you need to have the vehicle at the testing station. But it’s also not legal for you to drive it there. I’ve been told that, a lot of the time, the DMV will look the other way and pretend that the vehicle somehow magically got there. But sometimes, you get a stickler and, surprise, now your 39,999-pound GVWR bus is getting impounded. It’s not worth the risk to me.
Ideally, I want to get a Class A license, because I’d love to drive a semi-truck just for the fun of it. I sort of have an idea for that. I’d love to write about what it’s like to get a CDL. Ultimately, I think the bus might have a fate of being donated to the Illinois Railway Museum, as the museum has better resources to preserve it than I have. Admittedly, I want to give my bus one last ride before that happens. So, time to fix my license!
Update: I just contacted the Illinois Railway Museum about hopefully donating the bus. I won’t lie, I teared up while doing it. But it’s the right thing to do.
1948 Plymouth Special DeLuxe
This is the one vehicle in my fleet that doesn’t run. I’ve long wanted to own a classic American car, and thanks to the legendary Willie Shaw and The Autopian‘s wrenching hero Stephen Walter Gossin, I finally have one. I highly recommend reading my piece about Willie’s story; it’ll make you feel all warm inside.
I paid only $1,000 for this piece of classic Americana back in July 2024. I hoped to have it running by the spring of this year, but work and life got in the way.
I feel like I’m so close to the finish line. I have cleaned out the fuel tank and rebuilt the carburetor. I have gotten the electrical system going again, freed up the wheels, freed the engine, replaced the points, replaced the spark plugs, and confirmed great compression.
Now, I’m stuck. I have air, fuel, and compression, but no spark. Potential causes could be the ignition coil or maybe wiring? There are some loose wires under the dashboard. Honestly, I just need to hunker down and spend a day troubleshooting spark. I want to give myself a deadline of spring 2026, and I want to hold myself to it.
2009 Smart Fortwo Cabriolet
I bought this car at the end of 2024, and it was in almost perfect condition with a verified 27,000 miles. It didn’t have a bit of rust, its convertible top was in mint condition, and the leather seats didn’t even have a crack or crease. A Smart Fortwo Passion Cabriolet was always my ultimate dream Smart, but I was never able to afford to buy a good one until now.
Teenage me would probably be stoked to hear that she would own one of these one day. Well, also surprised about other major life changes, too!
Unfortunately, most Smart Fortwo convertibles hide a dark secret. For some inexplicable reason, Smart engineered its convertible tops to rely on a track system that’s largely made out of plastic. At the front of the convertible top is a pair of plastic sliders. Allegedly, according to internal documents at Smart, these sliders have a lifespan of only four years. However, there are no public-facing documents or repair procedures for replacing them. So the sliders never get replaced. One day, they’ll break randomly and cause the roof to jam.
I learned all of this through the man who travels between two continents to singlehandedly save every Smart convertible that he can. That’s Richard Bowden, and thanks to his brilliant mind and only 30 minutes of time, my convertible Smart truly is perfect now. Seriously, it took him only 30 minutes to replace the sliders.
2007 BMW 530xi
I bought this stately wagon from our secret designer, the Bishop, a couple of years ago. This is the nicest car that I own in terms of luxury, status, prestige, and features. It’s the vehicle I drive when I want to make a statement upon arrival.
This year, one of the plastic connections in the cooling system decided to shatter, and the car puked its coolant out onto the pavement. Luckily, I was at home when it happened. I ordered the parts, then they were stolen by a porch pirate. That pirate was kind enough to return my package once they realized they had stolen nearly worthless radiator hoses.
I installed the new hose, bulletproofed the cooling system, and gave the BMW a flush and fresh juice. It couldn’t be happier. I also recharged the air-conditioner. The Bishop told me that the car has a leak, and requires a recharge every couple of years. So, I’m just continuing his tradition. Finally, though the speedometer wasn’t broken, I replaced it with a digital one just for the fun of it.
