*Embarrassed* So ummm, anyone ever cry saying goodbye to a car?

[branv]

We've had my Pepe since 2000. She was a beautiful silver Civic, my first new car. We were SO young and broke when we bought her. She's carried us through our wedding, five moves (3 cities), to a million good memories, and some really sad ones. She never once left us stranded away from home. Never even needed a real repair for ten years. But here I was, older 30's, driving a teeny-tiny car with no ABS, only front air bags, that just kept having things go wrong.

I feel like I took my sweet girl out behind the barn and shot her because she was lame!

We traded her in for a pretty new CRV, but as we handed over the keys to Pepe, I teared up. And as they drove her away, I wept openly.

The salesman looked veeeeery uncomfortable. I squeaked out, "I really am happy about the new car." DH just explained, "She's pregnant." Little liar. Because I know for a fact he teared up too. He was just better at hiding it

I just want to know: am I the only crazy person who cries over inanimate objects?

 

[CindysGusGus]

You are not alone...I have a 96 eclipse in my driveway that has not been driven in 2 years..needs new tires and yet another engine..needs paint badly....I cannot let her go just yet.

 

[erincon23]

There's nothing wrong with that! I sold my favorite car to my brother at one point, so I had "visitation rights" for enough time to get through it.

When DS20 was maybe 4 or 5, we traded our first mini-van in for a new one. He was with us when we picked the new one up and left the old one at the dealership. I don't know what his little mind really understood about the whole thing, but when we were driving home, enjoying the new (and much upgraded) mini-van, I looked back and he was quietly crying -- he hadn't quite realized that we were leaving the old car there, and was very sad about it.

 

[lorimay]

OMG!!!
No you are not!!!

We traded in my Volvo XC90 for a new XC60 in October.
I loved that car, it was my first "Dream" car, I longed to own one for a few years and when my husband bought it for me I was thrilled.

We decided to look and ended up buying all in the same night. So I had to drive home to get the title for the trade in and I actually shed a few tears on the way.

I never said anything to my husband about it because he would have thought I lost my marbles. This is the first I am talking about it. LOL

I took about 10 pictures of the car before we left.
They ended up selling it on the lot because it was in good shape. I am still curious as to who was lucky enough to be the new owner!!!

 

[Tink888]

We've had my Pepe since 2000. She was a beautiful silver Civic, my first new car. We were SO young and broke when we bought her. She's carried us through our wedding, five moves (3 cities), to a million good memories, and some really sad ones. She never once left us stranded away from home. Never even needed a real repair for ten years. But here I was, older 30's, driving a teeny-tiny car with no ABS, only front air bags, that just kept having things go wrong.

I feel like I took my sweet girl out behind the barn and shot her because she was lame!

We traded her in for a pretty new CRV, but as we handed over the keys to Pepe, I teared up. And as they drove her away, I wept openly.

The salesman looked veeeeery uncomfortable. I squeaked out, "I really am happy about the new car." DH just explained, "She's pregnant." Little liar. Because I know for a fact he teared up too. He was just better at hiding it

I just want to know: am I the only crazy person who cries over inanimate objects?

Nope. I was sad when we got rid of our mini-van this past summer. My kids grew up with that van and it was a great vehicle. Lots of memories tied up with it. I took a picture of it at the dealership before we left.

 

[acourtwdw]

Nope you are not the only one. In 2010 when I traded my 2002 Billy Blazer for my Equinox as Billy was just needing repair after repair, I cried in the dealers parking lot for 5 minutes before composing myself. I still miss that car everyday.

 

[englishteacha]

I cried when we sold our ancient pop up camper. We bought it from my parents (it's the camper I grew up traveling in), but it got to the point where it needed more work than we could do ourselves. I miss it!

 

[trip]

Nope. We keep our cars so long we are just happy they are willing take them away!

