BigBadBuford

The past few months I have been contemplating selling the Z and picking up something a bit more practical. I've been throwing the idea around for a while, mostly because I'd like to save some money to buy a house, but lately I have been seriously considering going through with it.

I never thought I would even dream about selling the Z. I followed the car from the concept stage to reality, pre-ordering 10 months before I received the car. However, in the past year I've had to experience the dreaded feathering issue, badly chipping paint, fraying seats and a few other small issues that the local dealerships have been unwilling to fix. Needless to say this has soured my ownership experience. My winter beater took a crap on me in the past few weeks so I've been forced to drive the Z, but with snow on the ground and snow tires nowhere to be found I have been reduced to driving a minivan.

Today I went and drove an Accord EX V6 6 speed and I am very close to making a deal. The local dealership has offered to do an even trade on my Z ($27k) and my insurance would be $128/month lower with the Accord. With performance that is close to a Z and practicality the Z can never hope to match along with saving me money it is a very tempting proposition. Saving money is my biggest priority right now and the Accord would help that out, especially considering my Z is in need of tires and if I do keep it I would end up spending $1200+ having the seats re-done in leather and having the rocker panels repainted, not to mention the added savings of not having to insure and maintain a second car.

The problem I run into is will I regret my decision in the future. Pretty much every older enthusiast I have talked to says never to sell your first new car because you will regret it and I've known a few who spent many thousands of dollars tracking down their first car and restoring it. Plus, I know that right now (23 and single) practicality shouldn't be the first thing on my list when I am looking at a car. I know I will probably get flamed from some of the more hard-core members of the board, but for the members that were in a similar position to me that sold their Zs, do you regret the decision and would you recommend doing it to someone else?

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

Nothing wrong with wanting to buy a house. And certainly nothing wrong with driving an Accord.

If it feels right, go to it.

You can always buy another Zzzz down the road.

ml2316

if you can't have an impractical car at 23 then when can you have an impractical car?? i say trade in for an evo or sti. i think there would be regret associated with a trade in on an accord but not a trade in with these cars. or how about a g35 sedan. that's a pretty good compromise between performance and practicality.

ares

iTrader: (2)

With performance that is close to a Z

you didnt just say that....

howd that movie put it, do what you want to do till its time to do what you have to do.

hopefully later in your life you can come back and have a sports car again. 27k you could try a even trade for an evo, nice mix and should be great in the snow.

BigBadBuford

I know it sounds pretty bad to be thinking about selling the Z in the name of practicality, especially since I am young and don't really have any commitments. The practicality of the car isn't an issue, I have no problem with a 2 seater sports car, but I have been looking to get a house lately and if I kept the Z it would take me another year and a half to pay it off. The Accord isn't too much cheaper, but it saves me on insurance and other things such as tires and I wouldn't need to have a seperate winter car.
I am not too worried about getting another high performance car, I have my '72 Skylark to mess around with which has plenty of performance for me. The EVO and WRX don't really interest me, I'm not too into the whole rally car thing. If you compared the Accord to the Z in a track situation there is no comparison, but the amount of performance that you can use during daily driver situations is pretty close. I was originally thinking of trading the Z for a Civic Hybrid to really save money, but I think I'd probably end up killing myself from boredom if I drove one of those.
I broke the Z out from hibernation last night and drove it for the first time in quite a while and after driving it I am really leaning towards keeping it now, especially if they do issue a fix for the tire feathering. I guess after not driving it for a few months I forgot about how much fun it was to drive, even with roaring tires.

kcobean

iTrader: (2)

When I was younger and in the military, I had a 2nd Gen RX-7 Turbo II. The car was my baby...I loved it. Rain, sleet or snow, it got pulled into the Helo hangar on the weekends for a little TLC. This was my "meditation time"...nobody around, just me and my car. When I got out of the Army at 25 years old, the thought of a $384/mo. car payment and no real source of income was pretty scary so I parted with my 7, and it was the last time I was to drive a sports car for over six years. Since then, I've had a Cadillac, a T-Bird, a Probe, a Mitsu Montero Sport, and while they've all been good cars, I'm a true sports car fanatic at heart....have been ever since I was a kid watching Magnum P.I. driving around in that Ferrari 308 (or was it a 328). Anyway, now, six years later, with the addition of a beautiful wife, a four year old son, and a single-family home on a cul-de-sac, I just paid cash for my Track model Z...Red just like my RX-7. I love my Z, and I'm proud of how hard I worked to get it.