2012 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI
This car has always sort of been the troublemaker of my fleet. Due to a title goof, I wasn’t able to register this car. I wasn’t able to sell it, either. So, it sort of just sat in stasis for years. Over that time, I had the dual mass flywheel, water pump, and timing belt replaced.
This year, I finally went through the Illinois bonded title process and, for the first time in years, I now have a valid title to the car. It was shockingly easy, but took forever. I enjoyed the car for a little bit. Now, I’m going to sell it.
1997 Honda Life T-Type
I paid only $258 for this car in Japanese auctions this year, and was shocked that it was in immaculate condition. I’m talking not a speck of rust, and bolts that zip off with the kind of ease that you get when you wrench on a car from California. I love the little Honda Life because it’s a perfect example of a normal car from Japan.
Everyone loves to import legends like Honda Beats, Nissan Skylines, Suzuki Cappuccinos, and endless Kei trucks, but they’re sleeping on Japan’s normal cars. What’s great about Japan’s regular cars is that they’re still very weird compared to anything you can buy in America, but because they’re ignored by enthusiasts, they can be had for pennies. Everyone loves to smile and wave at my little Honda. People take just as many pictures of it as they would take of a car that costs 10 times more. It’s still fun to drive, too!
However, my Life wasn’t perfect. Upon receiving the car, I took note that it had properly crusty tires, destroyed front wheel bearings, and a dying front right axle. I had my trusty mobile mechanic fix all of that, and the car has been perfect since. I think I’m in around $5,000 on the Honda Life, and that includes the repairs and paying for tariffs.
1998 MGF
Most enthusiasts cheer the Mazda MX-5 Miata on as the answer to everything. But the Miata NA and the NB don’t do much for me. Instead, the ’90s roadster that my heart fell for is the MGF. I like to think of the MGF as being like a British Miata, but with an engine behind the seats, a complicated suspension, and looks that are as cute as a button.
I paid about $2,000 for this car in Japan, and it instantly became one of my favorite cars. I love the way it sounds, I love the way it handles, and I love that, for the low price that I paid, it was in almost perfect condition. All I needed to do was replace the broken convertible top window. That required some drilling and some riveting, but I had it done in only an afternoon of work.
The one thing I will need to do next year is pump the hydraulic suspension up, but that’s a problem for 2026 Mercedes. I even bought a set of Japanese glow license plates to go on the car for when I park it at shows.
2005 Genuine Stella
This scooter was one of my greatest wrenching victories in a long time. I bought my Stella for $500 in 2019. At the time, the woman who sold me little Marmalade told me that it hadn’t run in five years. I then let it sit for six more years, breaking my rule about every vehicle needing to run.
This year, I had to change the scooter’s destiny. I replaced its carburetor, cleaned its fuel tank, and bypassed a bad wire. That’s all it took to get it running. Since then, I had to replace the turn signal relay, the mirrors, and the oil tank sight glass. Once I got through all of that, Stella became pleasantly reliable. I put 3,000 miles on it through the spring, summer, and fall.
How well is it running? I can consistently hit a GPS-verified 60 mph, which is something most Stella owners can’t do without mods. The greatest part is that I’m still in for well under $1,000 on this scooter. Talk about cheap motoring!
I still have some repairs to do. The scooter’s left switch panel needs to be replaced, I need to replace one of the carburetor gaskets to stop a leak, and I need to install the new tires that I bought for it. I also want to upgrade the headlight to an LED.
The vehicle I spent the most time on this year was my wife’s 2012 Scion iQ. I’ve lost count of the hours that I’ve spent diagnosing issues with the dying gas pedal, the dying cruise control, the dying headlights, the whining CVT, the misfire, the stalling, and the poor fuel economy. Then there was the time spent actually replacing the coil packs and spark plugs, which was way harder than it needed to be.
