[ashwin489]

Originally Posted by harishpr

Folks like you having 4 cars for self should be taxed heavily!!!

Someone without a bicycle may think that you should be taxed heavily for owing a single car! It's all subjective.

People who usually call for other people to be taxed heavily need to do a thorough self-examination first.

[Jimmyjosek]

Circa 1991. My college days in SH college, Thevara. RD 350 (KLB 1117, modified at Down Town Works, Bangalore and then at Alwarpet Bhai, Chennai) and Gypsy TN-04 3360. Those were the days. You guys can imagine what sort of blast I used to have during my days in the college!

[Samurai]

Came across an old photograph of my 2000 model Acura 3.2TL buried under snow. It was only a month old then.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Selling a car is emotionally a very draining experience. You feel devastated yet you have to move on. It is all the more so if it is a long and happy association. I am not too sure if there is an exclusive thread on the subject. If there is one please merge it with that (I couldn't find one). If not please add your own stories about the vehicle you have just parted ways with.

Just the other day, I said good bye to my almost ten year old friend the Maruti Esteem (which explains my handle on team-bhp, in fact). It had served me very loyally for 1.30 lakh kilometer without any major break down on the road. It was very much a part of our small family.
My first long drive with it was to the Dalma Hills near Jamshedpur in the summer of 2006. This was followed by trips to Araku Valley, Darjeeling, Bhutan and Rajasthan, not to speak of numerous trips to various other destinations near Calcutta.
It was an emotional moment to part ways with the car that was my steed for such a long time. Literally no one had ever driven it except me, a few chauffeurs at valet parkings and of course my mechanic Shyamal of Machino Techno.
I had to part ways with it because a. Maruti has stopped its production and getting spares is increasingly becoming more and more difficult b. road tax of Rs 35k would be due soon. The West Bengal government, pauper that it is, extorts money from honest road tax payers in the form of 5-year taxes. c. it needed extensive body work if it had to be kept for a long time. I realised keeping it would be a very expensive proposition.
The engine was butter smooth though.
My daughter was in tears when I told her the car had actually been taken away by the new buyer.
Here is a photograph of our family of four at Kumbhalgarh Forest Rest House in 2011 with the caretaker.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Selling a car is emotionally a very draining experience.

How true.

Yet, men will be men, and refuse to display their emotions when parting with a cherished possession, especially something as valuable and enjoyable as a car!

An interesting thread indeed. Most folks sign off a goodbye at the end of their ownership threads, and this thread should help bring together all those comments here. Such as, when I sold my Accent Viva CRDi i 2009, this is what I wrote:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

46 k km is when you've just got addicted to the car . The next 54,000km would actually let you get emotionally attached to the vehicle.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Despite the euphoria of getting a new car, one corner of my mind is in mourning. I was emotionally a little attached to that car, but then the old sometimes have to make way for the new. Never before could I have imagined that a 3-pot engine can be so much fun.

I'd also request moderators to move this thread from Shifting Gears to Street Experiences. After all, selling one's car is an experience in itself, and many stories, good and bad, lie scattered all over the forum.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

That's very true SS that you get emotionally attached to the car towards the second half of your ownership experience. When I sold my Zen in December 2005 I almost broke down :-) My daughter, then less than 3, cried a lot for it and my wife was glum for a few weeks perhaps.

[mr_hardcore]

"Selling a car is emotionally a very draining experience. You feel devastated yet you have to move on."
Couldn't have agreed more, it is almost getting powerless for a moment. I recently sold of my beloved swift vxi, which took the plunge of carrying me for 100K kilometers in three years . Here is one pic of her when she completed the milestone.



She too got upset with the new owner who did this to her (though not his fault, she was rear ended)



Anways, life moves on, so does the garage. The swift made space for a bright & candy 1.5 TDI Polo highline, which is the new eye candy for me. Few pics of her too:

[dar3dev|l]

As they say you can never forget your first love, and I agree.

Had to give up on my beautiful i10 due to me moving out of country and althou i am now driving the 1 series, I still cannot forget my i10 :(

Thankfully, the new owner is keeping her well !

Here's the last pic which I took while the new owner took possession !

[Vishyvish]

Hey, changing cars is emotional for some; and yeah it was for me too.
The change seems inevitable when you start hearing the rattles, or when you see those young ones around, and the mind gets into a frenzy. Being grounded by the other sense, which controls your life; you may wish you could had the options for that too!!
That's human nature...
When I sold my first car it was like a a part of the family being given away, however no such feelings thereafter, as the mind gets tuned to such afflictions. It could be indeed draining, when you part with something that's been with you for long, but you just need to get used to it. Attachment to anything is indeed dangerous!!!

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Selling a car is emotionally a very draining experience. You feel devastated yet you have to move on. It is all the more so if it is a long and happy association.

So true, Sudipto.

We had to replace our Ambassador due to some unavoidable circumstance (though still I think we shouldn't have sold her) and it was a very painful decision for me and my dad. We sold her (with me silently promising her that I will buy her back one day) and I used to trace the car every time I used to go to Kerala after that.

The guy who brought the car from us could not keep her well, so it was sold again and to our great relief, the car was brought by the same workshop owner where we used to service her.She was a happy camper under his ownership and I was also happy that the she was in good hands.

