I'm at that point with my cars where I feel the pressure to sell one of them. For one, I have my daily driver, a show car, and a car that i'm not sure what to do with. Ironically, the car I fought so hard to keep for so many years. It was my first car

It's nothing special. A base 1989 Firebird, 2.8L mpi, all original minus a crappy paint job (white with blue stripes), and a few necessary repairs. (powersteering pump, master cylinder, brake rebuild, etc.) I saved the car from going to a scrap yard, and have had it through all the rough times in life. In fact, I kind of relate to it. Its a little rough around the edges but has never let me down. Only broke down on me once when the ICM fried a few years ago. It has 152k miles on it and runs great.

My problem is this, the car runs great but needs a lot of work in various areas to bring it to that "show room floor" look. Needs paint and a little body work, a little interior work, new tires, wheels, upgraded A/C, and some motor work to spice it up (its a dog, lets be honest), and would cost a good bit of money. But the fact of the matter is that I don't have a budget to do what I would like to do to it (maybe after 20ish years). I catch a lot of heat about the V6 and im at a crossroads with it. The car deserves the upgrades it so badly needs, but what to do? I'm being hard-pressed by others to sell it, and i'm seriously considering it. But everytime I read a post or hear a story about someone wishing they "hadn't sold their first car" it makes me think twice about selling mine.

Help

 

If it will cost too much then probably sell it. My first Camaro was an '87 Iroc with the 5.0 Carb and I did regret selling it. But my second Camaro was a '90 RS v6 that I bought for $500 strictly to flip it. It had a nice interior that I liked but still it was just a regular one to me so I felt no pain selling it. My Iroc was a V8 however so I do plan on getting it back.

 

Its your car. Don't let other people dictate to you what you do with YOUR car. You say you take crap because its got V6? Tell them to **** off.
IMO: Unless you NEED the money to make ends meat, keep it. It was your first car, you never get another "first car" My first car was a 1979 Caprice Classic, 4 door with a 350. Thing would absolutely fly. When I traded it in it was ragged out and beat all to ****. But I'd love to have it back now, just because............

 

Keeping your first car is a novel idea, but it's rarely practical. Most of the "I wish I never sold it" story is just some guy thinking about how times were soooo good when he was a teenager. The first car just plays a part in the memories. I wish I still had my 72 Cutlass, but when I had a chance to buy it back, in better condition than when I sold it, I had to turn it down because I just don't have the facility or the bread to sit on a memory. Unless your car is something REALLY special (Which it usually isn't on a teenagers salary), you might be better off to part with it.

 

It would be cool to keep it forever, but if you don't have the money to keep it and your not going to do anything to it then it might be time to move on. Now if it was a low mileage Iroc or TA I could see holding on to it for a while longer.

 

I would love to keep it. But i don't want to be that person sitting on a car im doing absolutely nothing with, when someone else could buy it and have fun with it and use it

 

haha exactly. haters lol. I dont wanna be the person wishing to have my car back. but then again i dont wanna be one of those people sitting on a car and doing nothing with it, when someone else could be using it and enjoying it

 

all im sayin is i regret selling my first camaro really bad, it was a 90 RS t top 3.1 and absolutely gorgeous, my SECOND however was a 1985 IROC Z28 5.0 TPI, i sold it and missed it so bad i literaly BOUGHT IT BACK!

 

Its a beat up V6. Let it go. I had a beautiful V6 I let go 10 years ago. It was my first car that my mother bought new, and was the family car for 9 years. Then it was my car for 4 years.

My Z28, IROC and SS have more than made up for the memories of that car. Let it go.

 

I don't know. How badly do you need the 1,500 or what ever relative pittance you'll get for her? Personally, if I didn't badly need the space or cash, I'd keep it. I don't drive my 91 very much - maybe three times a month in summer and not at all in winter - but it's worth keeping just because it's there when I want it, you know?

I'm the opposite of many here. If it was a high dollar car, the temptation to sell for me would be much higher than a car, no disrespect intended, that is worth little more than a good weekend out on the town. It's probably worth a lot more intrinsically to you than the pocket change the market will give you.

 

I would keep it, it was your first car, and you obviously cared for the car very much not to crash it or rag it to the ground like most teenagers would. i saw the pictures and its obviously not in that bad of condition. if your not looking to free up space, or need the money. KEEP IT!

You will always own a car for the rest of your life, but when you look at the firebird you will remember the good times and memories you had with it instead of the memories fading. Its in better hands you owning it than selling it to somebody and next week its being towed away on a hauler because an idiot wrecked it. If the car means nothing to you then by all means sell it, but every third gen ive owned i wish i kept, but 1 blew a motor, i sold the car, and my first car which was a iroc got hit head on by a drunk driver. I still to this day wish i had my first car, but it was scraped so i will never own my first car, but you can.

 

Agree with the above. It really comes down to, as another poster said, space and/or cash. If you have the space for it, and don't need the little coin it would bring, then by all means keep it. I'm in the "kept my first car" boat (13 years now) but I lost my garage in 2008, so for the past four years I've been paying for a storage unit. I'm still a couple years off from buying a house, which means I'll be paying for that unit for a couple more years at least. Other downside to that is that the car is pretty inaccessible; I haven't driven it since I took vacation Memorial weekend (though I will have it out this weekend). But to me, since it's cheap to insure and the garage fee doesn't break me, it's plenty worth it to keep it, knowing at some point I'll have a place for it.

So you have to just ask yourself if the benefits outweigh the negatives; emotional attachment is perfectly fine, as long as it doesn't put you in the poorhouse. If you like it and have the space for it, keep it. If you sell it for $1500, I guarantee when that money is quickly gone you will sorely miss the car, and be left with neither money nor car.

 

Thanks guys. All the insight has been really helpful, from both sides of the drawing board. I think that I will keep it while it suites me, being that its not hurting me financially, and i do still drive it occasionally. However, if the need for money is great enough (say, im going to be kicked out of college if i cant pay my tuition) or if i find someone who i would like to sell it to, I will sell. But for now, im not in a rush.

 

I see you're in Ohio. That Caprice wasn't dark brown was it? With all the performance options?






I also say keep it. I still have my first car, even though it hasn't left the garage in 5 years and may not leave for another 5 or 10 years. I will have that car until I die, but before then, at some point I will enjoy it again and be glad I kept it all those years.

 

If you care about the car, hold on to it. Don't think for a second that anyone that has it after you is going to care about it at all as soon as they have to fix something on it, especially with it being a base V6. Not to mention that it's worth next to nothing, so unless you really need the space, or are dying for an extra $1500 (if that), don't let it go.

I'd give my left nut to have my first car back. It was by far the nicest example left when I traded it, and the next owner had it junked within 2 years.

 

Keep it for at least another year. If you still have doubts after that much time, then it's time for it to go. You'll still have your show car to enjoy.

Otherwise sell the show car and redo your first car. To me that would be a lot more satisfying.

 

I had a E30 325is once that I put a ton into and then sold it for $3,000, because that was all it was worth. Always regreted doing that, even though the car was bleeding me dry on repair costs.

But how much is an '89 V-6 Firebird going to cost to maintain? Very little I'd imagine. If I was in the OP's shoes, I'd probably be looking at unloading the show car and keeping the '89!