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.
A BMW 1M. Just wasn’t quite ready to commit at the time but could have gotten there had I known it was only going to be offered that one year. I still love my 135i I bought a year later, but the 1M would probably be worth more now than I would have paid for it new at the time.
Close to Mark Tucker: 1993 Isuzu Stylus S. Should have gotten it.
Close second was a Dodge Colt GT Turbo; insanely rare but the one I test drove had clearly spent most of its existence bouncing off the rev limiter. I also suspect it was the owner’s first manual car ever.
Was about 65% sure I had found my dad’s Volvo P1800ES listed for sale about 800 miles away. I always loved that car. The one for sale needed some significant work and I couldn’t confirm it was my dad’s (other than the color and location). Still wish I would have bought it though.
A 2003 (ish) Honda S2000 in 2009. I had scheduled a test drive and when I got there the salesperson said the dealership owner had taken the car home and it wasn’t there. I was mad and didn’t bother to reschedule. There weren’t many S2000s around in my price range at the time so I bought a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT instead.
It may have been for the best in some ways since, at the time, I had a long commute on rural roads in a winter climate that I don’t think an S2000 would handle well.
30 years ago, a 1965 running, driving, VW single cab pickup on the street near my college for $900. How I dream about it…
1982 Honda Accord hatchback. Not sure why, but I’ve always loved this thing. A friend had one, and I just lusted over it at the time.
I passed on a 92 blue NSX in 2004. It had around 130k miles, a torn seat, and a Jackson Racing supercharger kit. The seller wanted 8k for it because it needed a water pump and brakes done.
I had just bought a 944 turbo and an FC RX7 Gtu cheap and figured that they needed work and I was out of driveway space. At the time I was in my early 20’s and had no one to answer to and no reason to not add the honda to list of bad ideas, but I figured there would be another chance. Also, I just bought a Porsche, a turbo Porsche. So it was better. (it was not, it had broken valve springs, bad oil seals, bad clutch, and a leak from the heater hose that dripped onto the starter and could short it causing it to crank while parked. It drove into my parents garage while we where at dinner by itself.)
I sold the 944, and the FC when I went back to college. I miss the FC, I will not be able to afford another, or be able to afford to fix the one I can afford. I for sure know an NSX will not be in my future, so that one hurts. Having grown up in a world where cars had local value, and when older cars depreciated, I figured that would always happen.
$8000 for an NSX in any lifetime is absolutely insanity. Wow you might take the crown in this forum
MkIV Supra for 12k. it was NA, high miles, and not what a high-schooler needed at the time, but damn what a deal, even for 20 years ago.
The other one i regret was a 2005 WRX STI. it wasn’t a screaming deal but it was in good shape and stock, and i’ll never get that chance again…
Summer 2007. It was a very clean, ~60k mile 1994 911 Carrera 2 with a manual transmission in a light silvery-blue color with brown leather. $20k from #1 Cochran’s used car dealerships in Pittsburgh. Imagine that.
I was there for a 10k mile 2004 350Z with track package for about the same price, which I bought. This was before I had any affinity for 911s. I recall thinking how neat a 911 would be but that it was too impractical as a daily. The Z had the big hatch, modern safety, still had powertrain warranty, etc etc etc. And I was stunned by it the first time I saw one, always loved them.
Anyhow it’s hard to imagine any scenario where I would have kept the 911 long enough to reap any appreciation. I bought a Saturn station wagon that fall to use as a winter beater and keep the Z out of the salt. Fast forward 2 years and I was fully indoctrinated into the wagon cult, traded the Z in on a brand new VW TDI Sportwagen. Maybe the 911 would have been so good that I’d have held onto it but I’d rather not think about it haha
When my family was younger, I coveted the Porsche RS America, Porsche 928, and BMW e28 M5. All were at their highest depreciation, and I didn’t have the garage space to acquire one.
Currently, I’ve been shopping for a smaller, grand touring sport sedan for a year now, and it’s amazing how little inventory a lot of dealers have on the lots for this more niche category. I’ve been on waitlists for several months to drive some of these. The Civic Type R, Lexus is350, and Cadillac CT4 have been tough to get seat time in. It has made my shopping drag way out, since I expect this to be my sports car for the next 15+years heading into an empty nest. I obviously have not been in a hurry, but it has been terribly disappointing. Pre-COVID, I would have been able to drive these cars back-to-back on the same day to compare them, or order one with no money down, and have first right of purchase/refusal when it arrived. Instead, the cars are often sold before I can get out to drive them. Several months is a long time between comparing cars. Sadly, I’m a picky bastard.
While I don’t fully regret either, there are 2 that pop out. I was buying a car for college and found a Mazdaspeed 6. Since I didn’t have money yet, my dad was signing for it, so he got final say. I wanted that thing so bad, but he nixed it saying he had a bad feeling about it. I got a regular mazda6. Years later, I learned about all the engine troubles that car had and was annoyed that my dad was probably right. Still, it was the perfect car for me. 275 hp, awd, manual, 4 doors. Oh well.
The second car was more recent. In 2019, I got T-boned and totaled the mazda6. With insurance money, I started looking at cars up to the low 30s. I found a lightly used Chevy SS for 35k and wanted it BADLY. Unfortunately the pragmatic part of me kicked in and went with a mazda3, which was about half the cost. We used that saved money for a downpayment on our house (which has appreciated 100k since we moved in). While the SS appreciated a lot, it’s nowhere near our home (plus we got in at the low interest rates). So again, don’t regret, but man that would have been so cool. Over 400 hp, v8, manual, 4 doors. Oh well again.
