Car deals you passed on, but regretted later??

[june82000]

... or conversely, cars you wish you would have never bought.

There are a couple of others but... About 4 or 5 years ago I had the opportunity to buy a '55 Chevy 2-door post, in very good overall structural condition and complete but the small bits were mostly in boxes. Owner's son had passed away and altough it wasn't listed for sale, he was willing to sell it for $500. At the time I didn't feel I had the time to put in to it - now I wish I would have bought it.

[LeeH]

Tried to talk my dad into a $2500 Superbird when I was in high school. He said it was ugly.

[stomachmonkey]

68 Firechicken that needed the wiring harness done to complete the restore.

69 AMX with Go Package that I did not really pass on but that got wrecked by a snow plow while parked in front of the owners house a couple of days before I was supposed to pick it up.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

A Toyota MR2 (not a turbo though...) for $500. Needed a throttle cable and brake pads. Had too many cars at the time so said no thanks.

[oldE]

About 20 years ago, a fellow I know with a bit of a collection was selling his Convertable D.
I had just bought family transportation and couldn't swing it without a loan. He offered it to me for 12.5. It wasn't in bad shape, but the paint was cracking.
Yeah. I regret that one.

Around the same time I passed on a 356C for 11.5.
That one was in fantastic shape. The owner had a binder of the work he had done on the car since he got it in the late 60s.

Sigh.
Best
Les

[id10t]

When I was 13 (in '84) I got just under $4k in gift money from friends, relatives, etc. for my bar mitzvah

Decided to save it up for a car... ended up buying a Mazda pickup in '90 (money earned me some interest and I had the old station wagon to drive after I turned 16).

Just threw out a bunch of old Antique & Sports Car Autotraders from the mid ot late 80s... could have bought one of several 356s for $3-4k

[Aragorn]

I remember seeing a 356 for sale in the 80's for around $5,000. I didn't have a license at the time though and all my money was being saved for graduation and college.

[McLovin]

Ferrari Dino 246 for around $12K in 1982.

[J P Stein]

A few deals I passed up .....but I couldn't afford as a freshly married blue collar working siff. I did end up with a 67 Shelby GT 500 , 700 bucks........ that one got stolen.

55 300SL gull wing...5K OBO
289 Cobra....4500
1958 250 Ferrari with spares...just an obsolete race car 12500.



The early 70s was a good time to buy a used car.

[McLovin]

Trade my '79 911SC plus $5K for a MINT '73S Targa. I mean fully restored, rebuilt engine, recad plated everything, etc. Was a friend of mine so I knew the car well. I passed on that trade.

That would have been around 1995.

I ended up selling the SC a few years later for $18K.

[FLYGEEZER]

A Lotus Elan in 1970 for cheap. Ran & drove very well.. Outta money!

[intakexhaust]

246 Dino's when they were in the $14k range.
Aston Martin DB4 for $4k. Repaint wasn't quite satisfactory.... rolleyes.
'60 356 conv. D for $2,500. lol, thought the '73 911T was a better deal for the same!

edit: euro 4 speed 230SL w/ pagoda top.... nicey-nicey for $2,500. Seller was in a hurry to dump and had to go back to Japan.

[wdfifteen]

289 Cobra with a blown engine for $5000 (this was in 1969 or 70)
1965 356 siezed here in town in a drug raid and auctioned by government through my local post office. I didn't bid. It sold for $700.

[aschen]

oportunity to by a friends mint low miles 993 for 25k in 2005

wish I would have kept my elise for a few more years I sold it for 24k in 2009 I think is more like a 32k car now

not buying about 10 930s in 2009, particularly un loved non-IC cars

sold my 2004 wrx Sti, that was one of the best all around cars I ever had. Crappy enough that I didnt care about it but fast and fun to drive.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

289 Cobra with a blown engine for $5000 (this was in 1969 or 70)
1965 356 siezed here in town in a drug raid and auctioned by government through my local post office. I didn't bid. It sold for $700.

Patrick - OUCH! And also the last one you mentioned reminds me when the gov. dood's in black dud's would come in and offer drug dealer cars. There was a decent 930 euro coupe that the devil was dancing on my shoulder telling me to get it.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by McLovin

Ferrari Dino 246 for around $12K in 1982.

Yup. I passed on a Dino in early the 90s. I don't recall how much it was, but if I was looking at it, it was cheap. I don't even want to think what its worth today.....

[RWebb]

Syncro Westy for $10,000 - it needed $3,000 worth of mechanical work but the body and interior were beautiful. I figured the guy was ripping off on the price; little did I know they would cost $40,000 a decade later...

[motion]

Passed on a 69 911S in 1997 for $25K or so. Bought a 1984 911 Cab instead.

[Nostril Cheese]

1967 Dodge Coronet 440. Needed a new interior. $3K.

[widebody911]

Back in the early 2000's I passed on a 1960 walk-thru 15 window bus for $800 that was maybe 3 miles from my house.

A year or so before that, '67 walk-through 21-window for $1800