Automotive A.D.D.: The disease many of us suffer from

[200HP4dr]

I'm sure that Fit clutch is just brutal...

Haha!

Seriously though, I get it. I just love manuals too much to give it up. Especially as my only means of transportation.

When I lived in Atlanta, I daily drove my 92 Camaro with the 5 speed, and that was a pretty tough clutch. It was worth it, though.

Chris

[mtbscoTT]

OP, you have given a name to my affliction. I have always just referred to it as my "automotive wandering eye."
I've had around 30 cars in 30 years of driving, usually two (or more) at a time. With only a couple of exceptions, I don't sell a car because I don't like it anymore, it's usually just that something newer and shinier comes along.
Currently, I've got two fine cars in my driveway/garage. Both bought new, no problems with either, the RS was a bit of a "dream car" ordered before they were officially announced for the US. I'm in line at my MINI pusher, aka dealer, to get their first GP2 allocation around January to replace the 2011.
And yet....I've had my Audi salesman looking for a suitable used R8 for the past 6 months or so, but the right one at the right price hasn't come along yet. I also found myself this past Sunday perusing the contents of the closed for the day local Porsche dealership. They had several late model CPO 911 variations that put a glimmer in my eye, or I even considered splurging for one fo the new 991's.
One of my oldest and dearest friends told me that evening that "you like buying cars more than you like owning them, the thrill of the hunt." Maybe that's it, but I have gotten to drive some really cool stuff.

[Chris_V]

Is there a threshold (performance, looks, luxury, etc) above which you would not get bored?

Or would you keep flipping cars even in that $50-100k range?

Also, if you really get bored of the same machine so quickly, why have you owned 5 MKVIs?

I dont' know about him, but I know I'd keep flipping even in the million dollar range... lol! I like too many cars to own them all at once, so I own them sequentially, even if they are variations on the same car (like when I went through over 30 air cooled VWs, each one a different custom version).

And no, buying so many doesn't keep you from owning a more expensive car that you might like better. For example, when I went through the air cooled VWs, I'd buy one for $100, fix it up and sell it, use the money to buy one or two more AND fix them up, so the money wasn't cumulative. It's not like I went through $50k of VWs, so I could have bought a $50k car instead, as each car paid for the next one. It's more like I bought 30 VWs for $2k total investment, if you see how I'm figuring it. They went sequentially so there was never more than the initial $2k put into it (and even then that's a fallacy as the money came from the sale of another car) and it was a closed system, with that $2k being recycled with each replacement purchase.

[Ross1013]

One of my oldest and dearest friends told me that evening that "you like buying cars more than you like owning them, the thrill of the hunt."

That's a very nice, very charitable way of describing it.

It's more like I bought 30 VWs for $2k total investment, if you see how I'm figuring it.

I understand completely.

A situation like yours, where the initial 'play money' is recycled and the hobby basically pays for itself, is basically what most fixer-upper-flipper guys are aiming for. I think few of them actually achieve it, though.

[Chris_V]

I understand completely.

A situation like yours, where the initial 'play money' is recycled and the hobby basically pays for itself, is basically what most fixer-upper-flipper guys are aiming for. I think few of them actually achieve it, though.

Yeah, too often the "profit" from a fixer up flip is taken out of the system to pay for something else, and the hobby ceases to pay for itself. On the other end, you can move up the profitability ladder and move into more expensive hobby cars by doing it right if you have the room to turn it into a business (one car pays for two, those two pay for 4, those 4 pay for 8, etc and pretty soon they start generating a living wage of profit and you maintain a sizeable retail fleet).

I can't turn it into a business, so I kept it at maintanance level for many years.

[Wanganrunner]

I've got it bad but the cars I've purchased have, until lately, been pretty similar.

I owned probably a dozen 240sx's, 4 NA6 miatas, 2 SW20 MR2's, a 2004 WRX, a Datsun 510 sedan, and some other stuff.

Lately it's branched out some:

- MX73 Cressida
- Volvo 850 GLT
- '78 Mercedes 240 Diesel
- Current '06 Mustang GT

Honestly I credit this to TCL. I was on 240/dorifto forums and so that's what I bought, and I still love those cars but now my tastes are wider ranging thanks to the myriad of nonsense that assaults my eyeballs every time I get on TCL.

[Vash350z]

Hi, my name is Vash.

Currently jonesing hard for a turbo dsm

[TetsuoShima]

I have automotive ADD in a specific category of cars. Old RWD japanese sports coupes from the 70's-90's.

I cannot for the life of me make up my mind between these:

1974-75 Celica:


Any year 240Z:


MkIII Supra Turbo:


Z32 300ZX TT:

[rynodyno312]

The only cure I have found is temporary--saving for a house. Once I get a garage, I know I'm going to need something fun to wrench on. I don't have it quite as bad as some in here, but In my 12 years of driving I have had 8 cars:

'94 Corolla
'98 GSR - regret selling this one the most
'98 Z28
'00 S70 T5 - owned this one the longest, like 2.5 years
'07 335i - miss this one the most
'88 Reatta (for 2 months in between jobs)
'05 GTO
'08 GTI

[mrdouble]

Wow some of you guys have serious ADD.

This is my modest list since 1996:
89 RX7 GTU
97 Prelude SH
00 M Coupe
87 CRX Si
02 WRX
04 SVT Focus
99 M Coupe
00 M Coupe
86 CRX Si
91 CRX Si
06 350Z
07 GTI
09 MS3

My favorite is MS3 as DD, hence record-shattering 3 years of ownership and counting.

[Cousin Eddie]

My cars all run, and we use them. Why is that bad?

I didn't say it was "bad" really, just that it is problematic in its own sense. Properly caring for, making use of, justifying etc.

Example: I have a Jeep YJ project that has been sitting in the garage for the better part of a decade and haven't had the time to finish it. Fiberglass tub, I have damn near every part i'd need and then some. Just don't have the time for all my hobbies/family/friends etc.

At age 27 my life is busy. Busy working to pay for our house and upgrades, busy working on the house, busy with friends' weddings/parties/friends' kids birthdays etc., trackdays, working on the Porsche 930 race car, general hobbies (mountain biking, motocross, atv, camping, hiking, photography).

We have a few Jeeps between my dad and I. Some are heavily modified for off-road use, ever since we got into performance cars my time for off-roading has been limited. I have been on the trail once in the last year.

It becomes difficult to try and do all the things you enjoy with all the different vehicles. I'm not complaining, it's great to be busy and live life to its fullest. But it also isn't good to bite off more than you can chew.

And living in the Great White North it limits warm weather activities to half the year (performance cars/off-road trails/motocross/atv/camping etc.)

[Aonarch]

My issue is a love pretty much most brands, type, year, quality, etc.

I like sports cars, trucks, diesel, gas, turbo, blown, small, big, muddy, shinny, loud, lifted, slammed, wheel gap, over sized tires, under sized, leather, cloth, vinyl.

I've gone through my phases, Muscle, import, euro, trucks, etc.

If I in the future make a lot of money I am going to have a ton of ~$5-40,000 cars.

[wheeltowheel]

you sir have owned my list of dream cars! cheers to you

My mistake. My tired self last night thought that this thread was about prospective cars. I haven't owned the majority of those