Lack of use - time to sell?

While I was using the Coupe every day, I was worried about the adverse effects it was having (on the car and my wallet). 30,000 miles a year was taking its toll on both.

So - in 2013, I bought an Alfa GT for the daily commute and relegated the Coupe to a weekend toy.

However, it hasn't panned out that way, as most weekends, I can't be bothered to extract the Coupe from the garage. This no makes me wonder if lack of use can be detrimental.

I had to use it last week while the GT was in for a suspension refresh - when I filled it up, I entered the fill-up on Fuelly.com and discovered that the last time I filled it up was July 2017. Prior to that, it was March - those were the only two fill-ups it had last year....

It had four fill-ups in 2016 and a positively giddy 12 in 2015 (mostly caused by taking it to LeMans)

I now find myself thinking the unthinkable - is it time to sell it to someone that will use it?

Not if you don't have to Nigel.

I ask myself the same question having had the Cerbera for 10 years and have only done 25k in that time. Then I take it out, everything clicks again and I feel filthy for even thinking of selling it.

I keep having these thoughts too, I never needed the car was just a toy but I seem to have less and less time nowadays, don’t know why just feel that way
Anyway I’m tempted to get it mot’d in may and advertise to see what happens, not going to give it away insurance runs out in October so I have till then to decide to keep it for another year or not
My biggest issue has always been I hate parking in public car parks and struggle with this, I know that’s probably a bit extreme but that’s the way I am!
I want another fast car but probably a bit more modern and probably not as tidy so I can be a bit more at ease!

Tough choice but I’m sure you will decide what’s right for you and then stick to it!

Horrible choice for you Nigel.

Torn between "I love my/any coupe" and "is it time to move on" , "is it taking up valuable space", "would someone else derive more frequent enjoyment from it", or "can I afford to keep it if it's not being driven"....

Really don't envy you.











Keep it

If it's in the garage and on SORN, then it's easy enough to leave it there. No different to any other classic car, just might need to re-commission it after a long lay up.

It's a slippery slope. Sell Coupe.... realise that you want something sensible, suddenly you are wearing tartan golfing trousers, have a timeshare in Torremolinos and begin cutting the crusts off your triangular sandwiches.

Or, sell it. And relax.

There is life after a Coupe... but even with a 911 and a GTV I still find myself on here and occasionally looking on eBay at Broomies. As an ex-long term Coupe owner I can testify it gets into your bones and soul. What an under appreciated automotive gem.

To your dilemma, I think I'd sell and then have all of the fun, excitement and blood, sweat and tears of coming back in a few years time.

The problem is that when I drive it, I really enjoy it. It still feels ballistic to drive and the handling is sublime, even in the wet and on 4 year old Toyos

One possible solution is to upgrade the suspension (Gaz Gold?), stick some trackday tyres on it and go and have some fun with it.

I considered spending some money to bring the bodywork up to near-concours level, but I'm not sure its worth it on such a modified car. The Coupes that are fetching the big bucks are the near-standard examples. I'm pretty sure mine would sell, but only to another Coupe enthusiast who is looking for a properly modded Coupe - I can't see it selling to someone that wants to preserve it.

Keep the Coupe. You may not find another as good in the future.

That would certainly be my recommendation and is pretty much what I have my Coupe for. Haven't done a trackday for a while because competing against the clock adds another level of interest so I'll stick with hillclimbing for now. If using for competition you do have to consider regs and classes you can fit it with modifications that are and aren't allowed of course.

It's like a relationship that needs a bit of a kick-start! I'd keep it as it is. Buy it some new shoes (AD08R ) and go on a dirty weekend together

Once or twice a year, take it on a decent road trip. Plan a route based on one of those 'UK's best driving roads' articles and take her for a blast over a long weekend.

Take a camera and get some nice shots of it etc.

Hi Andy

Where can I find the current MSA sprinting regs? (EDIT - found them - having a read now...)

