Between cars, and losing the desire to own one...

[Gryphon]

I'm reaching a very interesting point in my life.

Recently, I sold my '03 Focus RS, which was a beloved part of my family for 11 years. In large part, it was sold to make financial and physical room for a Deep Impact Blue GT PP on its way to me right now (delivery expected in late November).

Now, I've always been driving, even since before I could drive... Who could forget Richard Petty's Talledega on the Commodore 64, after all?! And ever since I legally could, I've been vehicle-borne, in a blue fast Ford of some kind or another.

Now though, after a while without a car... I have to say absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder. I live in a big city, so there's rarely an actual need to drive anywhere (and my wife has a car), and it's been kind of nice with all this extra money every month, not worrying about brake lines, intercooler mounts, rear shocks and springs, front brake pad wear, scraping ice off windshields and worrying about where to park the car every day - you just get on the bus and go.

I'm scared that I'm actually being weaned off cars by not having one. I'm going all cushy and soft and enjoying public transportation, being driven to work instead of driving, having a bunch of spare money every month and now, I mostly look back on car ownership as an expensive bag of problems. I find I don't MISS driving like I thought I would. Not even remotely as much as I thought I would. This clashes hugely with my own self-image as a 'car guy'...

Next month (barring delivery issues), the Mustang arrives, and the question is, will I be so changed as a person that I won't like it - want it - desire to own and drive it anymore? I'll be spending 500 dollars a month on something impractical for where I live, and something I obviously have been doing absolutely great without.

I feel like I'm going mad. To drive is to live... isn't it?!

Thoughts?!

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[Twin Turbo]

Wait until you first lock eyes on the DIB GT beauty and press the Start button for the first time.

If you still feel the same after that...............well, there's no hope for you

 

[Gryphon]

Haha, just the sort of constructive advice I was hoping for :-)

You're absolutely right. You basically get used to any situation after a while, it's part of what makes humanity human. And many of the things we see as necessary to our quality and way of life seemed less so when we live without them for a while. But this could be true of many things, not just cars.

I guess the idea is the just because I don't need a car as much as I thought I would, it's still okay to want one, not as an instrument of commuting, but as a vehicle of pleasure :-) in the end that's what Mustangs were always meant to be.

As you suggested I'll probably be able to cure all of my blues with some wide open throttle. Thanks for your tip.

 

[lazarus870]

I always wanted one of these cars since I was 12 or 13 years old. My friend and I used to drool listening to the fox body 5.0 and Camaro SS cars drive past. This was in the early 2000s. I got my license and realized that it wasn't feasible to have a muscle car. Gas, insurance, too much power for a teenager, parts, etc. I never got one.

At age 28 I ordered one, but not as a daily driver. I watched everybody else have a fun car but me. I had to wait quite some time for it to happen.

Impracticality is part of the fun. If you like having a car and driving and having fun you'll like it. But if you're much more practical, then it may be a pain to own.
I fear I was getting far too practical. So I got the Mustang to fix that, lol.

 

[Tamadrummer88]

I'm reaching a very interesting point in my life.

Recently, I sold my '03 Focus RS, which was a beloved part of my family for 11 years. In large part, it was sold to make financial and physical room for a Deep Impact Blue GT PP on its way to me right now (delivery expected in late November).

Now, I've always been driving, even since before I could drive... Who could forget Richard Petty's Talledega on the Commodore 64, after all?! And ever since I legally could, I've been vehicle-borne, in a blue fast Ford of some kind or another.

Now though, after a while without a car... I have to say absence hasn't made the heart grow fonder. I live in a big city, so there's rarely an actual need to drive anywhere (and my wife has a car), and it's been kind of nice with all this extra money every month, not worrying about brake lines, intercooler mounts, rear shocks and springs, front brake pad wear, scraping ice off windshields and worrying about where to park the car every day - you just get on the bus and go.

I'm scared that I'm actually being weaned off cars by not having one. I'm going all cushy and soft and enjoying public transportation, being driven to work instead of driving, having a bunch of spare money every month and now, I mostly look back on car ownership as an expensive bag of problems. I find I don't MISS driving like I thought I would. Not even remotely as much as I thought I would. This clashes hugely with my own self-image as a 'car guy'...

Next month (barring delivery issues), the Mustang arrives, and the question is, will I be so changed as a person that I won't like it - want it - desire to own and drive it anymore? I'll be spending 500 dollars a month on something impractical for where I live, and something I obviously have been doing absolutely great without.

I feel like I'm going mad. To drive is to live... isn't it?!

Thoughts?!

If i lived in a city like NYC or SF i would think twice about owning a car in those cities because its very expensive (parking in a lot of apartments in SF are nonexistent, and when there is, its super expensive, like a car payment every month) But otherwise i need a car.

 

[Gryphon]

I fear I was getting far too practical. So I got the Mustang to fix that, lol.

Nice outlook on life :cheers: I could learn a thing or two!

If i lived in a city like NYC or SF i would think twice about owning a car in those cities because its very expensive (parking in a lot of apartments in SF are nonexistent, and when there is, its super expensive, like a car payment every month) But otherwise i need a car.

Yeah, it's the same thing here. Living in a city which is more or less waging an active war on motorists by shutting down parking garages, jacking up parking rates, charging for fuel like it's holy water and so on, you get disheartened. You have to pay out of the nose to have a car - and we already have one, to have two has so far been tolerable because we haven't known anything else. But even a month without it, and you suddenly see all this MONEY you get to keep!

But then, the politicians and the environmentalists win. And we can't have that.

On a side note, Tamadrummer! That sends my music sense into tingle mode. What sort of stuff do you play?

 

[TheDivaDanielle]

solution: fiesta ST.

