From motorhead to motor-not....

[tigerbalm2424]

Has anyone else out there completely lost interest in cars over time?

I have always been (im only 25 now) a car enthusiast. I have always owned at least one sports car at all times. I bought my first camaro at 15 and spend the first year I couldnt drive it, tearing it apart and re-building a lot of it. I then purchased a new Trans Am WS6 when I was 19, paid it off, and then stuck about 20K into aftermarket mods, ALL installed by myself including engine assembly and tuning. I have always completed all the maintenance and repairs on my vehicles because I liked it and liked learning. I bought my house when I was 22 and now I am a DIY'r for house projects and for some reason completely lost all ambition to work on cars. I am at a crossroads and am thinking about selling all my sports hobby cars just because I have no ambition to work on them any more. They dont do anything for me like they used to. I dont get excited like before. Yesterday I went out to start up the TA for the first time this spring out of storage, the car had a ****** leak (the car has never had a leak of any kind) on one of the cooling line connections to the ****** cooler. I wasnt even excited when it started, and the first thing I could think of was how I wanted to just sell it because it had a minor leak that just required tightening up a clamp....

Anyone else ever gone from enthusiast to just not care anymore? If so, did your passion for cars even come back down the road?

 

[PAToyota]

Very easy to lose interest in things when they become a chore rather than an "escape" - especially when other obligations intrude as well.

I used to be much more into working on my daily driver when I was younger, but the obligations of needing reliable transportation to get to work and such ended up making it more of a hassle. Now there is the daily driver which is pretty much plain-jane... I have to resist the urge to mess with it at times, though...

Then the project vehicles are for fun and their isn't the pressure of having to be able to drive it Monday morning after working on something all weekend...

 

[Lou's Garage]

The short answer to that is yes. I am a dyed in the wool car nut who started pumping gas at my dad's gas station when I was about 7. I've remained in the automobile industry my enitre life. So it can happen to anyone! Now, at 55, I'm back in it stronger than ever. I just wish I had the budget to back it up!

Sounds like your cars have taken a back seat to your home projects right now. That can be a good thing as your home needs to take priority over your hobbies unless you need the cars for transportation.

As far as selling the cars, take this with a grain of salt from someone who has held on to far too many things for way too long. If you don't enjoy working on them anymore, and you don't get any enjoyment out of driving them. I would lean towards selling them. A camaro always brings good money, so does a WS6 Trans Am. Even in the current soft market you might bring in enough money to get yourself a new "transportation module" until your interest peaks again. When you do become excited again, it probably won't be the same cars. If it is the same cars, the technology will be obsolete and you'll want to rebuild them. So, in the meantime, why not put them in the hands of a caretaker who appreciates them as they are? On the other hand, you could just find yourself priced out of the market as I have.

Sorry to ramble, I hate the thought that I may have talked someone OUT of the car hobby but it sounds like you just need a break. I took a pretty long break while my family was growing up, in the process refurbed 3 homes but I'm back into automobiles again and in the middle of finishing a basement garage I started a while ago but put on the back burner until I needed the space. I hung on to my '58 F-100 all the while but that's another story.

Best wishes,
Lou

 

[dawg]

nope not me !

 

[tigerbalm2424]

The short answer to that is yes. I am a dyed in the wool car nut who started pumping gas at my dad's gas station when I was about 7. I've remained in the automobile industry my enitre life. So it can happen to anyone! Now, at 55, I'm back in it stronger than ever. I just wish I had the budget to back it up!

Sounds like your cars have taken a back seat to your home projects right now. That can be a good thing as your home needs to take priority over your hobbies unless you need the cars for transportation.

As far as selling the cars, take this with a grain of salt from someone who has held on to far too many things for way too long. If you don't enjoy working on them anymore, and you don't get any enjoyment out of driving them. I would lean towards selling them. A camaro always brings good money, so does a WS6 Trans Am. Even in the current soft market you might bring in enough money to get yourself a new "transportation module" until your interest peaks again. When you do become excited again, it probably won't be the same cars. If it is the same cars, the technology will be obsolete and you'll want to rebuild them. So, in the meantime, why not put them in the hands of a caretaker who appreciates them as they are? On the other hand, you could just find yourself priced out of the market as I have.

Sorry to ramble, I hate the thought that I may have talked someone OUT of the car hobby but it sounds like you just need a break. I took a pretty long break while my family was growing up, in the process refurbed 3 homes but I'm back into automobiles again and in the middle of finishing a basement garage I started a while ago but put on the back burner until I needed the space. I hung on to my '58 F-100 all the while but that's another story.