I wouldn't mind another try - I used to sprint my Honda CRX at Curborough and rather enjoyed it

I'm pretty sure my mods would put me in a fairly elevated class though - up against some big-engined RWD and 4WD modified stuff

Be a shame to see you sell up Nigel.

To me and I'm sure plenty of other people who've had them on this forum your modding and experimentation and ultimate success at various events was the blueprint for most of us to aspire to, and very few of us matched it.

You're the Godfather of Coupé modding and it'll be a sad day indeed when you throw in the towel, almost a "turn the lights off, we're finished here" type of scenario.

I miss my Plus every day even though I've had some capable, more refined machinery since. The essence of a Coupé is irreplaceable imo, despite there being many "better" cars out there.

Hmmm - I would be classed in Modified Series Production and in the over 2 litre class - at Curborough, I would be up against some wild stuff like a 911 and a Viper

Oh damn - I've gone from thinking about selling to getting into Motorsport

I manage to keep mine in the Road Modified class at Harewood but it can vary by venue. I do have to keep interior (except carpets) but can make quite a few mods. Harewood separated out 2wd and 4wd in road modified a couple of years ago which does at least mean the Coupe is vaguely competitive, although in my case the driver doesn't seem to be!

Go for it, you know it is the right way to use your Coupe.

This is a similar position to myself, other than I plan to replace the Coupe with a newer toy. I am a little relieved that it hasn’t sold as I am attached but I do worry that if I do get a great deal on a replacement I will just want it gone! I do still harbour a thought to hide it away somewhere for a few years though.

I think the question you have to ask yourselves is,do you need the money that the coupe sells for to buy the next toy?

If the answer is no then based on the fact that you are attached to the coupe emotionally then keep it. The looking after it would be a labour of love and if you lose the love one day then sell it.

If I had a house with a bigger (Double) garage there would be no pressure to sell the Coupé. Any house move would most certainly get me the space but the costs involved would also most certainly end the RS dream

At the moment I'm happy with my current Audi's and unwilling to stump up the 60K to get my preferred RS spec, so the Coupé can sit there loved, but sadly under used.

That said, with my savings slowly increasing and some pre-registered RS's being close to the spec I would like, at a price I would be happy to pay the pressure to shift the Coupé is always there

I rent a pair of garages around the corner, the rent used to be around a tenner a week each but has steadily increased over the years. I originally rented just one garage to keep my old Spider in rather than sell it, but after 10 years in which the car has gone virtually nowhere, the amount I have spent on the garage exceeds the value of the car as it was 10 years ago, but the value has also increased so I don't feel so bad.

So, is it time to sell? No! It's time to find a garage

Depends what you class as big Bucks... Nismos car sold for good money and that was heavily modified and in mint condition

If the car is mint it takes very little to remove the mods rather than the other way round. just my 50p

Glad I'm not alone with this one, I end up driving my old beat up Boxer van everywhere. The worry of rain or salt on the road,as my last one rusted badly makes me think I should sell.
No she's a garage Queen and not rusty so I'm keeping her.
A visit to Leighton for a stage two this year as well I think.

update - I've put another nail in the coffin of keeping the Coupe....

I've gone and bought a Westfield - 170-ish bhp and a great spec - its huge fun to drive and I'm already finding that I'm wanting to tweak and improve it.

This was what I had with the Coupe while I was developing the power and handling, but now its "finished" I've kinda lost interest

I drove the Coupe to work this morning and as usual, it is stupidly fast when the mood takes me. This is part of the problem - to get my kicks out of the Coupe, I'm travelling at speeds that would see me in court, or even worse, in prison.