The only easy repair I had with the iQ was replacing the tailgate struts, which took five minutes and only a flat screwdriver. But hey, my wife will probably be trading this car in soon enough, so maybe I won’t have to worry anymore.
I generally do not keep track of costs each year, but if I had to estimate, I’ve maybe spent around $2,000 on various fixes this year. I save a ton of money by doing work myself and through affordable independent mechanics.
Amusingly, I’ve also had some non-car repairs. At home, I’ve had to replace an air-conditioner, a garbage disposal, a baseboard heater thermostat, an oven thermostat, and the elements in the water heater. I suppose I also had to repair my Social Security card. I feel pretty accomplished about this year, overall.
Here’s To Another Great Year
I’m not sure what 2026 will bring. I hope to sell a few cars and maybe either keep the Autopian’s Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet or buy a Mazda MX-5 ND1. But honestly, that’s about it. I am happy with what I have, and don’t expect to make any huge changes anytime soon.
Instead, I want 2026 to be about experiences. I want to finish getting my pilot’s license. I want to experience cars in another country. I want to fly in a Boeing 747 and aboard one of the last DC/MD trijets. Really, I just want to be the best me that I can be and continue making my dreams come true.
I couldn’t have achieved any of this without my loving wife, who enables my exploits in more ways than one. Likewise, I’m still forever thankful that Jason and David took a chance on me all of those years ago. Without them, my life would have taken a completely different direction. So here’s to 2026, may the cars be great and put smiles on everyone’s faces.
Top graphic images: Mercedes Streeter
For an update, my first move of 2026 was sending an email to the bus department of the Illinois Railway Museum. It was the hardest email of my life. Seriously, I’ve sent emails that could have kicked off lawsuits. This is the one that was the one I never wanted to send. Not going to lie, I cried a bit.
Admitting defeat about the bus has been one of the hardest realizations of my life. It’s taken me over a year (maybe two years) to get to this point, but I finally pushed myself over the bump.
Owning an RTS was a childhood dream. I never wanted to give it up, but I have to admit that I bit off more than I could chew.
I hope the museum takes the bus. Then I’d get to visit it every weekend and know it’s being preserved well. Worst case, I’ll post an ad on Facebook, hope for the best, and be glad I still have the memories of the fun I had owning it.
That’s bittersweet but personally I think that’s a good move. I’m also not sure how well it would have RV’d in like RV parks and such with the low clearance. If you’re heart’s still into doing a conversion I think old yellow School Bus’s are still the way to go with the obligatory “S” and “H” removed from the sign.
Also reminds me of Robert from Aging Wheels and his Bus plans, he also gave up on that due to not making progress on it, Bus’s are a lot!
I gave up on the RV plan almost immediately after buying it. The RTS has a strong following, and I learned from a group of fans that most RTS survivors get turned into RVs and few are just being preserved as historic time capsules. So that’s what I tried to do, preserve it.
I have to admit that I’m not the right person to preserve a modern transit bus in running order. I’ve been successful in that I’ve kept it running for a couple of years, but I’m screwed the second anything big breaks, so it’s best to part ways before that happens. I don’t want to end up like the elderly person with a field of non-running heaps that are being returned to nature.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned through this experience is that school buses are genius. Many of them aren’t even half as complex as this transit bus. Replacing a school bus alternator? I can do that in a jiff. Fixing this bus? Maybe that’s the source of my new gray hairs.
Oh the definitely the right move! Hopefully the museum responds, may take a minute as I’m sure the folks that make decisions there are on Holiday.
I’m not in a rush, thankfully. It can wait for the right person. It could take the museum a while just because it’s run by volunteers who have careers and life beyond trains and buses. I just don’t want to see it scrapped or cut up. 🙂
As someone who works for transit (specifically maintenance/technical training) and has co-workers that bought and maintain vintage transit buses privately, you made the right call.