Best wishes,
Lou

Well, thats the flip side of it. I have a newer truck that is my DD so the cars are more fun hobby cars. The other thing is I really cant think of anything I NEED the money for even if I sell the car. I am on pace to pay off the truck by next spring so Im not worried about that. Regarding the cars as weekend drivers, now I find myself doing a lot more fishing and other sports over the weekends in the summer and I dont have any plans of pulling the boat with the car!

 

[Kevin54]

Hey Dawg....do you always leave your car hang like that? I would think that it wouldn't be good on the suspension or shocks over a period of time. Just curious.

 

[NOMAD]

Sounds like you need to spend more time driving it and less time wrenching it.
Get out on a track day or an autocross and course, throw the car around and rag on it. In other words... use it. It just might bring back the excitement.

Lots of people get into cars because driving is so much fun for a youngster. The handling and power are great. Then they start wrenching them, spending money on fun part as well as boring necessary parts. The car gets relegated to "trailer queen" and the daily commute saps the fun out of driving. Pretty soon the "cool car" is "too nice" to drive and beat on because of the money spent on it. Then the interest fades.

Maybe you need to go to the drag stip or get some driver training days to help you remember why cars are so darn cool.

 

[tigerbalm2424]

Sounds like you need to spend more time driving it and less time wrenching it.
Get out on a track day or an autocross and course, throw the car around and rag on it. In other words... use it. It just might bring back the excitement.

Lots of people get into cars because driving is so much fun for a youngster. The handling and power are great. Then they start wrenching them, spending money on fun part as well as boring necessary parts. The car gets relegated to "trailer queen" and the daily commute saps the fun out of driving. Pretty soon the "cool car" is "too nice" to drive and beat on because of the money spent on it. Then the interest fades.

Maybe you need to go to the drag stip or get some driver training days to help you remember why cars are so darn cool.

Yep, that pretty much hits it on the nose. Only problem is that if I rag on it too much and break something I dont want to spend the money to fix it.

 

[bmwpower]

I'm getting there...

For me, it aa quantity problem. You think you've got it bad, you should try driving 20 year old BMWs daily. Seems like there is always something going bad. I'm in the process of slimming down my collection - just too much to constantly maintain. It's no fun when you can't drive them like you want because of something breaking.

I figure if I can get down to 2 cars (M3 weekender, 535i daily), 1 truck (F250 - no maintenance really) and my wife's van I should be good.

So I gotta get rid of my 325ic (being parted), selling my 318ic (almost sold), selling the "willed" tbird.

 

[rsanter]

I do woodworking, metal working/machinist and the cars. over time I rotate where my peak interest it and go with that. currently I an going from metal working to cars again. last summer was woodworking.
I think the project I have in mind that has my peak interest is what does it

bob

 

[rwhite692]

I definately have to "rotate" my hobbies.

Typically at our house, there is either some kind of DIY major remodeling / construction project going on, OR, when those are completed, I am deep into my hobby car projects.

About 20 years ago, I was exactly where you are at now, I had bought my first house at 23 and spent every spare minute and dollar I had re-doing it, and I had to put the car hobby aside completely for several years, to the point I felt like it was no longer "doing anything at all" for me...

Four houses and 20 years later, I'm in the house that I've owned for 10+ years now and finally getting everything set up the way I want it, a little at a time. I now have a circle of good friends that are also into cars and all of us are about the same age, trying to relive/recapture our youth, etc...so that has a way of keeping the interest up, too.

I'm here on these forums to learn and get ideas for the project I'm doing now (building a detached garage just for my car hobby stuff). Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that you will go through phases in life where different things become important and interesting to you, it's normal...

...and just wait till (or if?) you have kids! -Rob

 

[SteveU]

I do woodworking, metal working/machinist and the cars. over time I rotate where my peak interest it and go with that. currently I an going from metal working to cars again. last summer was woodworking.
I think the project I have in mind that has my peak interest is what does it

bob

I do this also, go from ham radio to woodworking to motorcycling to reloading & shooting to buying tools & working on cars. Problem I have is that none of my hobbies are cheap so instead of being set in any one hobby it seems like a constant expenditure to keep up with the ever changing interests. Current needs determine to an extent what I do, when we built the office for my wife we built 21 8' tall bookcases for the office then built 4 more for the house (did I mention we spend a lot on books?) so did a lot of woodworking that year. This next year we are planning an addition and another 20 or so bookcases along with getting the lift installed. My car may need struts before next winter as it was riding rough when it was cold like water had got into them & froze so there will be a mix of things to do this year. If you get married your priorities will adjust, when you have kids they will really adjust Seems like given enough time though things come back around again.