Not a car, but a pair of motorcycles.
I had the chance to buy a Honda VFR800 and a Harley V-Rod together for $3500. Both super low miles and not running due to sitting for years. It was a steal for two of the coolest bikes ever made.
But I had to be realistic. They’d just sit in my garage for years because I don’t have the time for that kind of thing.
Somewhere around 2013, before the prices of all 3 went absolutely nuts, I was considering these. You could get decent ones for close to $40k. Not so much anymore…
Around January of 2020, I had just gotten a promotion and divorced and was spending some time scrolling through cars.com. I had found a 95 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 with a manual in my favorite color combo yellow with a black interior for only $35k. I thought about getting it but it was in Florida and I’m in Ohio and I hesitated because so much of the rest of my life was in flux.
Then lockdown happened and the car market went insane. That listing was still there in April, only now it was nearly $80k. It’s the only time that I truly regret not buying a car.
In the 80s, I found a Plymouth Superbird in running condition, no rust through anywhere, for $3500. I had $5000 in the bank. Didn’t go for it.
The one that got away.
Another one that got away, or rather stayed exactly where it was: About two miles away from the Plymouth was an early 70s Lotus Europa. Judging by the piles of wiring in the back seat however, “running condition” was not a phrase you would use around that particular opportunity. It was also $3500. The owner insisted that everything was there and it just needed a little work.
I test drove a white ’93 miata with a touch over 100k miles in early 2000. This dealer was selling it for $3000 and I should have bought it. Could have sold my metro and not wasted money on dumb teenage things. I think about that car more than I should
Sort of funny that this would be a regret, but Buick dealers around here were selling the Regal TourX mid trims for 24k or so back in 2020. That’s just a freaking screaming deal, for a wagon form factor that is now completely extinct in the US. They go for about that or so used, six years later!
Basically the same deal with the Golf Sportwagen. There was a time where 4Motion sportwagens were going for 19k with the post dieselgate 6 year bumper to bumper warranty. Again, these are cars that have effectively lost zero value, or appreciated over the years.
There’s too many used cars I have almost bought to count, but I don’t tend to regret those as I’m sure most of them would have given me major issues, lol.
My second car could have been a Mazda RX-7 around a 1983 or so, I forget. Back in the Navy in 1987, but I was nervous about a manual trans and manual choke. I ended up with an 84 Camaro instead.
I could have started my love of imports WAY earlier and skipped a few ‘Murican piles.
There was a buy it now E30 M3 Race Car on EBay about 25 years ago. It came with and extra engine, a couple of transmissions, and an enclosed trailer for $15K.
I had multiple chances to buy a Ferrari 308 20 years ago when they were just a $20k used car nobody wanted.
I could write a ten page essay.
Top three:
1968 Jaguar E-Type, Primrose Yellow, in garage-kept condition. Around 1984… I couldn’t quite raise his extremely low asking price, ($3,000, if I remember right) but it’s probably just as well, as I didn’t have a garage to keep it in.
1970 Lamborghini Espada, Metallic Green, in 1996. It was being sold by a Saudi college student who was going home after graduation. I had the $4,000 he wanted for it, but I didn’t have money to replace the clutch or a garage to keep it in.
1984 Lotus Esprit Turbo, Carnival Red, ~10,000 miles, around 2002 or so. It had been in storage almost from new, and the tires were severely dry rotted, so I figured it would need all the rubber parts replaced. By this time, I had the garage and the money. I offered $11,000, which seemed fair given all the work it needed and the uncertainty involved. I met the new owner about six months later, who told me he paid $9,000 for it, and another $6,000 to get it running right.
Honorable mention goes to any of the six or so Citroën SMs or DSs that I never bought.
These aren’t even the best values I missed out on. It’s just that the Jag is my favorite missed car of all time, and the others are weird cars that I’ve always wanted to own.
I tried so hard to buy an SM about 15 years ago, but the owner wouldn’t sell it for what it was worth, he wanted what a perfect example was going for on line. He let it sit and rot and it went to the scrap yard a few years later. It was like watching an old house burn down in slow motion.
I still think an SM is the only classic I could get my wife to care even a little bit about.
Test drove a 2000 Impreza 2.5RS coupe. Should have bought it. Or the early Broncos in Denver in the late 90’s that were in good shape for a few thousand dollars. Should have bought one of those. I did buy a barn find Scout 800 that wasn’t rusty. But then sold it after a year since I couldn’t afford to get it restored or running. Sad day. My rule is now never buy one not driving.
Back when I was in college, my ’86 CRX Si had just been stolen so I was on the hunt for a replacement. I test drove a 1989 Toyota MR2 with the trick on-demand supercharger and the thing was an absolute hoot to drive. I didn’t have quite enough cash at the moment so dawdled and of course it went to someone else. Ended up with a used ’89 Accord LXi, 5-speed, with 90k on the clock for practical reasons. The Accord was fun to drive in it’s way, was rock solid for years and when I traded it as about 200k I got almost as much in trade as I originally paid for it so really can’t complain. But I still long for that MR2 and contemplate buying one still but good examples are hard to find, especially the supercharged version, and getting pretty pricy.
I bought a 1996 Volvo 850 CD for my first car (bought with my own money) and passed on a 1993 Lexus LS400 for only 2k more as I was worried 181000kms was too high. The Volvo was expensive to run and had a few problems. Part of me thinks If I’d bought the Lexus I’d still have it 18 years later and not just gone sideways through 19 other cars. See also selling my manual NC MX-5 for a W203 C180 because I wanted an auto for my wife who I wanted to drive more on her learners…