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I'm talking about new or used vehicles that you seriously considered, but passed on only to later kick yourself.
My used list includes:
- 1967 Chevy Impala SS 427 - this was a black/black 4 speed example that I declined around 1973. The $800 asking price seemed too steep given that the oil pressure gauge dropped to zero when coming to a stop;
- 1971 Buick GS Stage 1 - I passed on this original owner car in 1979 as it turned out to have a dealer replacement block. IIRC, the price was about $2000 or so; and
- 1981 Datsun 280Z - this stunning (and like new) orange/tan stick 2 seater was purchased new by a co-worker. It had 12,000 miles on it when he sold it on ebay in 2005 for around $8000. Stupid me didn't want to pay quite that much.
Back around 1980-81 I passed on 1963 Corvette split window. At the time I had a 79 Corvette and it would have really stretched my finances to buy the 63. I regret selling my 72 Pontiac Grand Prix.
I've got a number of regrets. Hard to say what the most significant one was, but it might be not getting a Fourth-Generation (1989-1993) Honda Accord when they were brand-new. It was arguably the best-built new regular passenger car I ever test-drove.....everything on it, from my fingertips on the steering wheel, to the tip of the tire treads on the road, had the workmanship and quality of a Swiss Watch, and felt as if it had been fitted/assembled by supercomputers. The only flaws I can remember were somewhat numb power steering and a slight bump in the automatic-transmission shifts.....both common in Hondas of that vintage (later-generation Accords, of course, had weak automatic transmissions). But I know people who owned these 4Gen Accords and put 300K miles on them....particularly with manual transmissions. Little wonder it gained the reputation that it did.
E92 M3 - I wanted to custom order one back in 2012-2013 as it was its last year in production but could not justify it as a daily driver.
Unfortunately we had Hurricane Sandy and i got new 2013 535i back then.
I had a chance to buy it again last year - 2013 comp pack and 6mt with great color combo. I hesitated a little bit as it was about 200 miles away. That same car is now about $5-10k more but the color combo is impossible to find even if I wanted to pay the current prices.
There were a couple or so, such as when my dad was ordering new vehicles thru a fleet deal & asked me about a new car & oh yea it had to be a Ford & this was in '74....Mustang II had no v/8, Maverick only had a 302 w/ 3spd...Ok, I'll go w/ the Torino sportsroof= no go as it doesn't pass the roll over inspection. So I told pops, I'll go w/ a Ranchero gt w/ the 460 w/ the class III trailer tow package, sport flight bench, windows/locks, tilt/cruise, ect...A few weeks later after the order, was at Holiday Ford, in Sunnyvale & they had a red Ranchero gt w/ blk vinyl top, blk interior, 351 Cleveland 4v w/ a 4-spd on the showroom floor. Pops told me at the time, too late the orders already in. oh well 10x15's & 8x15's Ansens w/ LR50 & G60 T/A radials as well as had Sanderson Headers custom make a set, as Hooker didn't produce any super comp headers for a 385 series powered Mustang/Torino at the time....Before this rx a SRT GC & before that in the 1st of summer of '19, I found a one owner '08 srt Charger superbee for $20k w/ 66k miles...Would really be awesome to take a full summer day & drive all the vehicles I've had for a bit....
Had a 94 SC300, very clean. When it was lost in an accident, I thought to get another one. Instead took on a car payment for something newer, then another, wife...kid...no more room to justify a 3rd car nor a 90s daily driver coupe ever since.
Still one of the best cars ever made imo. Way ahead of its time and easily an ultimate sleeper. To today's standards even its still a comfortable sporty luxurious car. Minus the tech of course which I'm not big on yet anyways.
STILL maybe one day but time/space/resources take their own course in time.
They're still obtainable here/there so not too late yet. Although 70k mi I'm seeing for $25k and that's the 4spd autos not the MTs
-1995 MKIV Supra NA back in early 2011. A friend of mine offered me a clean Supra with 300,000 miles for $7,000. I didn’t have the money at the time but could’ve borrowed the money from my stepdad. Back then I ran into a few Supra around the 10k range but this was the cleanest. I regret not buying a Supra/RX7/NSX a year later. I bought my LS430 as it was the exact color I wanted and every Supra/NSX I ran into was red. I don’t like red Supras or NSX’s for some reason but both cars got crazy expensive.
-1997 SC300 with the super rare Royal Sapphire Pearl paint. I saw this car at my sister’s school ten years ago and saw it pop up for sale. I checked it out with some friends and the front bumper was repainted. The rest of the car was clean, but it wasn’t as clean as my 93 SC300. My friends talked me out of it, but I wanted it so bad.
-98 GS300 and 06 LX470. I used to work for a Lexus dealership and got a black on black 98 GS300 traded in for $800. I was low on cash and decided against it at the last minute. A coworker bought it and dropped a 2JZ-GTE into it. We also had a clean 06 LX that I passed on and ended up getting an ES300 instead.
-2015 RC-F. Just before I left Lexus we got two RC-F’s traded in that sat on our lot for a while. They were the two cheapest CPO RC-F’s in the country and I was planning on doing an employee lease on to get one of them. I hated my job and didn’t want to stay another three years to keep my lease. I could have bought the car but the lease program would have payed a good chunk of my payment each month. I quit shortly after that.
-1999 C5 Corvette FRC. The FRC’s got super cheap and I regret not getting one. I loved that body style so much.
I sold my 97 Blue/White Viper GTS because I had young kids and bought a GTR because it had back seats that I could haul them around in. Before I bought my first GTR in 2014 I considered getting an orange or black 2014 Viper T/A and at the time you could get them for a good price. Now they are nearly impossible to get.
06-01-21, 02:16 PM
Cars You Regret NOT Buying