I'm off to the Kit Car show at Stoneleigh this weekend and I have a feeling my new-found interest in tinkering is going to mean that I'm putting an ad together for the Coupe

I just know that I'm going to regret it afterwards, but I'm struggling to see when the Coupe is going to get used - part of me is thinking that it needs to be owned by someone who will carry on with the development (and money) I've thrown at it for the last few years

I totally understand where you are at Nigel as I feel I’m at exactly the same place

I love tinkering and improving and have done a lot with my car and thoroughly enjoyed doing it too, I’m also leaving it as a good example and a nice spec too not as much power as yours but certainly enough
I’m just waiting for the booked service then will put it on the market to see what happens!
My biggest difficulty is trying to make sense of the market price as unlike houses you cannot see the actual sold for price
Times are definitely a lot better for selling than a few years back so will see how it goes
Have you decided on a price range yet Nigel?

I really want to go back to a scrapper that I don’t care about as I’m currently to anal about parking in a public car park due to how thoughtless and ignorant most people are! I’m sure there is a moan somewhere on this forum about that with myself expressing dislike of people with the occasional support of Theresa too

Good luck with the sale!

The Westfield is probably an even better base for a hillclimb/trackday toy than the Coupe, although also probably very easy to end up spending a lot of time/money on upgrades. Enjoy it!
Actually, as a way to justify both get a towbar for the Coupe and use it to tow the Westfield to tracks

Great idea a a tow car!

I have the Alfa GT as my daily hack - it has huge mileage (243k) but has been amazingly reliable, extremely practical, very comfortable, decently stylish - everything I need in a daily driver. Its almost worthless, so I'm not worried about taking or parking it anywhere. Basically, I have a car I'm more than happy to use for 95% of the time and I'm just filling the 5% gap with an entertaining toy.

Even when I only had the Coupe as the fun car, it wasn't getting used very much and now that I have the Westie, its going to get even less use.

Add into this the fact that I don't have room for three cars (Coupe is being parked on my son's front garden - not a great idea), and I think its time to let it go

Price is the big issue. As a low-ish mileage Plus in a good colour and a great history, it was always going to be £7,500+. However, with over £20k of tuning and chassis mods giving supercar-embarrassing performance, the price is anyone's guess.

I'll ponder.....

Sounds like an advert there Nigel,

Mind already subconsciously made up?

Shame to see and hear several taking the same view already this year.

It really is about using and enjoying them - to justify keeping them. As its not an easy or cheap decision at times.

But that 5 cylinder burble....

Regards

MM

50% there, I reckon....

100% supported

Sad times seeing long time coupe owners selling thier beloved coupes through lack of use etc.

Nigel,do you think that you might have to break the coupe or put it back to standard to get some sort of investment back?

There’s no way this car is being broken for its tuning bits - it is far too well resolved for that - everything works so well together that it would be a crying shame to split it.

I know I won’t get my money back, but if I decide to sell, I’ll set a price that I think it’s worth, and if I don’t get it, I’ll keep it.

That said, whatever the price might be, it will be one of the cheapest ways of going over 180mph or from 0-100 in less than 10 seconds

When you go to Stoneleigh, ask if anyone's put a coupe engine into a Westie... the Quantum lot know about coupe engines

I am much the same Dave. Despite a big driveway i'm a bit overreached with cars at the moment so rent a couple of garages. 140 quid a month aint cheap.....
And crazy seeing as i also rent a large warehouse (most of which i have sublet on a long-term agreement - fruatrating.....).
Need more storage space!!

The ad has been submitted to the Mods for approval....

I may wake up and change my mind, but I think my time with a Coupe is coming to an end

Quick question - how many of the original forum members are still on the forum AND still driving a Coupe? DaveG has just posted above, Begbie shows his face every now and then and I believe our illustrious co-founder, Kayjey still has a Coupe, but I'm struggling to think of any more

Sad days...

I've been on the forum for many years. Still driving the Coupe daily - it's 20 years old this month.
Just read the rest of the thread and I fear the problem is the curse of the weekend car - if you don't need to drive it, it's hard to justify the tax, MOT and cost of keeping it.

I've had my Coupe for 15 years now, been on the forum all that time (and for a few months before) but not one of the original forum members. I was one of the very first to re-register after the forum crash - number 11 apparently!

