thinking about selling, your thoughts on regrets?

[Kid]

I was recently approched with a serious request to sell my 51 GMC. Got alot of time invested in building / enjoying it. Now I am flip flopping between letting go & keeping. Has any body else experianced this? If you sold, did you regret it?? or get over it. decisions decisions..

[Sillyoldman]

I have three classics two of which I'll never sell off. Particularly my truck. I've owned it since 1988 or so. I doubt anybody in their right mind would toss much more than they are worth at me.

[Old Truck Man]

.the problem with selling stuff is you soon spend the money. and then you don't have the stuff or the money. That's how I became a hoarder. Very few that I sold do I regret. In order to be able to pay cash or the place where I now live I sold a collection of 55 & 56 fords a 1970 Z28 Camaro. several really good chev PKs. and a lot of rare parts. and I don't regret it one bit. The selling allowed us to buy for cash and keep our old place that we owned since 1976 too. We wanted to move to get away from the dust& mud and wear & tear of a gravel road. and when the river flooded we couldn't leave. and when it snowed even a 4 wheel drive has difficulty. I enjoy living on the paved Highway. If your selling because the money is needed to take care of your loved ones or to purchase something to make life better go ahead and sell. make a list of reasons to sell and a list of reasons to keep. Last year I sold my 69 firebird. Spent the money and didn't really make tangible gain from the selling. I regret that sale. The firebird was increasing in value a little bit more every day.

[NEWFISHER]

I enjoy building them. In most cases there will always be another and i will enjoy building it too. I have a 50 suburban that has been a great rig and have offeres to purchase it. Our family ( wife and dogs) travel together , it shows well, runs well and starts a conversation at every fuel stop. Its for sale too. The price, as much as it would take to have someone else build one exactly like it. I would miss it, but be able to replace it with the same for the price offered.

The other cars and trucks I dont seem to get attached too as much and as long as the offer is high enough for me to buy and invest some wrenching time into the ne t then i go for it. Yes. I always miss them, but i dont have enlugh room to keep them all and again.... i like to wotk on them

[dubds10]

I tend to have no emotional connection to vehicles even though I love all classics, I will sell everything for the right price. If I can sell something and that same day go buy the same vehicle in better condition meaning I'm gaining something I'll do it. It all depends on the price and I'm always watching the market. The only things I regret are when I sell a vehicle cheap and if I held on to it for a bit longer I would've made more $ lol

[topdown99]

I tend to get emotionally attached to my vehicles, but if the money is right... there are lots more pickups out there that need some love before they turn into scrap metal or piles of rust.

plus, since I usually learn a LOT of lessons with each build, each build is better/nicer than the last. Might be an opportunity to find another starting point...

[OrrieG]

Some I regret selling but used the money to buy another I wanted more. Some were just nice to have but the cash was nice too. I've had the 59 since 76 and it will be the one I pack up and leave town in when the time comes to downsize. I like the Chevelle but will probably get it decent and sell it back to the guy I bought it from, he wants it but does not have the time or skills to finish it. That money will be used for the next project. Biggest regret is the 57 210 Sedan and 57 Chevy Shortbed I had when I got drafted in 1970. Sedan was a street racer, truck the DD and tow rig. Liquidated everything because I did not know if I was going to come back and did not want my Dad burdened with it. Ended up staying State side and the guy I sold it to would not sell it back.

[51 okie]

I sold my 51 about a year and a half ago I think. It didn't bother me for about 6 months. I sold it in December. Once it got nice out I started to think about it more. It was what I had always wanted. It was also my first build. It is a super cool ride, looks everywhere you go and just a lot of fun. I sold it to a guy in my area and I have seen it around on occasion. I miss it everyday. Fortunately the buyer has become a friendly acquaintance and we speak now and then. I told him if he ever is going to sell it to please come to me first. I believe he will, some day. He has a lot of different cars and has sent me texts of new toys he's bought and/or is selling. Never mine though, even when I've dropped hints on occasion. I hope when he calls, I have the $$$.

If you love it keep it. If your a on to the next kinda guy no biggie. Just really think about it before you decide. If I could go back, I would without a doubt and keep it. I am looking at and have other projects now but given the chance, I have room in the garage for her.
My take on it.
Good luck.