I guess what all my rambling is leading me to say is that it's OK to sell your sports car. If you really love the car and you keep your dream in the back of your head, someday you will own another one. It will be newer faster, and tighter than the one you have now. The separation, the hard work and the planning that you endure now will make that fateful day that you sit down in your new sports car just that much sweeter. Embrace the changes in your life and remember that the road is a long one, and there are sports cars all along the way, just waiting for you to find the right time to pull your Honda over and get in.




Want to C my Z?

Lokix

wow. that was touching.

and BigBadBuford, i'll trade ya a 91 crx straight up. It performs as well as your Z in the stop and go traffic of rush hour. And its great in the snow. good on tires and very good gas milage. i say keep it. ya never now what the future holds and may not get the opertunity again. but then again i'm not a very optimistic person.

MyZ4U2C

Im keeping the Z and getting something more practical.

ares

iTrader: (2)

for real, kcobean can right a good post.

vealti

Go with the house. The sooner you can start owning propety, the better. Not only will the house appreciate, (unlike the Z) if your housing market is like mine, in a few years the type of house and location you are looking at my be out of your price range. I decided to buy a house a few years ago and had to forgo the new car, scale back on vacation, ect. Now I'm at the point where I can start saving money for a car again. In about a year I should be able to get a Z. Then not only will I have a new Z without the tire feathering problems but a nice garage to keep it in!

ml2316

uh so what are you asking us

BigBadBuford

Yeah, that last post was weird.. I guess you can tell I've been going in circles with my decision.. lol.
The housing market around here (and I am sure everywhere else) is getting pretty bad. I'd really like to get a place near where I live now and in the past few years property values have sky rocketed. All the land is being bought by developers and being turned into either townhouses or golf courses. An acre of uncleared land is running for $100k-$250k which ran for $45k about 5 years ago. Plus, I'd really like to get in while the interest rates are still low, I have a feeling it won't be too much longer until they go up too. If there was a definite fix in sight for the tire feathering problems I would most likely stick with it and really scrimp and save to make it work, but right now I can't afford to drop $1k on tires every 5000 miles so it doesn't sound like I am riding in a monster truck.

MA4

if you sell it now, you will lose all of the equity you have put into it, the car will probably be worth atleast 18k, weather you sell it in 2005 or 2008. So hold onto it if you can. You will eventually be earning more money, and if the extra 180$ a month in insurance is the deal breaker...get a second job, or shop around for a better insurance rate. If you are going to be a single guy, you hould have a single guy car, and if you have to ask your dates to pay their own way...they will understand if you are driving a Z rather than diving an accord.

I bought my house two years before I bought my Z, in my area, housing prices are at a record high and my house hasn't appreciated much in the last two years, i think if you wait for all of the 40-50 year olds(baby boomers) to buy up land and build new retirement houses...there will be good deals to have on nice single homes (5-10 years from now housing prices will decline or stay the ame as inflation rises and you will be earning more money, plus your car will be paid off)

Jetpilot718

Go with the Performance, never heard of the Practicality model...

ChadO

It's odd how much our situations are alike; I too am 23, but I just SOLD an Accord EX V6 auto. I had two cars, and one of them simply had to go due to the crazy insurance rates for both. I ended up selling the Honda simply because I was getting horrible appraisals ($24k top for my '03 perf DB 6MT). I also couldn't bare the thought of losing the Z after waiting so long for it, so the Z is now my only car. I will reconsider selling it in the summer when hopefully more people are looking for sports cars.

Good luck to you!

ml2316

if you have money to buy a house now IF you sell the car. and the car is the difference between buying a house or not buying a house, then i'd definitely sell the car. otherwise i would keep. insurance isn't THAT much better on an accord coupe vs 350z is it?

ml2316

[deleted]

BigBadBuford

The insurnace on the Accord is $128/month cheaper. I can get the Accord as a straight trade for the Z, so that won't really get me any further ahead, but the Z currently needs 4 tires and most likely brakes so that is about $1200. Plus, with the Z I will either need to replace my winter beater or buy snow rims/tires for the winter which is another $2000+. I think what it is all going to come down to is if the rumor about a fix for the feathering comes true. I can live with the extra costs if I have a car that is problem free and that I can enjoy driving, but if they aren't willing to fix those issues I'd rather save some money.

ml2316

maybe you should try a different insurance company like progressive or something. i would expect the diff between accord coupe and z at progressive is maybe a few bucks a month.

ares

iTrader: (2)

I was thinkin about that too ML.

are you sure that per month and not per 6months? cause that is a HUGE difference. I dont pay that much per month period! even if you payd 2400 a year(which is a hell of alot) 126$ cheaper would put the accord at like 800$ a year...

Id check into that, I think all of this may be mute cause you wouldnt be saving any money at all.