Keep it!

That was the thing for which the ex listened to me. He had a vintage VW bug and it was the last car he got to work on with his dad before he died. We went through hard times. I mean, really hard. Had eight cars and shaved it down to two, plus the bug. Kept selling cars to make it through. He's hit even rougher times after we split (his house burned down, insurance refused to cover it, for instance), and he managed to "loan" it to his sister's husband to hold onto and fix up as he wants. If the BIL ever wants to sell it, my ex has right of first refusal. I'd love it, if it ever came up for sale, if my ex suggested our son buy it. He's 16 and will soon drive. Hopefully, he'll have had a least a couple of years of practice before hitting the road with it. Yea, it's just a "thing", but we are all huge car fans. It's a connection to his past. Why not? If he didn't have it, he'd just spend it on another car.

Keep it. It will become more valuable once it's over 20 yrs old

Some advantages I've found in keeping an old car is that if the other car is in the shop for repairs, we still have one to get around in without being stuck, or having to rent another car for the duration.

Occasionally we have appointments or errands in opposite directions so a second car comes in handy. Some years we have relatives fly in for a visit and it's nice to have a car to lend them so they can get out and about while we are doing medical appointments or disinclined to go on their outings.

I suppose it comes down to if having a "spare" is worth the cost of registering, repairing and insuring it.

Keep it. I had a 79 Pontiac Trans Am. Sold it after it was stolen and later found. Broke my heart to sell it but I wasn't able to garage it. I was lucky to get it back after it was stolen, whoever did it took it out for a joy ride into Chicago and returned it to a parking lot. Even locked the doors. As for insurance, ask your agent if you can suspend the liability and collision coverage's and keep just comprehensive on it while it's not being driven. You will need to reinstate those coverage's when it is going to be driven. It's a way to keep your cost down.

I'm on the fence about this, being a LONG time car fanatic. You say the car is only 17 years old so while it may be a "muscle car", the chances of it being highly collectible right now are low. On average, cars become more collectible once they hit 25 years. The more modern cars were produced en mass with features combined in "packages" so the ability to create a truly unique automobile out of the factory disappeared. Case in point; the 1987 Buick Grand Nationals are just now starting to increase in value. That was a limited run, mass produced car that some folks jumped on, thinking it would be an instant classic.

It sounds like you may have invested time/money into customizing that car to make it unique......having said all that, keeping it in the yard is not doing it any justice. If you keep it, treat it better because condition is important. If you can't treat it better, sell it.

My family had an old (1927) car for 41 years. Did a complete frame off restoration in the early 70s. Drove it occasionally (man, it was FUN to drive!); always garage kept. That car was donated to a museum 12 years ago. They use it all the time for social events and haven't done a bit of work on it. My brother continues to collect cars (pre-1980) and I can't tell you the number that have passed through his hands. There are some he regrets letting go (the 69 Road Runner he sold to a friend who still has it) but had he not, he wouldn't have had owned some cars he did.

I would keep it at least until you are really sure you both want to sell it. We had a 1989 Cadillac coupe de Ville that we drove just in the summer. When my husband got sick I ended up giving it to my brother who is still driving it just for summer outings. It was white with red interior...still a sharp looking car! I still drive my husbands 2003 truck only in the summer for a second vehicle. It looks like new! Love my new Equinox though! :)

Sell it...if you can find a buyer. Your DH can buy another if he wants one in his retirement.

Before he was found and rescued by our DIL, our DS had SEVENTEEN CARS or parts of cars in the yard of his first property. He kept one Trans Am 'hobby car', which he said was 'valuable'. When he eventually wanted to sell it, it was not 'valuable', and it took two years to sell.

While I miss my Austin Healey 3000, we sold it because we didn't want to continue to maintain, insure and garage it. Plus...we could barely get in and out of the thing! (Four inch clearance.) It *would* be valuable by now; I see one in current print and TV ads. It would also have been a constant bother over the last twenty years. I enjoyed it while I had it. Neither it nor I will be 21 again!

Sell it. My family has cars like that. They make the place look like a junk yard. Rats got in and ate through the wires in one car. It's not being loved and is in the way.

Sell it. Unless it's an unusual make and model there will be little 'value' to a car that has been customized the way your husband wanted it.

Sell it, it's nothing more than outside clutter. Truly valuable cars can't be left outside and exposed to the elements, so I think how it's been kept answers the "value" question in the negative.