[Kid]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

.the problem with selling stuff is you soon spend the money. and then you don't have the stuff or the money. That's how I became a hoarder. Very few that I sold do I regret. In order to be able to pay cash or the place where I now live I sold a collection of 55 & 56 fords a 1970 Z28 Camaro. several really good chev PKs. and a lot of rare parts. and I don't regret it one bit. The selling allowed us to buy for cash and keep our old place that we owned since 1976 too. We wanted to move to get away from the dust& mud and wear & tear of a gravel road. and when the river flooded we couldn't leave. and when it snowed even a 4 wheel drive has difficulty. I enjoy living on the paved Highway. If your selling because the money is needed to take care of your loved ones or to purchase something to make life better go ahead and sell. make a list of reasons to sell and a list of reasons to keep. Last year I sold my 69 firebird. Spent the money and didn't really make tangible gain from the selling. I regret that sale. The firebird was increasing in value a little bit more every day.

very well said, thanks

[youngrodder]

Kid-

Your truck has always been one of my all time favorites. I say keep it. Buy another project if you get the urge to wrench. That is what I did when I finshed the 48. If you do decide to part with it really take your time and think it through. Dont get rushed into a decision that you might later regret.

Good luck (btw keep the truck)

Marc

[Dan in Pasadena]

Kid, I've gotta say I truly love your truck. For me it's the color, just right on the mark. So much so I intend to seriously consider duplicating it on my '55.

Personally I'd never sell it, BUT I'm 59 years old. If you're actually a younger guy and have a lifetime of projects left to build, sell it if it helps you get additional tools and supplies to build another good project. Just make sure you don't piss away the money like so many of us have in our pasts. It's how you learn, but remember a smart man learns from his mistakes but a WISE man learns from other men's mistakes! Learn from ours.

Can't wait too see your next project though, even if it's not a truck.

[Lextech]

It depends on the vehicle. If it is something that you settled on but wasn't your first choice there isn't as strong of an attachment to it. If it is the exact year, make, model that you always loved and wanted and was built exactly the way you wanted it then I would say keep it. Life timing is also a factor. If you sell and want to build another---Can you do so without sacrificing family time. If you have kids they need/deserve a lot of time. Also, Money is VERY easy to spend and hard and time consuming to make. If you do sell and want another then you need to lock down that cash and dedicate it to your next build. Just my .02


Jeff

[lv2tri2]

I sold an unfinished 55, short 1/2 ton,20 years ago and it still haunts me.

[MARTINSR]

I regret nothing, we make decisions with the information we have at the time. There are things I wish I hadn't done, yes, but FAR from a "regret". Sure it's easy to see now with all the new information, but without that info I made the "right" decision at the time.

Brian

[dubie]

I've had about a dozen offers to buy my truck since I got it on the road and even came close to pulling the trigger on one of them, but in the end, I just couldn't do it. Mainly because I waited for far to long to get my hands on this exact truck and the dollar figure would have to be WAY more than the truck is worth for someone to pry it from me. But if push came to shove, the truck would be gone tomorrow. Sometimes we don't WANT to sell our toys, but there times when we HAVE to. I've had many vehicles over the past 20 years that I don't even think about anymore and there has only been 1 that I sold that I regretted.

[dante81_98]

I read on the Hamb once a quote from on of the big builders. Ed Roth I think. I don't recall the exact quote, but it was very simple.

There are builders and there are owners and rarely is it the same person.

It actually took me a while to really understand which I was. I love my vehicles, but I realized that I get most of the enjoyment building them. Once they are done I show them for a little bit, get a little bored and then get that itch to be working on something else. In a perfect world I would have enough money to keep them and just get another project, but right now I am not at that place in my life. Since I am not I end up selling off completed projects and starting fresh with something else. So at the end of the day I am a builder, not an owner. Thats not to say that you can't be both, but I have found that at its core you are likely one or the other.

I would also like to say, don't sell it if you aren't ready to. I had lots of offers on my vehicles over the years. I turned them down over and over and then finally got to the point where I was bored with them or just ready to start something else and would only then start considering offers.

I don't know if that helps or not, but it helped me when I read it.

Later,
Chad

[Bone$]

I just looked at your Threads on your truck build. Looking at how much you put into it i have no idea how you can walk away from that truck.
Everything has a price but to sell that it would need to be a stupid crazy price. Even then you cant replace the memories.

I guess if i had a shop and was building trucks for a living i wouldnt get so attached but most of my projects take years and not only do i have memories with them but my wife and kid do also.


KEEP IT AND DRIVE THE HELL OUT OF IT