Unfortunately, he had to sell her again and that was when I decided I should seriously think about buying her back. The then owner who brought her never visited the same workshop, so I could not get updates, but a mutual contact said she is running fine and is visiting another workshop for all the jobs.

After few months, I was in a position to buy back here and I went to the workshop to help me to trace the owner so that we can buy her back - that is when the tragic news hit us. The owner scrapped her.

Poor soul was scrapped and sold piece metal, the car which we took such pains to keep in top condition, the car which took us to lot of places, a member of our family - scrapped and sold piece metal. I can't still think about her without shedding tears.

--Anoop

[saket77]

Wondering how this topic missed our thoughts for so long! Great thread & well written Sudipto Sir! Indeed selling your car is an emotionally draining experience. I was 21 when we sold our Fiat 1100 D and I almost cried like a baby in the washroom. I couldn't stop my tears when the new owner was driving away my BRB-101. For me, the 'BRB' always meant 'be right back'; but not this time. It was last I saw her. I learnt driving on this car and it took us to so many places. It was far from being perfect but still.

We had to part with it since it had to make way for the Zen. In fact, we kept both for quite some time but then parking issues forced us to part with it. I was at least glad to hear when the new owner told us a few days later that he went on a long family trip with her with no issues at all.

Years have passed. In fact over a decade. But some things do not change. And even today I do not have the spine to part with my 13 year old Zen. She has been ultra reliable and has rarely asked for stuff more than oil & fuel. Plus, I think she likes my company.

[Swapnil_Alto]

Thank You for creating this thread Sudipto Sir, this was indeed needed. Selling a car for some of us is surely a very emotional experience. I was 7 when dad sold our Premiere Padmini. It was a second hand car when my dad bought it. We didn't have any car before this. In 1995, when I was born, my dad brought this Premiere Padmini home. We used to call it 'Fiat'. It took us to many places and I definitely enjoyed it's company. I remember, once I rolled down the front passenger side window too much and the window went down inside the door panel . Dad had to take the fiat to a mechanic to get it fixed. Had many memories with it. With all these beautiful memories, it started giving us problems everyday. Some issue or the other would crop up everyday. Dad was about to sell it. I was quite sad back then after hearing about it. And I remember it clearly, I was returning from school one day and I see that our garage's gate was open, and my fiat was not there. I realised what has happened. I rushed towards my house having tears in my eyes and I see my Grandfather standing on the balcony, I could see the sadness on his face. When dad returned from office, I remember shouting on him for selling the fiat. We had many memories with it. It was sold to a relative thankfully, who could take care of her. It was 2002 when we sold her. Whenever I used to visit their house, I made sure to see our beloved fiat. It was 2013 when I got to hear that the relative has scrapped our fiat and got a Tata Nano for himself :banghead: . I kept mum for nearly a week when I heard this. It's registration no was BPN-868.
And now, it has been nearly 11yrs since we have our Maruti Suzuki Alto with us and I'm adamant enough to make sure that dad doesn't sell our Alto. This Alto has hit the sweet spot which no other Car can. I consider the Alto as a family member and it has been growing up with me. It was 2004 when dad bought the Alto, I was 9 back then. And look, I'm 20 now and it has never disappointed us. My handle name itself shows my love for the Alto.


A pic of my 'fiat'

[Sudipto-S-Team]

It's nice to see that so many fellow bhp-ans echo my sentiment about their old cars. Even I am surprised that no one had thought about this subject before :-)
It is difficult to individually thank everyone (for the life of me, I cannot find the thank you button and don't understand how people thank others on the thread). But I loved each of the stories you wrote. Swapnil is barely older than my daughter and I can understand his sentiment more.
But all said and done, selling a car under duress (when it starts breaking down every time you take it out) is worse than selling it well before the end of its productive life. However, I make sure that a. I don't sell it to someone I know intimately. b. To my potential buyer I would explain all the problem areas of the car before the sale, so that he cannot blame me for anything negative that he discovers later.

[IPathan]

Excitement was at its peak while giving the booking amount cheque for my new i20, once out of the showroom I looked at my Alto and suddenly my smile was gone - while driving home flashbacks/thoughts/concerns started hitting me, flashback of taking delivery of my beloved Alto, numerous impromptu drives to Goa/Mahabaleshwar/Lonavala/Alibaug etc, playing rickshaw-walla every day to work in Mumbai peak traffic, will the new owner take care the same way i did ? (6Yrs and 70,000Km, driven only by me, serviced only at Maruti). Then came the big question - Can I still keep it as a second car ? Heart Vs Mind fought - Mind Won :-(

Posting the last day pic.

[ventoman]

Originally Posted by ventoman

After 4 years of wonderful experiences and ever lasting memories, I sold off my Vento via TBhp classifieds yesterday. The only reason for me to sell the vehicle was the need for an automatic.

Hence this thread's life comes to an end. Hopefully I should be starting a new thread on my next car shortly.

I wish all the very best for the next owner of my brilliant car.

...These were my parting lines. Took one emotional send off shot as seen below. Took me few weeks to recover from that sale.