Drive it or store it??

[THX1138]

Re: Drive it or store it??

My beater is a "98 Ranger with 215,000 miles on it. If I didn't live in such a shabby neighborhood, my neighbors would complain about the thing in the driveway. The little bird is in the garage, waiting to be let free to fly. She loves to fly! I had five events this week and made four of them, and even got some gold. I am building a callender book of events, cruises, and shows, and will drive the little bird until the paint wears off. I was sitting in a parking lot in the beater this morning, and looked over to see a powder blue retro bird next to me. Poor thing was dirty from driving in the rain for a long distance. I thought, I bet they had fun...

[darsinewman]

Re: Drive it or store it??

I've only put 10K miles on it because I can be picky about when or where I drive it. Bottom line is when I drive it I enjoy it and when it's covered in the garage, I still enjoy knowing it's mine and it's paid for. ___________

Couldn't have said it better myself, Leroy!

[Rondor]

Re: Drive it or store it??

A car as investment ranks with buyimg a lotto ticket. A few make it but most don't I am a believer in driving but preserving. Maybe a T Bird will never be worth a lot but likely will never be worth nothing either Todays cars properly cared for are good for at least 250K miles. At 1K a month that's twenty uears worth of great drivig. Ours is a weekender and will last forever at that rate. T Bird is probably the most cost effective and practical auto TOY you can own. And everbody don't have one or something that looks like one

[LeoFenderBender]

Re: Drive it or store it??

Drive it. It is losing value whether you drive it or not.

Alternatively, you can store it and sell it in thirty years for what you paid for it...

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Drive it or store it??

Drive it. It is losing value whether you drive it or not.

Alternatively, you can store it and sell it in thirty years for what you paid for it...

MAYBE!!!

Even that isn't for sure. Who knows what people will want or what we will have for transportation by then?

I think this thread is doing more to expose how people posting feel about owning this car.


It's pretty tough to generalize but I think I see three groups:

Seems like some truly are infatuated with the car and find just HAVING a perfect example to polish, shine and show is the epitome of their idea of nirvana. Driving the car anything more than a VERY few miles each year would be detrimental to their ownership experience. These folks don't even see a day when they'd part with their car. Let's face it.....they are right...... if you want your car to STAY as it was new you really can't drive it much, if at all.

There is a second group that is probably where the majority here resides.
The car is not a daily driver. It's more of a fair weather ride. It get's less than anything close to that average number of miles in a year that most cars do. It'll last in good shape for many years as we take extra care but most of us know that this car isn't "for-ever". Enjoyment is found in driving it as much as having it.

The third group might be the most common T-Bird owner out there yet nearly unrepresented in this forum. For these owners the car is simply a daily driver. These people just bought the car new or used because they liked the idea of a stylish roadster to drive. They don't see the car as special. It's driven many miles in all sorts of weather conditions. To these owners it's just the car they own for now. It will probably be sold at the first signs of age related problems or when something else more appealing, to them, is available and new "pretty car" will take it's place.

........least that's my opinion on all this.

Beats me why anyone would get upset or excited over an opinion that doesn't "jibe" with their own opinion on this one. There are no correct views on this. Just individuals with their own idea about what owning a Retro-Bird means to them.

[FUN X 3]

Re: Drive it or store it??

Interesting post. Enjoyed it. I'm a hybrid of the last two, take all the positive best comments of both and that's me and my car. Almost 96,000 smiles now, and the car still looks great! Not looking near new, but it still looks great!

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Drive it or store it??

Interesting post. Enjoyed it. I'm a hybrid of the last two, take all the positive best comments of both and that's me and my car. Almost 96,000 smiles now, and the car still looks great! Not looking near new, but it still looks great!

thanks, Chuck inspired me.

It seemed like someone needed to say it.

Just because he and other "storers" (is that a word?) are in the minority it doesn't make them wrong. It only means their view of T-Bird ownership is different and probably just a bit more of a priority, for them, than most posting here.

But before anyone here gets to thinking their own view is somehow more "normal" or "correct" I think it's worth noting that a whole bunch more of these cars made there way into the hands and garages of people who view them as just another "pretty" rag top to own, drive in all weather and eventually replace, as they do any other car, when the signs of age start to show.

Most of these people would probably find any of us in this forum over-the-top in our enthusiasm for the car.

Again though.......NOBODY is wrong..........just differing in our opinions on all this.

.

[Sealy]

Re: Drive it or store it??

Again though.......NOBODY is wrong..........just differing in our opinions on all this.