 

[Gryphon]

solution: fiesta ST.

Good solution :clap2:

No, in all honesty I considered it, but if ever there was a time to get on the RWD v8 powered bandwagon it's now. I have a feeling that the next time I look for cars, there won't be a manual, v8-powered Mustang around anymore. This is the last hurrah of the traditional muscle car.

Originally I was holding out for a Fiesta RS. The Focus RS is too big and I'm not interested in the styling, but a Fiesta RS with an aggressive bodykit and about 250-300 hp would have fit the bill perfectly. Since I couldn't get that, I decided to realize a dream and actually buy an American muscle car. Daft as it is.

 

[TheDivaDanielle]

I hear you. For a while I was lucky enough to have a '13 Mustang GT and a '14 Focus ST in my home, but then the Mustang had to go. They're different but wonderful cars to have/own. I have the opposite view of the FiST. Too small, too underpowered.

Being that you're in Sweden, I think you might regret not getting the Mustang. It's special there, and exclusivity is real. Here in the US, there is the opposite problem. So many available as rentals, and so many low end/base models that it sort of dilutes the breed, and they are so much less special because of it. Yes it's always great to see a well taken care of Mustang GT, but with so many "regular" Mustangs, it makes one wish they could find something as wonderful, but with a little exclusivity.

Get the Mustang.

 

[Finally]

The OP's situation sounds kinda like a recently divorced person... it's great to experience the freedom from having to listen to the whining and complaining, hassles, stress, strife, tension, etc. Until he meets the most beautiful, seductive, lithe temptress he's ever gotten into. Game over. You're gonna LOVE your new car, and it will probably be even better than you can imagine!

 

[Gryphon]

Being that you're in Sweden, I think you might regret not getting the Mustang. It's special there, and exclusivity is real. Here in the US, there is the opposite problem. So many available as rentals, and so many low end/base models that it sort of dilutes the breed, and they are so much less special because of it. Yes it's always great to see a well taken care of Mustang GT, but with so many "regular" Mustangs, it makes one wish they could find something as wonderful, but with a little exclusivity.

Get the Mustang.

Already have - it's on the boat and on the way to me

But you're right, for me it's always been something of an insubstantial dream to own, but in a world of grey imports, sketchy parts supply, no dealer network, small mileage 'haircuts' which cars get in transit, the possibility of buying a swamp-damaged salvage title as a 'new car' and finding out once the electrics stop working two weeks later... All of that sort of doused the fire.

So as soon as Ford offered it with a proper warranty, a dealer network and as an actual, verifiably new car, I was all over that.

The OP's situation sounds kinda like a recently divorced person... it's great to experience the freedom from having to listen to the whining and complaining, hassles, stress, strife, tension, etc. Until he meets the most beautiful, seductive, lithe temptress he's ever gotten into. Game over. You're gonna LOVE your new car, and it will probably be even better than you can imagine!

That sounds so true. I was after all married to that car for 11 years, and learned to love what I loved, and live with what I didn't. I knew every creak, rattle, pop and bang and could anticipate its needs, and it was a beautiful thing. Now though, all I can feel is the peace and quiet

You're absolutely right, I have a feeling that as soon as I sit in those Recaros the horns will grow out of my forehead again!

 

[Zemedici]

Back when I had my '16 on order (was on order for 2 months before I cancelled the order due to no real ETA), I didn't have a car for 2 months. And it was driving me mad due to the sole fact I felt like a burden to my girlfriend, with her having to drive me to work, etc etc (hour drive to work, no bus)

If I wasn't with her and lived at my old spot a mile from work, I'd seriously debate not having a car, saving $1000/mo would be soooo nice

 

[Beetlespin]

The cure for this is to just sit in the car and push the start button. If that that doesn't get you heart rate up then yes, you should walk away

 

[GTP]

I want to present support for the "don't get the car" point of view.

Yes, once it arrives, your eyes will become starry, and you will be completely enamored. Just a test drive around the block could seal the deal.

BUT...
You also have only one chance NOT to take delivery of the car. After that, it's yours, it's expensive, and it's immediately worth $5000 less. The only good value thing about owning a new car is when you keep it for about 10 years so as to have amortization work in your favor. Cars are not a good use of money - period.

So I think it all comes down to time with the car. If you find that it is easier and cheaper to take public transportation to and from work, then your car sits parked in that expensive spot. If you can only take it out on the weekend, then divide the money it is costing you by the miles, or by the time, and you will become quickly aware of how expensive each mile is, or each hour.

Next imagine what this will be like for you a year from now, or two, or five. Surely some of the initial love for the car will have waned. Now imagine again how much you are spending for those few drives, and precious minutes in it.

Instead, you could spend the money on some really nice vacations. Then when your life situation changes, it may come about that the car is not so impractical after all. So get it then. Or you may care about other things entirely.

I turn sixty in February. I plan to really enjoy this car until my 70th birthday. I drove sedans, station wagons, and minivans all my life. My kids are out of college, and my life is finally my own again.

I was "due".
.

 

[Gryphon]

I want to present support for the "don't get the car" point of view.

That is a very valid, very lucid and extremely pertinent piece of advice. As you say, I get only one chance to make permanent this blissful state of excess disposable income to spend on dinners out, movies, vacations and all sorts of enjoyable stuff.

I have a feeling that in the end that side of me will lose out - this time. But I certainly have an eye-opening experience to look back on the next time it's time to evaluate how 'necessary' a car is.

In the end, I put it in parity with my pilot's license. I have even LESS practical use for it, and it costs me even more. So... if anything should go it's the plane, not the car. I guess it's just an eye-opener, and I need to reevaluate how necessary my standard of living is.

Thanks for your input, I really do take it to heart.

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