 

[antmaril]

You are not alone. I have a good friend who is 62 years old. Her first car was a yellow VW Beetle. She named it "Buttercup". She had that car until it just couldn't drive another mile. I want to say 20 years at least. She cried like a baby when she had to finally let it go and buy another car, which was a yellow VW Bug. Of course, she had no attachment to the new car, nor has she cared one bit about any car she has had since Buttercup. She says she doesn't care what she drives because there is no other than Buttercup. Quite honestly, I don't get it, but you are definitely not the only one!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I know how you feel. I felt that way about my '03 Jeep Liberty. I teared up when I sold her. She was my first "dream car" (I got all the upgrades), the first car I kept long after paying it off, and had been through so much with me. When I lost my job I remembered thinking if things got too bad I would always have Jezebel the Jeep because she was paid for and they couldn't take that from me. I only got rid of her because the transmission was going bad and it was out of warranty. I still miss that Jeep every day. The car I drove in her place didn't stay with me very long before I went back to an SUV. I would have gotten another Jeep, but they don't have one that has the features I want AND good fuel economy. Hopefully since my new SUV will be the one we bring our child home from the hospital in, I will form an attachment with it as well so I keep it until the wheels fall off.

 

[DISshopkeeper]

There's nothing wrong with that! I sold my favorite car to my brother at one point, so I had "visitation rights" for enough time to get through it.

When DS20 was maybe 4 or 5, we traded our first mini-van in for a new one. He was with us when we picked the new one up and left the old one at the dealership. I don't know what his little mind really understood about the whole thing, but when we were driving home, enjoying the new (and much upgraded) mini-van, I looked back and he was quietly crying -- he hadn't quite realized that we were leaving the old car there, and was very sad about it.

that's adorable!!!

I was sad to give up a Toyota pickup years ago. Still my favorite car ever.

 

[ilovepcot]

You are not alone. I have a good friend who is 62 years old. Her first car was a yellow VW Beetle. She named it "Buttercup". She had that car until it just couldn't drive another mile. I want to say 20 years at least. She cried like a baby when she had to finally let it go and buy another car, which was a yellow VW Bug. Of course, she had no attachment to the new car, nor has she cared one bit about any car she has had since Buttercup. She says she doesn't care what she drives because there is no other than Buttercup. Quite honestly, I don't get it, but you are definitely not the only one!

Awww...this made me tear up! Mine was named Tweety and she had a sunroof. Lots of fun to drive. DH sold her to a co-worker who turned Tweety into a dune buggy.

 

[LongLiveDisney]

I did when we gave up our Ford Expedition. He was a good car. We had him for years. Even named him Mikey. That's really what we called him.

ETA: I see we're not the only ones naming our cars!

 

[Wendy31]

I cried a bit when we traded in our Saturn for our first mini-van.

Her name was Junebug, & she was my very first totally new car. I even got to choose the color & all the finishes. When I first got her, the only miles she had were the miles from the factory to the dealership.

As a young married couple, we went everywhere in that little car - road trips, Sunday drives, vacations, all over our state for DH's younger brother's high school soccer games. And, then, later we brought our 1st 2 babies home from the hospital in her, so, for a little while, there were 2 carseats in the backseat.

After Junebug, we had a white Chevrolet mini-van which I never really liked, so I never named it.

Our current mini-van, though, is named Chantilly, & her big sister is the gold monorail at Disney World.

 

[TLSnell1981]

A close family friend gave DS his truck when he passed away. It sat in my yard for 2 years, after it stopped running. DS finally sold it for parts. We both got a bit teary eyed.

 

[mickeymedic]

My husband got emotional when we traded his Jeep Wrangler in for a Jeep Compass. We had to get rid of the Wrangler as it would no longer pass inspection. He insisted that the new jeep would be referred to as "The Compass" because "The Jeep" would always be his Wrangler.