When we bought our 1988 Mercedes 560SL it had 12K on it. The person we bought it from has a collection of roadsters - Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW. They sit in a specially built garage, all in a row. Theres's a nice stereo system, a big screen TV, a couch, table and chairs, AC, and lots of nice related memorabilia. He sits in the garage and watches TV and movies with his cars - neither of them go out much and he was aghast that we were going to drive the Benz from PA to DC.
The way I see it - he enjoyed the Mercedes his way which made it possible for us to enjoy our way. I will note, however, that that in the meticulous folder that documented the car there was a bill for servicing the injectors. Three years of ownership and only 100 miles of road time had clogged them up. The mechanic wrote on the bottom of the bill in big letters "THIS CAR MUST BE DRIVEN". That's exactly what we're doing.

[blue731]

Re: Drive it or store it??

I only put about 2k to 3k per year on my TBird. My daily driver is a Toyota Camery. The convertible is purely for days off, or very nice days when I have to go out of town, away from DC Metro traffic. Cars in this area get trashed at a high rate.
When I drive it, I usually put about 150 to 200 miles at a time on it. I put the engine and transmission through all sorts of paces, from mild to a little wild, to using the select-shift and performing spirited driving on back mountain roads.
So far, no mechanical issues like clogged injectors, or failing parts.

[Kokomo]

Re: Drive it or store it??

MAYBE!!!

...

The third group might be the most common T-Bird owner out there yet nearly unrepresented in this forum. For these owners the car is simply a daily driver. These people just bought the car new or used because they liked the idea of a stylish roadster to drive. They don't see the car as special. It's driven many miles in all sorts of weather conditions. To these owners it's just the car they own for now. It will probably be sold at the first signs of age related problems or when something else more appealing, to them, is available and new "pretty car" will take it's place.

........least that's my opinion on all this.

Beats me why anyone would get upset or excited over an opinion that doesn't "jibe" with their own opinion on this one. There are no correct views on this. Just individuals with their own idea about what owning a Retro-Bird means to them.

I take offense at this generalization. Mine is a daily driver but it is NOT just the car I own for now. I am on my second retrobird. I want to drive a SPECIAL car all of the time. When I wear this one out, I will be looking at your garage queen to replace it. To each his own. I plan to enjoy mine to the fullest.

[MerlotBlue]

Re: Drive it or store it??

I take offense at this generalization. Mine is a daily driver but it is NOT just the car I own for now. I am on my second retrobird. I want to drive a SPECIAL car all of the time. When I wear this one out, I will be looking at your garage queen to replace it. To each his own. I plan to enjoy mine to the fullest.

I suppose we'll have to create the splinter group off of a combination of all three?


A run 'em 'till they drop, then do it again sort of thing?

[eboose7]

Re: Drive it or store it??

In the 1990's, the product slogan for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups was: "There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's." The same really applies to owning a '02-'05 Thunderbird. There is no wrong way to enjoy the car. Considering all the comments on this thread, I believe that because we all share the experience of owning a Thunderbird and because we value and treasure the same goal of enjoying the car, we have the most wonderful chance of finding common ground. Driven or stored or some combination of the two, each of us knows how the heart swells and beats with pride, love and absolute joy as a result of owning this remarkable car.

[V8 Cat]

Re: Drive it or store it??

You may not want to drive it daily. But I suspect that a good compromise would be to drive it occasionally to keep the mileage low, while avoiding the problems associated with letting it sit in storage full time. That way you can enjoy it and maintain the resale value. As others have said, it will be sometime in the future before our cars see an appreciable increase in value, if then. And that is what I am doing right now--and will continue doing so. I drive about 3,500 miles a year.

This pretty much sums-up the way I feel about the use of the Tbird. I would never make it a daily driver but there is a middle ground. I've had daily drivers (mostly company cars) and they were pretty worn after 75,000 miles eventhough I took good care of them. Now with three cars and only two drivers in the family we can split the mileage between them.

[AZTB]

Re: Drive it or store it??

Don, Ford did not make any ads about storing it. Drive it and let your stories begin..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUvdK...eature=related

Frits...I never tire of seeing that commercial! Thanks.

[justjon]

Re: Drive it or store it??

I'm a daily driver in my retired sort of way, which means I take it where I need to go. My car is black, and while incredibly beutiful and classy, I'm not sure I would drive the "wowser" colors like turq,red,yellow, gold on a daily basis. I mean theT bird blue cars are stunning but much to flamboyant for a daily driver .. IMHO