Hopefully you’ve all had far more “got just what I wanted” car-buying experiences than you do “wish I chose the other one” regrets. I also wish for everyone reading this that when the next car you’ve always wanted appears on Facebook Marketplace (or wherever else you have frustrating conversations with car sellers), your funds, the car’s proximity, and your garage space will all align.
But oftentimes, they do not. Or purchasing mistakes were made. I put the question to the gang:
What Car Do You Regret Not Buying When You Had The Chance?
Mark Tucker
1993 Geo Storm GSi. Test-drove it, loved it, started talking business, and the salesman pissed me off about something, trying to push me into dealer financing if I remember right. I walked away and bought a Ford Escort instead. It served me well, but it just wasn’t the same.
Thomas Hundal
I still regret not having the space for an $8,000 R32 Skyline GT-R. Sure, it was haggard, but man. That deal’s never coming around again.
Brian Silvestro
For me, it’s definitely the E30-generation BMW M3. A decade ago, these cars were $30,000, but because they were half that in the mid-2000s, everyone thought they were too expensive.
Nowadays, of course, finding an E30 M3 for $30,000 is legitimately impossible, unless you want a rusty, salvage-title example with no engine or transmission. Anything worth owning will cost you at least 60 large. In 10 years, I’ll probably be kicking myself for not buying one now…
Your turn! Tell us about the ones that got away.
I regret not buying an NC Miata in 2006 when I got rid of my Mustang. I talked myself into being more practical and bought an Accord. I was 24. An NC could have easily served my life at that point, and I probably would have had it a long time. Years later I’ve got an ND as a toy and I love it, but its like I could have been doing this for 20 years!
Ferrari 308 for 20K from a friend who already owned 3 other ones at the time.In excellent shape at the time too. Under 40K miles.
SAAB Sonnet, good shape, under 4K.
But to keep the boss happy I declined the both of them.
Olds 442, for some stupid reason I said no in the 80s when they were cheap old cars
I will never own a Saab 900.
I found a baby blue turbo stick, decent shape. The owner was flaky, kept changing the price, arranging meetings and not showing up. Third try I knocked on his door and his kid sister goes ape doodoo, calls the cops on me. I explained to the local constable that I had a pre-arranged meeting with the owner. Gave up at that point. Then I get a call from a dealer – the dude traded it in and gave my name and number as a lead.
Then I found a light green metallic turbo stick. Better shape but the car blew heat out the vents full time. I thought it was a negotiating point but the owner insisted he would fix it first. He kept putting me off and then told me the place he took it for the repair gave him a good deal and he just sold it to them.
Then I found a blue Viggen, a bit of a pull but in range price wise. Closed the deal but fortunately held the title up to the light and realized it was a color copy. Told the guy I had sudden cold feet and fled. The fates had spoken, no Saab for me.
A few options for me:
Now I have a family and large mortgage so those days are gone.
I’m pretty sure it’s the gold i3 that David bought. I was agonizing about it because it was slightly more than I wanted to pay for one. Should have pulled the trigger on it but at least there’s been some good content that wouldn’t have existed otherwise. Another one came up with similar specs a bit down the road but it wasn’t a good time for us to buy a car. Haven’t seen a comparable one since.
Two 1972 (I think) Alfa Romeo Spiders. One was rear ended with a good engine and one had a good body but not great engine.
About 10 years ago at an auction a well-kept 2002 rolled across and sold at no reserve for like 7k. Smoking deal at the time. I bought a money pit Boxster instead…
Porsche 911 (964) when they were ~$15k for a good condition driver.
(Had to refresh to post this. ‘Nonce is Invalid’ is a very strange error code.)
For me, I had an acquaintance offer me his 135i with the m sport package for a very reasonable price. Waffled and it ended up going to someone else. While I see these aren’t selling for crazy money yet… I think the ones with a stick in good condition will be really desirable soon. The last of the NA straight sixes in the right size.
But my uncle… my uncle traded his 1955 300SL for a C2 corvette…
A couple of years ago I decided I really, really wanted a new Volvo V60 Cross Country. The salesman at our local Volvo dealer was a total ass, didn’t want to talk about it or discuss European factory delivery, and kept trying to push me into an XC90 on the lot I had no interest in. Pissed me off so bad I just left, and the next nearest Volvo dealer is 125 miles away on the other side of a very big mountain range. And it was snowing. So we drove to the Toyota dealer where we had bought our 4Runner and they were more than happy to search for the exact RAV4 hybrid we wanted and have it shipped halfway across the country. Which was probably a better decision, but I still want a V60 and now they’re unobtainium.