Sad to see the decision you have taken Nigel, but I do understand it. I've got work to do on mine at the moment to keep it on the road but with what I spent over the last couple of years it has to be done, the main reason for some of what needs doing is lack of use I suspect. Not in any way suggesting yours would need the work mine does.

Nigel you are where I was a year ago. Had my Coupe since 2003, always been the 2nd car, nearly chopped it in numerous times but worth nothing so kept but lost interest. All was fine until it lost it's space in my garage to kids bikes and other crap. Then it was sat on the drive for years getting baked in the sun and the bonnet paint had blown. Then we said right, either we get rid or spend money and start using the bloody thing as I'm fed up of tripping over it. So we've thrown about £4k at it for a front end respray. I invested some time on it and now it's all good and I'm SO GLAD WE KEPT IT! I love it when it catches peoples eye in traffic and they're trying to work out what the hell it is. No badge on the back and the old Fiat badge on the front confuses many. My main drive is an E Class cabriolet but if I had to choose, that would go tomorrow. Although just a humble working mans Ferrari, the Coupe I feel is quite well made and was designed with passion for aesthetics over logic. When you turn the map pocket inside out on the back of the leather seat you can see it's full grain leather not some faux crap like on my 45k Merc. We all have our own reasons but in short.... Nigel don't do it!

Difficult one. I have had mine from new in early '97 and it has been my winter car plus usual work car for over 21 years. It is nearly unique here and so does not feel old, as few know what it is or how old it is. It still turns heads and it still feels like a nice place to be in.

Mechanically it is very good, but, it is getting rusty, even though it looks fairly good at 7m. It needs some work now (serious money at German prices). Add to that my wife not being able to make up her mind what she wants to drive. We have a nearly new Tucson that she already wants to swap for something small. I take the Tucson as my daily, she gets a new "something small" and the FIAT is out of a job as I have an XKR and an S-Type, which are not rusty, for summer days.

Up side is that my son gets the FIAT and we can investigate getting the rust and the paintwork sorted. However, there is the chance that said son might damage it ...

Going but not gone yet, and maybe won't be far away. However swapping cars around the drive reminds me too much of Butterflies

Yes they still are a nice place to be inside of. I like that its basic compared to modern cars too. They have just what you need, and nothing you don't. I've spend many hours on mine recently stripping out the whole interior for chassis work and like that the car is properly bolted together. Not may nasty little plastic clips but allen bolts and screws, old school! Hence my 20 year old Coupe has less squeaks ans rattled than my 8 year old Merc! Still drives nice to and i was pleasantly surprised to find that since a set of new tyres it now points straight and true and ans has greatly improved the comfort of the drive. Ever more draw to that rather than the boring Merc!

I remember someone saying on here years ago "The more power you have the less often you can use it" and I think that's right, certainly for a road car. I had a ride in the famous 500bhp coupe and (resale value aside) I wouldn't swap it for my own coupe.

As for the old forum members, I'm still here but not in the same coupe I bought back in '99. Paul is also still here and still has his original coupe from '97/98 but it's been off road in bits for years.

I have had mine off the road for a number of years, it hasnt been used in recent years due to having a baby, but now she is coming to an age where by she will be able to go in the back in a forward facing seat, the prospect of getting some use out of a car that has many happy memories (and plenty of bad ones) has inspired me to wash the cobwebs away and get some use out of her.
For someone who sells cars for a living, I rarely sell my own... you never know, one day it might come in handy!

I'll be interested to see if yours sells and for how much.
My coop is similar in that it's a high-power Moonie Plus.

I've been on here since 2003 but don't post very often. Had a sprinty for about ten years as a daily. The current Plus is a second car.

We all move on, times a change and it can be quite refreshing. I suspect it will hurt a lot to sell but its nice to have a new direction.
As you say, i don't think there are many of the old guard left with their cars now.

