The reason so many people are focusing on the Corvette is that they’re stupid, envious, and petty. When you’re in a negative cash flow situation, liquidating assets is only a temporary fix (and with the problems he’s got, perhaps **very **temporary). $20,000 isn’t that much when you’re at a net loss every month. So you liquidate them, and then what? You’ve lost something that’s important to you, and you’re still spiraling downward.
Envious? Yes. Stupid and petty? No.
Yeah, but $0 is even less.
He liquidates them and pays the bills. Yes, he’ll lose something important to him, but the downward spiral will be a hell of a lot less steep.
I will concede the fact that if one isn’t accustomed to being hard up for money, that this would seem to be a hardship. I’m just saying that it’s not as bad as it could be, which I understand he realizes.
And you can afford a PR guy!!!
[sub]Okay, now I’m just being funny. I’m not a TOTAL bitch.[/sub]
Bullshit. I focused on it because when someone is bitching about his lousy finances, a $40,000 luxury asset is a clear point of discussion. I would have focused on his boat, or his 2 grande moccachino lattes a day habit, or anything else that popped out as a significant financial drain.
The only reason I’m not questioning his intelligence is that he’s actually got enough financial resources to afford owning and enjoying them. If he was in real trouble, with a significant near term disaster looming, keeping a couple of non-classic sports cars out of sentiment is just rank stupidity.
There are also rock solid financial reasons to divest yourself of these sorts of assets. They have NO positive expected returns in the near future, they are on a distinct downward trend in value. Sell them, and you can at a minimum eliminate that reduction, which will be on the order of 5-10% per year. You can also put that money to work, earning 5-10% per year (even more if the money “works” by paying off high interest credit cards). Figure on an easy 10-20% additional return on $40k by selling, that’s $4-8K/yr not even counting maintenance and insurance cost savings. The only reason to keep them is because you enjoy owning them, because you’re not gaining financially by it.
It reminds me of Ken Lay’s wife bemoaning that they had to sell the home in Aspen!
Course, the Lay’s pain was more or less self inflicted.
I think you know I’m 100% in agreement with you. When I got the first Vette (Damn. 10 years ago.) my boss tsk tsk’d and said he could take that 15,000 and turn it into $150,000 in 10 years time. But I wonder, short of looking at the balance sheet, what good would the 150,000 return? (yeah, I know, a wife that didn’t HAVE to work) but the point is: If you don’t use some of the money for something that brings you joy, what’s it doing for you?
True, but the money you spend for enjoyment purposes should not be confused with money you invest. If your finances are in question, it’s important to recognize things like this as options and see the effects changes can have.
[hijack]You’ve only got 29,000 miles and it stalls? From what I’ve heard from the two Corvette owners on this thread, I’m getting the impression that they are really unreliable.[/hijack]
True 'dat. Lay et al lost $2 billion for his workers and $60 billion for investors. I’m sure he was feeling stressed too, but I’ll buy a drink for a guy who just lost his father and is caring for his family; for Lay, I’d buy him a drink, spill it on him, and light a match to it.
As I read UB’s posts, I get the feeling the money isn’t the biggest issue, and focusing on selling his toys is not going to ease anything, but will make him more depressed. While my toys aren’t a pair of 'Vettes, I know that when they are taken away, I’m more stressed. And when something breaks and I say, “Damn, there’s another $200”, it’s not because its a financial hardship nor a necessity; it’s just that I want it to work right and work now. The cash isn’t the stress; the not-working is. UB can correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s how I read his posts.
Dude, sell the 'Vettes, pay off your debts, and get rid of the stress. You can always buy another one later. If you can afford it, do consider strongly your wife staying at home: there’s nothing so beneficial for the kids.
Bingo. If I fix something, nothing bugs me more than when it don’t STAY fixed.
Dewey Corvettes are reasonable reliable for a low numbers vehicle. they work best when you leave 'em alone (I didn’t) and run them (Snickers needs to drive his more. 
)
Sorry. I remember the crushing chains of poverty all too well. There is NO comparison.
Ok, I just went back and re-read the OP. So the cars are your past, your hobby, and you love them. I can see how selling them wouldn’t necessarily do you any good right now. But good God, stop dumping more money into the damn things if you’re worried about money.
Can you explain to me why, when you’re so worried about money that you can’t go out to dinner, you’re spending money on fixing the extra cars that you’re not even using and are sitting in your garage because you like 'em too much to sell them?
I know you’re stressed out. There’s a lot of crap going on in your life, it looks like, and nobody should have to feel like the world is against them. I understand where you’re coming from, with the work situation, the family pressures, and the feeling of general collapse of your universe. I’m sorry you’re under so much pressure. But I absolutely cannot find an ounce of sympathy for your financial situation.
[QUOTE=Antigen]
Can you explain to me why, when you’re so worried about money that you can’t go out to dinner, you’re spending money on fixing the extra cars that you’re not even using and are sitting in your garage because you like 'em too much to sell them?
[quote]
It happened over several years. Over two or three years, we’re talking a couple grand. Also cheaper than if I’d paid someone else to do it. The bulk of the mechanical restoration occurred before the kids were born. Part of the reason the transmission failed the first time was: I didn’t follow the advice of the transmission builder, but that’s a whole nother kettle of wax.
neither asked nor given. I was merely venting bout the situation.
bah. botched the quotes.
Yeah, and we all know that some guy who owns two corvettes and an avalanche shouldn’t be entering any ‘dick size’ competition right, Tiny? 