 

[PoorOwner]

I believe most people are stimulated by CHANGES that we make to the car.
Your car is probably ESTABLISHED which means it is where you wanted it.

Do you still remember when that car was your daily driver and you ordered some go fast parts and the improvements put a smile on your face? That was probably 90% of the fun, fixing the what's broken, getting dirty was a PITA but that fun factor overwhelms it.

Once you get another daily driver and that fast car sits at home.. it really kills the fun factor as you are not driving it everyday anymore. I think the same applies to other hobbies as well, you could view home improvement as a hobby too, and that really further puts the car hobby in the backseat now. But you know.. "making things better" is in your blood, that's why you modded the car, and now improving the house. Because you look back and smile at the results.. If it's not, then why don't we paint all the walls plain white, sit inside with no hobby at all, just a job to pay the mortgage.

 

[Quiksilver]

Like everyone else said, hobbies come and go. I own a 2001 Mustang that, a few years ago, would spend all of my time tweaking or cleaning etc. Last year I started back to college part time (also age 25) and lost interest in the car. Just a couple weeks ago, my wife and I bought our first house, now I have that and am really excited about the projects we will be doing on the house.

But yesterday, at the gas station, when I was filling up my daily driver, a guy drove up in a Bullitt edition Mustang and I got excited about getting my Mustang out again.

Man, it's going to be a busy summer.

 

[Hutch]

I haven't lost interest in cars and trucks yet, in fact I keep seeing new projects disguised as junkers on craigs list! I have moved on from other activities though. I used to rock climb about 4-5 days a week and about three years ago (when I got more serious about wrenching on my scout) I tapered off and haven't been for quite some time now. I still have all my gear and hope to get out with friends, since that is what I loved about it when I started. For me it was a job too and it became less fun as I became more aware that I had to be climbing at a certain level to be where I wanted with my job. I just decided that other things were more interesting and important, and fortunately have a pretty flexible job where I could just move into other skill types. I've dropped lots of hobbies over the years and go back them as I feel inspired, I bet it will happen with cars too - but hopefully not until I get the one's I am working on now reliable and "done" what ever that means!

 

[truckman5000]

hi, yah i like some have said, i never lost interest between, the too, i own my house, im 22, bought it a year ago, i have a 30x40 detached so i have the stuff in there, my biggest problem wasnt the interest within working on the car/corvette, i have a new truck and an 08 work truck, but its seems like were the best place to spend the money, which is the house, the cars are a hobbie, so the house get the a tension, because its the best investment, at the same time the women can make decisions, but a problem for me, i went for a bout a year without driving a fast car/ had one but i worked too much, i lost interest, i gain the interest everytime i take it out, so maybee that you dont drive it..

 

[1320stang]

Well, if you do decide to sell it, you could always apply it towards your house loan or invest it. Either your house will get paid off sooner or you'll make money on the investments, retire early....

 

[dawg]

Hey Dawg....do you always leave your car hang like that? I would think that it wouldn't be good on the suspension or shocks over a period of time. Just curious.

actually thats an old wifes tale
Its actually better to releive the suspension.
btw cars are in there own garages now on the floor.

 

[tigerbalm2424]

Well, if you do decide to sell it, you could always apply it towards your house loan or invest it. Either your house will get paid off sooner or you'll make money on the investments, retire early....

Yep, thats kind of where Im at right now. Thinking about paying off the second mortgage so I have one less payment if I sell the car.

 

[JB740i]

My interests have also changed back and forth but for a long time it was between whatever vehicle I had and guns. I was active with the Tacoma Territory Club, then F150 world when I got a Ford, then bimmerboard when I got a car.

Always spent a lot of time on glocktalk and stayed interested in guns.

Got married and got a job. Now I've got more money to spend on tools and doing repairs but lost interest in the BMW as far as keeping it maintained and perfectly clean. You should see all the **** on my floor cause I just don't want to spend the time working out there cleaning. And I don't spend as much money on the repairs cause I've got a wife, a baby coming and gonna build a house.

So now I spend a lot of time reading about houses/garages and working on the '76 FJ40 I bought a few months ago. It's now much more interesting to me than the BMW. I am to the point (105k miles) where I know something big is gonna break on it soon and it probably won't be something that I have the knowledge to fix.

So I'm left wondering if I should part with it and find something cheap to replace it. It was a gift to me so I don't have the means to buy something comparable to replace it but I sure won't want it around when I get left standing on the roadside with it either.