Handling sentimental attachment when letting go of your current car

I tell myself that I've had my current ride for 7 years and that the second hand market is a seller’s market now

BHPian Abhiram recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello all,

I wanted to understand the process everyone else goes through once they decide to upgrade or switch their cars/bikes. How do you manage to overcome the sentimental attachment to your current vehicle?

Here’s what I go through on a monthly basis:

Step 1: Tell myself that I've had my current ride for 7 years and that the second hand market is a seller’s market now and ergo, the smart and responsible thing to do is to sell now and buy a new car.

Step 2: Start making a shortlist of all the candidates I am interested in.

Step 3: Watch Youtube videos and read Team BHP threads on the cars that I zero in on.

Step 4: Decide on the one.

Step 5: Look up the best dealership.

Step 6: Think of all the sites I can list my current car on before booking a new car.

Step 7: Get all emotional about my current car, see the photos of me bringing it home, arriving at my marriage, trips I've taken etc etc.

Final step: Throw out my plans and promise myself to finally fix that one dent on my car and give her more TLC going forward.

Repeat.

Does anyone else fall into the same loop? How do you break it?

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

I don't get really sentimental about any of my cars, other than the '97 Jeep. Typically use them until they are ~10 years old, and then it's time to switch. Sure, the farewell is painful and there are so many memories attached to your personal car, but more than that, I'm really looking forward to the upgrade .

I typically decide on my next car 2 - 4 years in advance. Easy to do as a pre-worshipped car fan because the model is already on sale and odds are, I've driven it. Yes, I already know what I'm buying next by 2023-24.

Here's what BHPian DicKy had to say on the matter:

If you have stopped giving the car TLC and are doing only basic maintenance, with no plans or daydreaming whatsoever to restore/ deep maintain it, you have already lost half the sentimental attachment for it.

Personally, it is hard to let go. But once you hand over the keys and see it go away or move away from it, a deep sigh or a single tear will suffice. Ofcourse, for a few months your heart may jump whenever you see another car of the exact spec/colour as yours, but once you like and get used to your new car, the lost feeling goes away replaced with warm feelings of nostalgia.

Here's what BHPian ashis89 had to say on the matter:

Buy a replacement first.

Once the new one is in, your attention gravitates to the new car and the old one will have further step motherly treatment. That makes it easy to let go. Been there done that a few times.

PS: Things might be tricky if you have an appetite to hold on to both the cars and you will be tempted to retain the old one as well. Although in such cases, the old one mostly remains under utilized.

PPS: I still miss my old rides and sometimes feel "What if I had not sold it?". But the rides are gone and hence, these thoughts subside soon.

Here's what BHPian anjan_c2007 had to say on the matter:

For me there's no letting go. It has always been a one way traffic. Enter into the spider web of my ownership list. You are cared for, parked well driven regularly, maintained well and papers are kept upto date. There's no question of parting company with any of these.

Someone asks me to lend for a few days and I say NO because this one is my heart, there that's my one lung, that one there my second lung, there this is my kidney and this one's my liver, that's my one eye, this one's my second eye and that one's engine sound is music to my left ear while that one's engine sound is music to my right ear. That perhaps describes each machine I own.

No car or two wheeler has ever been sold by me right from the time I bought my first two wheels, a TVS-50 in 1983. All my two and four wheelers have threads and are documented on Team BHP.

The oldest in my garage is a 1955 car, while the newest one as of now is from 2009. Archaic by the standards of many fellow BHPians.

Here's what BHPian RunGaDa had to say on the matter:

May be first time it’s hard. It’s only better to not emotionally associate with vehicles. I had emotional attachment with my first car. But I was completely okay at the time of selling it. I knew I have to move on.
Just think of the best moments, focus your attention on new targets. Close the chapter.

Life goes on. Nothing lasts forever.

Cheers!

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