Kjbkw, lol! For years it was garage kept and now it's covered with a costume cover. I wouldn't keep it for any potential value: only for sentimental reasons. It's 99 Trans Am. The work I had done on it years ago was just to get it running and back on the road again after it died one winter. It's super fast and fun to drive. Pontiac is out of business so no more Trans Ams are being made. One day we are hoping to build a barn with a lift so my DH can work on old cars. The car holds so many memories for both of us. I am a sap so getting rid of certain things is difficult for me.

I appreciate the different perspectives and opinions.

I would let him keep the car. When he's ready to let it go, he should sell it, not you. If you sell this car and he later regrets letting it go, who is he going to blame ?

This isn't a fight between us at all. We just have a few things we are not using so we discussed selling some of them. I actually love the car as it holds many happy memories for both of us. He agrees the car isn't being used so we thought selling it to someone who would love it as much as he did would be best.

"IF" you decide to keep it,get it off of and away from grass-that alone will eat the under carriage out of it

I'd sell it and have him find another car he is interested in restoring. Or have him restore a car and then sell one car. It sounds like a little way to make some money (I know not much but some). Plus it's a great hobby for him.

Keep it / sell it / keep it / sell it . . . it's pretty clear this isn't something we can decide for you. At this point it's more of an emotional issue than anything else, so only you and your husband know how you feel about it.

I would keep it, but 7 or 8 months of the year I drive a 24-year-old Chevy Caprice--my beloved "cop car." I love it.

It's not the car. It's the memories. You aren't selling those!

You can still take a bunch of pictures of it and still have the memories. Keeping the car for a few uses a year? Possible, if you're willing to spend the money it takes to do that. You still have to maintain a vehicle. It's hard on a vehicle to sit. If it's pristine, it could be fun to put it in parades during the summertime (or a few winter parades if they're around you. I've never regretted getting rid of a vehicle, but I do miss some of them. The reality is it would have been expensive to keep them. I did like to have a "spare" vehicle around but now that I have a reliable vehicle, a spare is impractical for me, and a waste considering the cost. Insurance can be suspended and put on when you're using it so the insurance cost isn't always a big thing, but there's the other maintenance. Your situation is different than mine, and different than anyone else on the forum so really, what I would do, and what they would do, really is not a consideration. It's what you and your husband want to do that matters.

dees_1, I have a 1986 Buick GN & last year I was offered three times what we paid for it. Our friend sold his for $35,000 & it was not in that good of shape, that was 3 years ago. People wanted that car because it was the fastest production car made for 2 years straight. I don't think we will ever sell ours. The GNX can go for at least $80,000 if you can find one.

I guess I wasn't paying attention to cars in 1986-87. Here are some of those GNXs for sale. http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/buick/gnx

Keep it!

I used to have a few classic cars, but am left with a 32 Ford Coupe which is a garage queen.

A car kept outdoors will depreciate rapidly, especially the clear coat and the interior. Sell it and buy another one later in life when you have room for it.

Keep it you just never know. DH bought a 55 Chevy first
series 5 window pickup from an old man in 1980. He fully restored it and it was
great until we moved from L.A. to the mountains and build our fist home and it
got used. It was still really nice but we used it for hauling everything. We
built another home it got a little ratty looking and for years DH just lost
interest.

Mechanically it’s fine and in the very small town we live in it’s
almost a law that you have an old classic car. DH retired a few years ago and
still the truck just sat there we couldn’t sell it we promised it to DGS when
he was old enough to tell papa that was his truck.

Out of nowhere a month ago after
going to a car show where I was set on buying a 32 Chevy or Ford DH decided it
was time and the truck is totally taken apart in the garage getting ready for
new paint and upholstery. I don’t what all he ordered but a big pallet was
delivered and he has been busy all day in the garage for the past week. I did
see the bed wood and it beautiful just like new. DH worked for Chevy for 40 years so maybe the
thought that I was looking at a Ford had something to do with.

Now that you have finally told us which auto you were talking about, a '99 Trans AM, we can make better suggestions.

If that one has a decent engine and the body and interior is good, its a keeper. He can sell it if he gets detached from it, or it gets too expensive to store, but if he can find space to store it, I'd lean toward keeping it. It has already bottomed out on its sale value and will go up in a few more years as it enters the realm of collector cars. It still too young to qualify as a collector car for licensing, so there will be the yearly fee of regular auto licensing and insurance. I suspect it won't see many miles, therefore it can be insured in the low mileage category. However, summer is here and it would be a blast to take a road trip in it. If the finish is good, it is parade material and soon will hold it own in car shows.