Originally Posted by BonzoHansen
Ok, since you asked…
Who brought up investments? I certainly did not. You are mixing me up with someone else, obviously. Anyone with half a brain knows cars in general are terrible investments.
The Z insurance does not allow me to drive it to work and also requires me to have a daily driver. And the QQ plates technically limit usage a lot, not that anyone has ever been called on that. Regular car insurance won’t work for an old car, with normal coverage if anything ever happened I’d get skinned financially. I have a responsibility to my family to protect the family funds. So while not an investment, it’s my responsibility to protect the value of something I might need to sell if the need arises. That includes not driving it in the snow or rain or into Camden – mostly out of fear of what others might do – door dings, fender scraps, theft, etc. So the collector plates & insurance technically dictates usage, and protecting asset value is a secondary concern. Enough of that.
Within those constraints, my car gets driven a lot. Based on a lot of what you’ve written over the years I bet it’s gotten more miles than any Camaro you’ve owned. But if not, who cares? Yes, IMO the other cars we use as daily drivers are far more disposable. Put it this way, if the pilot or olds got stolen today I could care less. I’d be more pissed about losing my GPS. I’d be a little angrier if the Camaro got stolen. Not because of the money, insurance covers that quite well. I’ve put a lot of time & effort into that car. My kids really like riding in it. It’s a bit special to them and I like that bonding time with them. It is also a bit therapeutic for me. A few hours in the garage are nice. I can work on the car, do repairs or upgrades and not worry about needing it to get to work the next day – I don’t have to do half-assed rigs to keep it going. I usually find working on it relaxing and enjoyable. Not as much as driving, but still nice. To recap, the Camaro gives me enjoyment, relaxation and bonding time with my sons.
I’d actually be real pissed if my truck got stolen. It has no theft insurance so I’d be out money too. Yeah, I have a truck too. I see our cars kind of as different shoes for different purposes. The Pilot is my wife’s, which explains that. My Olds is my DD, it’s relatively safe to drive with crumple zones, air bags, abs, wipers that actually clear rain, etc., and gets reasonable mileage, 20 local/28 hwy. My truck is simply a tool. It’s for schlepping around wood, rocks, mulch, whatever, boat anchor LS1s, whatever. It actually gets used by my friends too, who in turn help me out around the house, the garage, etc., kind of a barter deal. Am I bad for not DD’ing my truck too?
One last thought. Who are you to begrudge anyone on what they do with their property? Do you bitch about gun owners that never shoot them? Do you complain about people with spare bedrooms that never get used? Or jewelry that never gets worn? Or someone who owns 50 hats and only wears one of them? No, of course not. Hey, my baseball cards have been in storage for 20 years. Should I go get them out and start flipping them just because? How about boats? Do you begrudge boat owners? They get used in similar fashion, nice days, pleasure use, etc. Actually a somewhat decent analogy to owning a ‘collector’ car. Hell, a lot of boats get less usage than my car. Are boat owners just as stupid to you?
Sorry if I worked hard in school and got a good enough job to allow me a few minor guilty pleasures as long as I am responsible about it. Forgive my gluttony. Again, IMO if you don’t understand the enthusiast part of all this then you are on the wrong site.
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