I'm on the forum most days during the week, just don't post as much as far too busy working, whereas previous jobs, I had a lot of free time, so would be casually spent on the internet most of the day

My coupe has been sorn since Sept 2016 and last time I drove it was Dec 2016 when I moved, otherwise, it's sat on the driveway reminding me every day that I need to do things to it, but paying for the wedding took priority over other things, as well as the wife being out of work for nearly 5 months now.

Inheritance came through, which has allowed me to clear debts, but the rest of that is ear marked for a deposit on a house. I then got a 9% bonus from work, so am looking at getting it into a body shop to get things sorted on it, then I might start to like the car again. Doesn't help that I bought a MK3 Mazda MX-5 1.8 as the Nismo RS Juke went back to the leasing company and I've been enjoying that and thinking what mods I can do to it

What was your take on the duke?
I looked at the nismo version and took a few out on test drives. Great place to be, great kit, but found the power and drive wanting for quite a bit.

Juke was a fine place to be. We only spec'd it with the electronic / entertainment pack, so you had auto lights, auto wipers, rear parking camera, lane detection etc.. Didn't bother with the Recaro seats, a little too snug. It drove fine and always left it in Sport mode and it still gave 35MPG. If you wound the revs up, you'd have boost early, then it would kick more from about 3500rpm till about 6000rpm (only in sport, eco or normal mode was pants :D). LSD on it was odd, if you nailed it into a corner, it would kick in, but when you came out of the corner, you'd be fighting the steering wheel to get straight again

My coupe had only came out the garage for a mot last year.

Im lucky to have the space to keep her dry stored but often think whats the point.

Always other priorities than cars atm so coupe stays where she is.

Im currently in an 82bhp DS3. Nice place to be actually but functional which is exactly what i need atm, which the coupe isnt.

Great reference, not sure many will get it but I know just what you mean and often have the same thought!

I like your DS, wish it was yellow! something to be said about a time and a place, are you really in love with them still, or is it more a case that its low millage and could be a real clean example.....

Ahem. Not just still driving a coupe, still driving the same one!

Ah, how could I possibly forget the famous forum barnacle?......

And for many years Begbie just had a "Brick"

Wasn't Lashes someone from the early days?

I was a late bloomer... On the Forum from 2003 Coupé bought April 2004.

Sad to see you selling up Nigel, though I have to say, not as sad as when your Sprinty departed this world

Hand's up-old enough to get the reference I am afraid.
:-)

Thee and me both...

I’m old enough to have driven a Butterflies replica Mini....

I've been 'ere since late 2004 I think, got my first Coupe in December 2004 and second in 2013... and it's still conveying me to work.

Tempus fugit

The main thing which would make me sell would be lack of space (like other people). Maybe if I empty the garage I could get another (don't tell the Mrs).

I´ve been here since 2006, and then i had a Coupe that was my daily drive, and now i still have the same Coupe as the daily drive and because it as been so amazing, and last year i bought another one for my weekend drives (when it´s sun

Many times i think i should sell the Coupe and buy something more modern, but the true is the Coupe is so cheap to run, and in more then 10 years, it as been so reliable, never had a big problem, just normal maintenance, and normal things of the Coupe, like the thermostat or the original cracked manifold (then i bought a late one from you Nigel that never cracked again ),my 97 20VT Coupe still as the original Turbo working perfect.

So the true is that i love driving this car, and i really like driving something completly different, that most people don´t know what it is, the only downside for me is the Mpg sucks.

So Nigel don´t sell it your amazing and unique Coupe, you will never find another one like yours.

I must have signed up either late 2003 or early 2004 as I bought the coop in July 2004. I still have the same car but it recently went SORN so I guess that counts me out!

Good to see a few of the old regulars have posted on here (I joined 02 but flogged my second one 10 years ago - and it was Nigel who confirmed it was a goner last year!)

Nige, you not being a Coupe owner will be a seminal moment. I think my enduring image of Coops will be you on the handling circuit at Elvington.

Still got mine Nigel ...

Will never get rid.... already thinking about air ride...sick of hard suspension nowadays lol