The cost these people put in ensures that the bus(es) are their ONLY hobby. They have no spare cash for anything else.
I admire their commitment, but it is exactly that. a COMMITMENT.
Maybe I can connect you guys for an interview one day.
I admire your bravery with the RTS, and after consolidating a bunch of old
treasurescrap into my garage this past week, I hope I can be as strong.Coming from a family with some drivers, I think your CDL idea is a real winner. It’s not just a technical skill, it opens the door to a lot of experiences, and is an entree into a community complete with accent and code-switching. It’s also a very useful backup plan. And heck, maybe you could wangle some interesting test drives from Daimler Trucks or other manufacturers!
Hoping you get to have more European fun. Iceland Air flies out of ORD and is a great cheap way to visit the northern parts of Europe, which is full of friendly dorks who shockingly still love Americans and have long winter nights to mess about with machinery and long summer days to show them off.
if they dont want it talk to the people at the AACA museum in Hershey they have a good bus collection
You and my father would have gotten along well. While I was in elementary school (early to mid-60s), he had a succession of 50s and early 60s Ford and Chevy pickup trucks. One afternoon, he showed up in a green Autocar diesel tractor. No trailers, just the tractor running bobtail. My brother and I called it the “Jolly Green Giant.” It ran fine and had a great air horn. I don’t recall its powertrain specifics, and my father is no longer around for me to ask him. (RIP, Dad) I think he sold it within a couple of months. He also had an early Honda Super Cub. That was the only bike he ever had.
He and a colleague at the UC Davis FD picked up a hook and ladder fire truck from the Pierce factory in Appleton, WI and drove it cross country to California. He then bought a couple of boats after changing careers to commercial salmon fishing. And then bought an IH tractor and then a Kenworth to pull bottom-dump trailers for construction. He was an interesting character.
Best wishes on getting your pilot’s license. I have one, but haven’t flown anything but a drone since 2002, when the post 9/11 airspace restrictions got annoying. Even in a 1/4 share of a Cessna 150, it was an expensive pastime. Four gallons of fuel per hour, maintenance, insurance and tie-down fees, it all just became too much. The drone and a scooter bring me similar pleasures to what I experienced in the plane. Aerial perspective from the drone and leaning/banking into turns on the scooter.
And the son that I used to fly to islands in Puget Sound for the proverbial $100 hamburger now lives in Wisconsin. The money then was worth it. When you’re flying a plane, the cares of life on the ground magically go away for a few hours.
What’s the bus need? I would post it on skoolies.net or some other bus conversion forums, it’s interesting and if I remember right, it does highway speeds comfortably which is quite a bit different from most buses.
As for ‘preserving it’, why? Convert it! Adapt or die! It can retire it’s previous life, and begin a new one! Converted buses are awesome, I live in one 1/4 of the year lol
Yeah… that’s way too many. I peaked at 13 cars, I’m now down to 9 or 10, but the thing I need to keep reminding myself is that EVERYTHING GOES TO SHIT, even if you aren’t driving it! Plastics and rubbers degrade, things fail, and keeping everything working becomes almost a full time job.
I sold 3 classic cars last year, and my life is lighter and happier for it. I still want to sell a few more, ideally I’d like to get down to around 6 cars. Right now I have 7 boats too… but again, they all go to crap. Going to be finishing some of them this spring and sending them on to new owners 🙂
> my [23] vehicles produce 1,991.3 horsepower
This is the only car site in the world where it’s not surprising that one of the writer’s double-digit car collection manages to average less than 100hp per vehicle.
But can fixing cars drive one insane when one is already insane? *pondering dinosaur*
Thank you for this excellent and deep article .
I too have not just a love for all things vehicular but I’m a hoarder I guess .
My 2026 be fruitful and enjoyable .
-Nate
Bring the BMW to the MOA rally in Vermont this July
As car mechanic in a village by trade (and IT guy by occupation in a big city now), I know the joy of owning like five or six and having always on the road three or so cars. But cars are so demanding and they cost money.