<come on, you’re all thinking it!>
Okay, I kind of understand why you don’t want to sell the corvettes. They are paid for and for some strange reason you have an attachment to them. Why don’t you get rid of the Avalanche then? Sell it for what you can get and eliminate the payments. The PT Cruiser (god, we have not one similar taste in vehicles) can fill the role of the Avalanche in 95% of cases. Use one of the corvettes as the extra car.
You also need to tell you wife to ‘suck it up, Sunshine’ and take the kids out of daycare temporarily (just as she would be in her rights to say the same thing to you if your roles were reversed). She should talk to the daycare and arrange some sort of drop off on short notice (not having kids myself, do they have some sort of slot to shove kids through like the quick drop off at blockbusters? There is a reason I don’t have kids, ya know!) so she can get to job interviews.
Yeah, I’m a bit unsympathetic of your plight. Your financial woes are minimal and easily resolved. Your family issues are tougher, but again they are not ‘grab a gun and look for the nearest clock tower, or find a high bridge over fast moving water’ variety. Maybe this will help when thinking of the deceased: Think about the difference they made to you and the joy you had with them when they were alive. Think about the good things they did and all that they taught you. Think about the happy times, not the sad. Yes, you will miss them, but their memory is still with you. And if you can’t think of anything positive about them, then why the hell are you mourning in the first place?
-You ever get the feeling that sometimes it is probably better not to hit the submit button?-
Nah, my skin got thick enough to handle the criticism of random internet strangers years ago.
Acutally, the people that think that aren’t car people. You might as well slam an Indian for not liking Beef. We HAD two small family cars. The Cruiser and a Saturn. Neither had enough space to carry the family+stroller+two car seats+anything else. Granted, the kids are big enough that the load is lessened.
It’s already been established that, if I’ve gotta, we’ll sell the Vettes. If I’ve gotta. That means: If I can’t pay the mortgage and keep food on the table, THEN they go.
[quote]
You also need to tell you wife to ‘suck it up, Sunshine’ and take the kids out of daycare temporarily (just as she would be in her rights to say the same thing to you if your roles were reversed). She should talk to the daycare and arrange some sort of drop off on short notice (not having kids myself, do they have some sort of slot to shove kids through like the quick drop off at blockbusters? There is a reason I don’t have kids, ya know!) so she can get to job interviews.
[quote]
Yup, that’s on the list too. (And if you don’t care for kids, what makes you think you’re qualified to comment on rearing them? That’s like telling a Corvette owner his car is just a car… :dubious: )
Yeah, I’m a bit unsympathetic of your plight. Your financial woes are minimal and easily resolved. Your family issues are tougher, but again they are not ‘grab a gun and look for the nearest clock tower, or find a high bridge over fast moving water’ variety.
[quote]
Nope they’re not the worst things that could happen to a person. But they’re a constant, low level, grinding kinda stress that ages a person. Seasoned with drastic life changes at verious intervals, just for flavor.
But enough of this, like I said, I wasn’t looking for a pity party, I just wanted to bitch about things. I ended up getting a Lot of good advice (and some, meh.) and perspective.
If I gave an abbreviated timeline of my life, I could tell you that 1.5 years ago I had some times where cash flow was very tight and some times where I was significantly more flush. Hell, every year around May (personally, I think Congress changes the tax code simply to try to outsmart me trying to outsmart my annual tax budgeting, but that’s just the pre-caffeine paranoia speaking…wait until you hear the post-caffeine paranoia :eek: ), my cash flow dries up and I have to cut back on things I enjoy. Usually, I’m flush again by July. So if I’m moaning and groaning, which all of us like to do at times, you’re not going to hear about the great vacation I had in August, but about how I had to cheap my way through May and June. And many of you, hearing what I would consider “going cheap”, would roll your eyes into the backs of your heads.
Ya know, money (meaning disposable income) can be tight for lots of reasons. One of them because you’re dumping a bunch of cash into investments - like 401(k)s & mutual funds & mortgage payments & college funds for the kids. It ain’t necessarily true that everyone who is feeling a little short at the end of the month is a spendthrift.
UB (and the first couple times I saw that in this thread, I thought people were referring to me, UncleBeer - heh) it seems has really been pretty responsible with his family’s cash - despite what too many of you think are inordinately extravagant purchases. Let’s not forget that while he was paying all that money for those Corvettes, he also managed to put away two years of liquid reserves. I seriously doubt there are too many others in this thread who have done the same, or even would have done the same if they’d had the means.
So, yeah, maybe that makes it even your eyes that he’s moaning a little bit about money. But that wasn’t really the focus of his OP, was it? It only became the topic of the thread, because a lot of people picked that single thing out his gripe potpourri. There’s been damned little talk about the other family woes he’s had to go thru - which are substantial. Nope, seems everyone would rather dump on the guy because he’s made some financial decisions with which they don’t agree.
Unintentionally Blank (sorry - would’ve just said UB but didn’t want to confuse UncleBeer ) I’m sorry things are going kinda shitty right now. Been there, done that, am currently wearing the t-shirt. My husband hasn’t worked since Thanksgiving of last year - things are a bit desperate right now with us too financial wise - and looking bleaker every day. I know - the stress is a killer. You ought to see how my eczema is acting up (well maybe not) but at least we’re all healthy and together. My sympathies, dude - I hope things look up for you soon.