vader1

Yeah I am a vint I guess. I turned 40 last year and I still poke around car talk. There are the never ending threads about people lusting after this car or that car and that used to be me. And don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with people wanting something, even lusting after it if that is where your interests are.

I let my car magazine subscriptions lapse. When new cars come out I say "neat" and move on. But my ten year old S2000 is just fine with me now. Its fun, its paid for, it only has 30k on it.

My other car is a subaru station wagon. It has no snob appeal, no panache, but it is decent on gas, hauls what I need it to (I don't even have kids), and is great in a snowstorm. I will probably drive it until it wears out.

My wife and I are fortunate to have very good incomes. Lots of disposable income, and she drives a Mazda 3.

Maybe the fire is gone. Maybe I need to be taken out and shot.

But all I want to do is retire. All I want to do is see the hidden corners of the world. I want to scuba, and sightsee, and experience other culture and I don't really want "stuff" anymore. If driving a Bimmer or Lexus keeps me working or I can retire and travel in and old Subie, than I will take the Subie.

Maybe that is why parents always give their kids a bunch of junk at their own expense because "stuff" does not do it anymore.

But a few months from no I am going to see this, and I will do it happily from behind the wheel of a rental Smart car. But any crap box would be fine, I'd even walk. A super nice car to rent or to own does not drive me like it used to. How about you folks?




If the car habit had you once and now it is gone, post what you'd prefer. Maybe it is kids or grandkids, maye travel, maybe a quiet spot by the lake. I am curious.

Lainey

We'd love to retire, but the last few years have put a kink in those plans, and let's just say we are older than 40.

We are happy with our S, but if $ were no object, we'd have something else in the stable.

Most material objects I don't lust after. No fancy shoes, no fancy purses, and eating gourmet is not on the "to do" list. Fancy hotels with spas are out of our price range, and I don't feel any loss due to that either.

We would rent a more "fun" car than a smart car if we were on vacation though. If the destination is scenic I want a convertible.

One thing I would like is for you to change your avatar! WTF is that anyway?

vader1

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/810248-extinc...al-the-blobfish


Its a from a thread in OT.

Lainey

It's ugly....not even a face a mother could love.

Kyras

I still enjoy my S2000 and my NSX, (and even my RAV4). I may not get as much excitement as I used to from the S, but I still want it in my life because I still have fun driving it on curvy roads. I live in a very car centered culture, here in southern California, and attend car meets often. I also love nature and have been to the Tetons, you pictured. I need mountains and deserts and the ocean, in my life, and do experience them too. I'm 52 and still enjoy cars and nature but I've also not had to work at a job (being a mom notwithstanding) in 23 years.

PanteraKitty

I'm starting to hire some of the work done on my cars so I guess I am losing some of the enthusiasm.

Last Norway trip, I rented a diesel Fiesta. Nice handling car but a 1600cc diesel does not have the giddyap of the S.

I even offered to trade the Pantera a couple of years ago, but the salesman did not know what a Pantera is so that didn't go anywhere. I offered the Pantera and $30,000 for a pretty yellow and black Ford GT at the local Ford stealership.

vader1

I guess I am not asking if anyone is willing to swear off the toys you have, but rather do yuo still have the fire to spend all availible cash on the latest and greatest in the automotive world?

I am not going to get rid of my toy anytime soon, I am just at a point where earlier in life a Cayman would hit the market and I would say "Gotta have it!!!!" And put every energy into getting one, only to do the same for the next car a few years later. Now the new thing comes out, I say "Oh I have to actually pay for it? Not interested." I don't have to have it anymore.

Lainey

^
Never really did that, gotta have it thing. We lack a money tree and we're not that affluent. We are older so we try to limit spending and save for retirement; so we can lose it in the stock market. tipwink:

We generally have relatively new vehicles, but not the latest or greatest. The S was a bit of luck. Not sure that ship will pass us again. :

Kyras

I never had the fire for the latest autos. I just see one I love the looks of and then see if I can afford it. I'm really kinda cheap.

MsPerky

I love the S, but have no desire to upgrade to any other sportscar, especially since I'm not driving it nearly as much as I used to. If I'm going to travel somewhere and it's any real distance at all, I'm flying, unless I have lots of time to hit the back roads getting there. I have an extreme aversion to interstate highways these days. So much congestion, it's not much fun. The +1 takes road trips with his kids, but he's in a Lexus (which he really loves, BTW).