Now, living in a big city, we moved to bicycles and as a family of five, we have a fleet of 15 that must be running. 17 to be exact, since my wife and me spend extensive phases far from home (a bike has to be there waiting for us). One everyday bike, one mountain bike and one race bike for everyone. And of course the “other-town-bikes” for my wife and me.
And in a few projects and we are at like 23 mostly working bikes and probably 4000 to 6000€ per annum for bikes, parts and spares. We are just talking bicycles! Cycles that are ridden to a family total of around 20000km (12500 miles) per year. They do not require tax or insurance. They still take lots of time to properly maintain and I pour money into this hobby and need.
But 23 cars and motorcycles? I just could not afford it here in Europe. Even with decent family income.
Cars? We still have an old Volvo. This is driven typically 3000 to 5000 kilometres per annum (roughly 2000 to 3000 miles). I do not care to much about cars anymore.
Cars are a cargo cult: they promise freedom. This one car you have is freedom. It takes you away. The more cars you have, the more freedom you can enjoy. No, you don’t. Let’s just move away from the cult, have fun in a nice daily where necessary add in one, two or three nostalgic projects. Like that model railway…
Looping back: You are no car nerd, you are a transportation and mobility nerd. You are into cars, buses, planes, trains, scooters… I totally appreciate that. But: You do not need to own everything to show nerdiness (how many Diesel locomotives did you own?). Let them go. Keep the MG with Whiskey-Soda suspension, keep the Indian Vespa clone, keep the Plymouth, keep just one German wagon. Maybe keep a Kei Car. Keep a Wankel engined thing (I went to trade school in a town called Neckarsulm, we had Wankels in every corner, so I am biased here).
I love reading about your fleet! I only have to worry about four (two of which are Mom’s – I keep track of maintenance for her). I am seriously thinking about increasing my driveway’s width while I still have neighbors who would sign off on it.
Best wishes for the bus! If it ultimately ends up being accepted and restored by a museum, I wouldn’t consider it defeat; you were a good stopping point for the bus that kept it from being scrapped or ‘renovated’ into an RV.
I think a lot of readers would enjoy reading about the process of getting a CDL. Please seriously consider that. I have no practical use for a CDL but I also didn’t have a practical use for driving a Model T – I took a Model T driving class anyway and months later was asked to help move a Model T and I knew what to do! Maybe Karl Malone will need my help one day. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1247922332237971/posts/1398147023882167/
I’ve got four cars (one is on warranty so it really doesn’t count) plus maintain/repair three grandchildren cars. That’s all I can handle.
Heated garage with lift makes it possible.
I have 16 vehicles total, 11 registered, and can confirm that the biggest headache with a fleet this size is keeping everything running. It helps to drive them often, which I do, luckily my commute is less than three miles so it gives me opportunity to rotate things in and out of daily duty more often than you do. Exercise keeps them healthy.
But at present, three of the registered ones don’t run, and at least four of them need tires pronto. I don’t do much of my own wrenching because I work more than average, so attending to all this gets pricey, which is why three of them are down. And I simply can’t stand when something isn’t running.
Even though I’m always window shopping, financial realities have a way of keeping all this in check.
That would make it a British version of a Japanese version of a British two-seat roadster
“However, my Life wasn’t perfect…” I feel ya, sister!
I was born with the collecting bug too, and it expressed itself in so many different kinds of collections (even some of things I wasn’t particularly interested in, like sports cards) when I was a kid. Happily, I don’t really collect anything now (at least not physical things) but I definitely have the same chomosome or whatever it is (dammit!). 😉 Maybe it’s OCD, or some degree of autism, I dunno.