A 10K ’68 Porsche 911 in the 90’s
When I was 12 or 13 (early 2000s), my parents let me offer $1,500 for a $3,500 OBO 1970 Pontiac GTO that a neighbor was selling. He laughed me off, and then moved away and took the car with him a year or so later.
I also passed on a $500 running/driving Suzuki Samurai when I was 17 because it was about $250 more than I had at the time.
Next door neighbor’s ‘95 Thunderbird. This was about 3-4 years ago and at that time his Bird had less than 60k miles on it. Pretty sure it was a 4.6 car, and it was absolutely mint. Unfortunately I didn’t have a spare $5000 at the time, and it sold quickly. That’s one I would have definitely enjoyed.
Oooh, I’ve got another one. In 1992 I was dailying a 1985 Sportster when a 1990 350 Camaro RS convertible in white, with a manual traded into the dealership where dad was working. I was out of college, worked near the dealership and would hang out with dad after work. This was a Friday. I drove it and worked out the numbers with the sales manager and it looked pretty favorable. I could have financed through the dealership but arrogant young me thought I could do better through my bank. I told the sales manager I would get financing over the weekend, and went to the local bank on Saturday and secured a loan. Monday comes and dad calls at 730 am. A salesman let someone test drive the Camaro and they wrecked it.
It’s the free ones that I regret. All I had to have done was leave a note on the car or talk to the owners. I later found out that the ’62 VW bus was sent to the wrecking yard due to lacking a tranny. And friends had a Type 3 powered dune buggy only used for getting mail that unloaded it when they predicably moved. This was way back when such things were fairly cheap anyway. That’s why I don’t mind when people ask me if I will sell my truck or leave notes. You only lose if you don’t ask.
When I was 14 in 1981, a guy in my neighborhood put his 68 GTO convertible into a streetlight in front of my house. I was a gearhead even back then and my dad was the service director at a Pontiac dealer. The guy was a bit older and admitted the heavy clutch got away from him. My dad got the car into the driveway and helped the guy out. The car sat for a bit in our driveway with a bent drivers fender and front end damage, possibly suspension.. The guy got his insurance settlement and offered it to dad for $700. The car was average condition, not bad, not great. Dad said he was reaching on the price and it was towed away. For a guy who spent his entire life on cars, dad was never passionate about them.
It’s funny how back in those days, muscle cars were just considered “old cars” and it was almost to the point that you couldn’t give them away.
As a teenager in the mid 80s, I had a chance to buy my friend’s yellow Triumph Spitfire 1500 for a song, but my parents refused to loan me the money b/c “just an old British car.”
I’ve lost more than a couple of Jeep Grand Wagoneers on Bring A Trailer. Not the humongous new one, but the OG. This was years back when they were expensive, but not at the price levels they command today.
Also one Jeepster. It was in incredible condition and even local, but it slipped away.
BMW i3s REX
I was too young to buy the Manual Transmission Smart Car before they discontinued it, the EV Smart car was too impractical range wise, and the Regular i3 REX has the flat tire issue.
A range extended BEV is definitely the way to go.
What sucks is that the Ram 1500 REV and Ford F-150 Lightning REV will almost certainly be available with 5 seat interiors only. Right now what I need is a 6+ seat interior (preferably with a front bench) Hence me ordering a Ram 1500 Crew Cab Long Bed Big Horn, with air suspension and the 3.0L Hurricane I6.
Honda Element.
I was younger and didn’t appreciate, at all, having a functionally useful vehicle at the time.
Man, that’s tough….there was the 1988 M5 for $3K. Sure it had over 200K kms. Sure, the engine was in a box beside it. But it was $3000.
If I am honest with myself, it was probably the mid 90s (Gen 2) Probe GT I looked at. Comfy, great handling, practical….but for some reason (probably money), I didn’t pull the trigger. I think I ended up with my Super Coupe for several thousand less. Still a very cool car, but I really liked how that Probe drove.
That’s a real tough choice – both those cars are really cool, and I get why no matter which one you chose, you’d always wonder. Sporty hatch vs big performance coupe, I’d go back and forth all day.
Not so much got away, but I sometimes think about the alternate timeline where instead of my Beretta, I got the manual Camry coupe I was also looking at. I’d likely still have it, and now, it’d be even more an oddball time capsule.
The late 80’s 911 targas with the G50 were routinely around $10k in the early 2000s. Now they are way too expensive and not special enough to justify their current owner’s usurious demands for payment.
A ’68 911, restored and with extra parts, for 8,000. Which led to me looking at…
A 2000 Camaro SS- White, T-Top, 6 speed. One parent put the kibosh on that, because of stereotypes associated with camaros. Ended up with a V6 mustang instead (Because those are so much better today!)
Later in college, it was a 86 Grand National for 4500. Running, but rough. Still, I think about those three a lot.
Oooofff. Tough break.