 

[tvguy]

My wife and kids cried when we traded in our 15 year old Mercury Lynx purchased new.. It needed $4,000 worth of work, and had 130,000 miles on it. We were able to get a 7 year old used Dodge Spirit with 31,000 miles on it for $5,000 incluidng the extended warranty.
Funny, 2 years later they didn't cry when we had the money to buy a new car and trade in the Dodge on a brand new Mercury Mountaineer.
13 years later, I know if I ever try to trade in the Mountaineer, there will be tears. We have Explorers at work (the Mountaineer if Mercury's version of the Explorer) and they go 300,000 miles no problem. The Mercury only has 97,000 miles on it, so I suspect it will be at least another 25 years before the issue comes up.

The lesson I learned is, my wife places GREAT value on buying a car new, and being the only person to own it. She would have much rather I spent the $4,000 on the 83 Lynx, than purchasing a used car.

 

[Sabeking]

My very first car was a 1970 mustang. My dad and I refurbished this car together. I was a 17 year old girl putting on body putty and sanding! It took us about nine months to get it road ready. My dad even had a paint booth he built near our garage. All five of us kids rebuilt a Mustang with him. Anyhow, after a few years the brakes had problems and we just couldn't get it fixed to my dad's satisfaction. Being his little girl he made me sell it.

I have pictures of that car that I love to look through. Great memories of the car and time spent with my dad!

 

[luvavacation]

When DH and I first married, he had a 1970 Mach 1 Mustang in bright yellow that he was trying to restore. That thing had floor boards so rusty, he could put his foot through them, but he loved that car. He cried "man tears" when we had to sell it, but at that time, we needed every penny, and he was never going have time nor money to fix it up, at least as far as we could tell 20+ years ago! I didn't understand how anyone would miss a car so much, until years late, as I cried when we sold Big Green Girl, my minivan!

DH and I purchased our 1998 AWD GMC Safari new. It was our first major purchase as a married couple, and with two young DDs that would irritate each other in the car by holding fingers inches away from faces (you all know what I mean, right? ), all that space was needed!

I loved that van! It was a deep green, gold accents, the AWD was wonderful in snow, I sat nice and high off the road and finally short little me was able to see around vehicles, plus all the space and fancy bells and whistles just made us all happy. I also believe it was supercharged, because I was able to make that van go off the line from a full stop! Or everyone else was just slower with their reaction times, but whatever!

That van was there when incomes rose and we started taking family road-trips all over, it took us to wonderful vacation spots, and in that van my girls learned to amuse themselves and eventually enjoy being together. We logged so many hours and miles in that van, it saw my little family through 10 years of growing children, picnics with the dog and kids, my eldest learned to drive in that van, it took my dying dog for her last trip, oh that van had so many memories associated with it. I loved that van so much, inanimate or not!

Unfortunately, at about 4 years old, things started breaking, the electrical system had recurring glitches, and every year we were putting $4,000 or more in repairs into that vehicle. Finally, after year ten of my Safari, DH said it had to go, and we bought my present Toyota AWD Hybrid Highlander (it was a compromise, I wanted another big vehicle, DH wanted something that got more than 10 mpg!). I don't love my Highlander, it is a good car, but I don't love it.

We sold our van to a guy that had two big dogs and an even older Safari, so he was aware of the problems, but this didn't matter. He just wanted a vehicle to get the dogs places, and if it got dirty, he didn't care.

I cried when he drove off with my baby. My eldest DD cried, too! The youngest is too cool cry, instead she ran inside and hugged her cat. Only DH was glad to see it go, since he no longer had to repair it!

And DH, in case anyone is still feeling sorry for him, is now almost done restoring a 1966 Sunbeam Tiger, so he is even happier than before. I might be happy if I ever get another big behemoth to love and go places in!

 

[powellrj]

I finally bought my dream car last year. A 2012 Mustang. I loved that car more than I want to admit. An elderly man hit me head-on a few weeks ago and totaled my car. I am heart broken. I can't tell anyone in my real life about how heartbroken I am because everytime I mention it, I am reminded how much worse it could have been. In my head I know that is true, but I am just heartbroken at the loss of my car. I didn't even get to drive it for a year and I had waited over 35 years for a new mustang!!!