Anyway, I’ve never really collected actual cars. Mostly (I assume) because I had other things that I had to spend money on (like the house, or travel, or sometimes healthcare) but also due to space constraints. I currently have three cars and one motorcycle, and while there’s probably room for a couple more cars if necessary, lucky for me most of the ones that show up in Shitbox Showdown aren’t local to me, thus I’m unlikely to add them to my fleet.
Mercedes, may I be indelicate and ask how you keep all yours registered and insured? That always seems to be the biggest PITA to me… I probably would have more that I currently do, but even w/only four, having a registration renewal to do once every few months is deeply annoying. And the smog tests, oh how I hate those (you probably don’t have to do those where you live). And then, of course, the cost and trouble of insurance: even w/super-low miles-per-year, keeping multiple vehicles actively insured gets pricey. I’m single (no one else is on my insurance policy), have no points on my license, and only drive a few thousand miles per year (total, spread across all my cars). But still, it’s a big annoying PITA.
Do you have some kind of collector policy? Or an uncle at the DMV or something? Just wondering. 🙂
I keep four cars and every motorcycle on an active insurance policy at all times. Everything else is on a storage policy. Weirdly, my motorcycle insurance gets cheaper every time I add a motorcycle, so I just keep them all insured for a whopping $20/mo. I don’t dare to ask why.
As far as registration goes, I just remember to renew the plates before the first drive of the year. Admittedly, I used to leverage the Vermont loophole for cheaper costs. Except for the bus. I haven’t insured it or registered it since it was parked. But I guess it’s about to be someone else’s problem.
I have 4 motorcycles on a Progressive policy and the total cost is $135 annually. Like you, I don’t even want to question it.
I have five vehicles (family of four) and the registration in Michigan i think is over $1000.
let us not talk about the insurance, with my 17 and 22 year olds. At least they get good grades.
Thanks for the reply Mercedes. I wasn’t aware of something called a storage policy… I will look into it. I assume it allows a very very small bit of mileage per year for exercise/service or something? Again, I appreciate the info.
PS: if you have all the cars registered always, that’s still an awful lot of renewal paperwork! 🙂
The MGF is my favorite of those within the fleet. Such a good choice. And the price you got it for is unbeatable considering the fun factor it gives. It cost me more to build my tricycle than what you spent buying/fixing/importing the MGF!
You can’t be driven insane if you are already there. Just sayin’. But you are the FUN sort of crazy, which is why we all love you so much! Sad about the bus, I know you love that thing. On the other hand, I applaud IL for having that requirement. Oddly enough, I once held the proper license there, as I drove buses for Northern Illinois U. during my time in law school there. Seems like you could find somebody to drive the bus to the DMV for you so you can get your license legally?? I bet if you enquired at a local bus company somebody would be willing to do you a solid.
Best get a move on with those 747 plans, but I fear you are too late to fly on a DC/McD tri-jet. Assuming they ever get cleared to fly again at all (I think they will), maybe as a journalist (and a pilot) you can wrangle a jump seat ride with one of the cargo operators or the fire bomber.
My fleet was well-behaved this year. The BMW wagon, as usual, needed nothing. I didn’t even bother to change the oil since I was only in Maine for about four weeks and drove it less than 1000mi since the last oil change. The Spitfire still has a noisy electric cooling fan I need to deal with, but it still works well enough, so I didn’t bother with that this year either. I think I drove it about 50 miles (see again, only up there a few weeks total). I fixed the one issue my Disco 1 had for no money at all. Last year the driver’s side window stopped working. Took the door panel off and found a piece of plastic had fallen from somewhere and jammed the tracks. Put it back together and all good. That truck actually got the most use of any of my Maine vehicles as I lent it to a friend for a month or two while his Saab 9-7X was undergoing rust and brake repairs. He put more miles on it in a month than I have in the past several years with zero issues. I was really hoping his Saab would be deemed uneconomic to repair as he wants to buy my truck. It really needs to go, I just have no use for it anymore. I no longer have a boat to tow, the family lake house is being sold, and I *never* go to Maine in the winter unless I have no possible alternative.
