How do you cure the boredom factor which creeps in within 12 months of ownership? - if it's a humble hatchback then you can understand it being below average or do you think if you own a top of the range BMW or Mercedes the boredom factor can also creep in?
Obviously some are stuck - for example company cars for 3 years etc, and it may be a perfectly reasonable car but for some reason you feel the urge to swap. Perhaps it is a sign of an over developed interest in cars and mentality that the 'grass is always greener', then you commit to a wad of cash and part exchange only to end up in the same position again. (This is the fundamental basis of how the car trade exists I imagine).
Even if you had the ultimate dream car would it guarantee curing the urge, or perhaps it may never go away if those six numbers come up on the lottery (probably make it worse).
For those not interested in cars and who view them as tin boxes to get from A to B it must never be a concern. Perhaps it is a natural urge to improve your circumstances.
Does anyone else feel that way, are you always dissatisfied (even if the car basically meets your needs)?
For myself I am always looking and finding something else but it can cost a fortune - others just drive something and get their kicks elsewhere.
Secretly I envy those who drive somthing for 10-15 years and reap the benefits of nil-depreciation etc.
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The fact is that this is an unfathomable subject, with no right or wrong answers. Meaning, yes the person that gets 10 years+ out of a car is a financial hero, however if you are the person that gets bored after 18 months, (like me) the only option is to hang on for say another six months and just make sure you buy and sell as wisely as reasonably possible.
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Used to be two years with me. Now it's three. Never got bored with my Porsche 993, though; it just seemed to be a money pit, and out of embarrassment I agreed with the FD it had to go...
But I always start out by saying 'This car is going to have to do us for five years'.
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I've had my car (my first car) for over 3 years and I am still not bored with it. It's very slow, but there is still a fun factor. I would prefer a faster car, but it's not worth the cost. I test drove a few new cars a while ago, but I actually found them all boring apart from one, but the one that wasn't boring wasn't much better than my current onel.
Surely older cars are usually more exciting anyway? Modern cars are usually bigger, and more refined (boring).
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You could be writing my own car-ological profile there Kingpin. I change
motors yearly, sometimes a bit less. My depreciation hit (my 'habit') seems fixed at
between £5-8K i.e. my current car's equity + that figure. (excluding running costs/service etc)
No sooner have I 'setteld-in' than I'm scouring AutoTrader for the next high.
"Hi my name's Woodbines, and I'm car-oholic"
I'm certain, joking aside, that this is a real problem for many people - perhaps
more represented here than not. I rationalise by calculating that my addiction costs
£100-150 per week (over & above running costs) & comapring addiction costs for other 'drugs'
it's not too bad - at least I've got something to show for it .
Current motor is a perfectly good sensible C-Class diesel, nicely optioned & in good
nick with Merc warranty. I've decided that I now need a high powered petrol hit in the form of
a Subaru Forester 2.5XT or the more refined charms of an 6-cylinder E46 series-3, whatever, it'll
cetainly be less economical & comfortable than the Merc, but I've convinced myself that way salvation lies.
I can't expalin it other than the boredom/grass is greener scenario you suggest - is it just a 'man thing',
or do any female posters have the same thing going on?
~woodbines
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Having 3 cars and a bike (people carrier, 2 seater sports, supermini and an XV1100) I don't tend to get bored with
them as I used to.
The sports car is an 1990 mx5 which i bought for 1300 and have gradually had renovated over the past 18 months.
The bike and mx5 really give me a buzz, definitely a man thing.
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"people carrier, 2 seater sports, supermini and an XV1100"
See a proper motorcyclist, vague on the make and models of the 4 wheelers, specific about the two wheeler ! :-)
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In response to Woodbine, we could be very similar and the Subaru Forester XT will cure you!
I used to change cars about every 18 months and the cost to change would be about £4,000. I have gone through BMW 7-series, two Honda Accords (one was 4WS), Merc C200, Peugeot 605 (my favourite car), Volvo S80 and a Saab 9000 in the last ten years. I got my Forester XT in December 2004 and would still be driving it, if my father hadn't 'taken it off my hands' last month so was forced to buy a Subaru Outback.
I love the Outback, but there are times when I want the Forester back!
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It isn't just the boredom factor that's the problem, but that the next car always has to be better than the last
Even if the increments are small, they still have to rise
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I had Polo five years and never got bored of him - I just needed something more reliable and new.
I've had Gunther the Golf just under 5 months and I'm bored already. And I have to keep him for another 43 long months!
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>>>> I've had Gunther the Golf just under 5 months and I'mbored already. And I have to keep him for another 43 long months!
Bored of a golf!! How dare you! I never get bored of my golf! And it's an old mk3 VR6!
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I think it is the thrill of the chase. I am a car-o-holic and I cannot begin to tell you how much I have spent on cars over the past 12 yrs or so (both in money and time spent on research)
I bet that others, like me, who change their cars frequently agonise for weeks, devouring magazine articles and car reviews from all sorts of sources. You may even run an excel spreadsheet of choices with columns for the vices and virtues for each car of interest.
Once the chase is over and the prize attained, it is hard to maintain the status quo. The thrill monster needs to be fed again. Shallow? Probably, but hey, some people spend huge amounts of money playing golf and buying gaudy trousers.
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