My pair in Florida were also well-behaved. Just a DIY B service for the Mercedes and a replaced hood popper spring thingy for $30. The BMW convertible needed a new wheel speed sensor (also $30), and I have all the stuff to do the front struts other than the ambition to git ‘er done. The struts are fine, but the bump stops have left the premises after 15yrs of TX and FL sun and heat. Completely disintegrated and fallen off. This post plus it being really nice out have me wanting to drag the Quickjack out and have at it, LOL. I think I will sit here a minute until that feeling goes away. Maybe tomorrow when it’s over 70F, a tad chilly here in SW FL today.
Hey uh if you ever want rid of the 530xi hit me up. I just did an entire AC refresh (condenser, drier, compressor) in the Z4 over the summer, so I have an idea what I’m getting into, too.
“1976 Suzuki RE-5 Rotary.”
I just saw on my local FBM someone selling another one of these. Its in Los Osos, CA with a $3800 ask if anyone’s interested.
Insanity is just a label
And there’s too much judgement here, do whatever you want
That fleet is impressive, and beats David Tracy both in numbers and percentage in working order. My fleet is tiny in comparison and after a lot of wrenching in 2025 should need minimal work this year. The elephant in the room is the Buick LeSabre with the failing AC compressor. Our daughter loves the car, and it’s cheaper to fix the AC than replace the car, but she lives 4 hours away. The two motorcycles, car, truck and assorted bicycles at home fill the driveway and garage but with a little juggling I can park the Fiat 500 in the garage. An odd side issue is the accumulation of OBDII stuff, I now have two scanners, two Bluetooth dongles and dedicated software and cables for various Stellantis products, plus access to a copy of Forscan
How do you people do this? That is soooooo many insurance and registrations to keep up with. My insurer will only do 6 months at a time, and I just can’t imagine keeping up with all that for that many vehicles. Starting them all the time? I have 1 (one) fun car that routinely needs a portable charger jump because I’m too busy to drive it. How? Just how?
As a class A CDL holder, (and sorta neighbor) Ill volunteer to drive your bus to your local DMV for ya, so you can take your road test.
Or, my wife was a Pace bus driver out of Joliet to downtown Chicago in the BUS ONLY lanes on the shoulder of 55 for years, Im sure I can talk her into helping.
Yo, I’m going to be straightforward and say that this behavior doesn’t contribute positively to anyone other than the registration revenue that the local DMV takes in.
Yo, I’m going to be straightforward and say that this comment doesn’t contribute positively to anyone
Thank you Sir .
-Nate
I have 14 complete vintage bicycles and 5 frames with most of the parts to complete them as well as shelves full of more vintage bike parts.
Why?
No seriously; WHY?!
Ive still got my first car. my grandparents gave me a 1969 impala sport coupe in garnet red with a black vinyl top they bought used in 76. it always tripped people out that it had factory power windows and air. my first new car an 04 colorado that has now become the farm truck, and my yet to be started happiest project car purchase a running 1962 Scout 80 for $900 bucks from a coworker who was retiring and getting rid of stuff. the rocket 3 is impressive, only the yamaha vmax could be considered as or more intimidating to me! my cousin has a gen 1 rocket 3 and says its definitely to be respected in the throttle department. i miss my 06 triumph bonneville, maybe one day ill swing a leg back over something.
A friend gave me that same model car in the early 90’s (probably lower trim). I gave it to Big George Heath (I’d be surprised if no one here knew him). He cut it up with a torch in his backyard for fun. In his later years he got a Hudson and spent most of his wrenching time restoring it.
My wife’s limit seems to be 4 motorcycles, but that’s honestly not unreasonable. Two are under 5 years old, two are over 20, so a decent mix. A little scooter or Papio would be nice though, and not take up much space; the two newer bikes have saddlebags/panniers, and boy they get annoying to maneuver.