To be so upset about my wee car?

We have a 13 year old Ford c max, named Sir Maximus he was a trusty steed. Had him from a year old, less than 5k on the clock now almost 170k! We were looking for a new car this year anyway as I do a lot of miles and we wanted something reliable. We were way too smug when car shopping, no we don’t want to trade him in he’s been a brilliant car, never broken down, never had anything major happen to it. The day we went to pick up the new car Sir Maximus decided to brake down in the middle of nowhere 🤦‍♀️ you couldn’t make it up! He’s sat on the drive and is going to the garage this week to see what’s wrong and how much it’s going to cost to fix, we’ve agreed if it’s more than £500 he’s going to the scrappy, it’s making me sad just thinking about it, I love that car! 🚘

I fear that I will be like this when my little car (aptly named Cara) has to go. She is an old-style Toyota Aygo, and may only be small, but she is mighty! She is the first and only car that I've ever owned. Along with my dogs, we have travelled safely around the UK for more years than I care to admit. She ably adapted from being a normal car to being a most unlikely farm vehicle, she can squeeze into impressively tight spaces, and it is amazing how much you can fit inside her! Road tax is £20 a year, she doesn't cost much to fill, and the fuel lasts for so long that she practically runs on fresh air!

Cara sailed merrily through every MOT until the last one. When the receptionist told me that she had failed, I stopped dead in the street and exclaimed, "WHAT? Are you quite sure?" Fortunately, it was an easy fix last time, so my Unlikely Farm Vehicle could ride again. However... they said that her underside is getting corroded. My poor Cara has already had her underside replaced once, had two new batteries, some brake pads, a fan belt, a few tyres and a bit of cosmetic work to keep her looking her best. I do not know how much more she can take, and though I joke about buying a more grown-up/less student-esque car one day, I do like my little Cara...

It’s a Copen! Yes, cappuccinos are also very rollerskate like, and Copens are just as prone to corrosion. DH has spent more on bodywork than that car is worth. 🤣
So smol, so rusty…

Wee means little.

My beautiful car went off on the back of a lorry after it went badly wrong and wasn’t really worth me spending more money on. I cried. Bloody loved that car. I do have a new one now which is just as lovely. Not the same but I’ll probably get just as sentimentally attached to it.

It was my choice to sell the old one though. My dh didn’t really have much of an opinion on it. I certainly wouldn’t have let him sell it against my wishes.

What is a wee car?

Ooh, is the rollerskate a cappuccino? I hope so - I had one years ago and called it my rollerskate!

My 22 year old VW Bug, that I bought from new only failed one MOT and that was the last one. It was also due to corrosion. I couldn’t bear to bring it home from the garage, so I took the paperwork to them and said goodbye to my faithful friend. 😢.
My VW T-cross is my new love!

I had a red Micra for years that I was very fond of. Then my mother had it for another few years until she could no longer drive because of dementia. My DB and his partner then took it over as a run around. But it came to a sad end, it was stolen from outside DB’s house and was found burnt out a few miles away.

I now find I prefer something slightly larger and am on my second A3.

I get it. I still miss my Toyota Aygo I sold last September

I don’t drive by my DH is a great lover of a wee car, little Japanese ‘nuggets’ (for any Mighty Car Mods fans). He’s got two and has spent what would normally be uneconomical amounts of time and money keeping them on the road. Both are Daihatsus, one a tiny rollerskate of a convertible and the other a very rare rally spec model that makes a noise like it’d steal your Amazon parcel from your porch if it got the chance. Both are early 2000s so a bit long in the tooth, the convertible is currently SORNed due to killing its third radiator, the other is his daily driver. He would definitely cry if anything happened to his daily driver, he loves that little car so much, but I doubt he’d shed a tear over the big Citroën that’s the family truck.

I was the same with my first car and with with my wee campervan when I had to let her go last year. I gave her bonnet a pat when I left her.

I love my car she’s a teenager now and my then teenage son helped me to choose her all those years ago.
She’s a car I would never have chosen for myself being quite sporty and flashy and of the type that mainly appeals to teenage boy racers!
I drive her quite sedately and I like to astound people when I get out as they aren’t expecting a middle aged lady to emerge from such a vehicle.
My son is a family man himself now and drives a sensible family car.
He finds it amusing that I’m still driving around in his teenage fantasy car.

I get very attached to cars and keep them at least 10 years - current one is 13 years old and I’ve had it 10 - done over 200k - previous one was same make and model just older and got it to nearly 300k before body work made mot unviable
I feel your pain - hope the joy of a new car will help somewhat

I was really sad when I sold my first car. I loved him. Not helped by my BIL teasing me a bout the car being sad. 😂

Mines on the way out. It's just started but not too bad ATM, but apparently on its last MOT.

But apparently something can be done about it without replacing the subframe. It's finding a good independent garage who knows their shit. We got scoffed at scrapping a perfectly good car just because of that. Which I don't really understand but cars aren't my thing.

Or maybe it's time to just get another runner if you don't want the faff.

I cried like a baby when our 20-year-old, owned-from-new, battered and dented, basic, uneconomical car had to be scrapped. I behaved like a proper toddler over it and wouldn’t entertain any of the new ones DH made me go to look at, we argued like mad over the fact that he wanted to buy the new, whistles-and-bells, super-eco version of Old Car - because “it’ll be just the same and you’ll get used to it”. Well no, it’s not just the same, and two years later I’m not used to it. It’s comfortable but boring. It does everything by itself with minimal input from me. It has multiple lights and beeps, and a daft screen for the speedo instead of a needle. Its windows don’t stick halfway up, the boot hatch doesn’t need to be wrestled closed, it doesn’t rattle on bumpy roads, and the stereo works. It has no personality whatsoever. It’s nothing like my old friend. I hear you, OP 🥺

Is it the subframe? There is a way to fix it without replacing it. Some sort of cage welded on or something.

I really need to start listening properly when husbands telling me car stuff.

Nice colour!

After 20 years of needing big cars / unattractive tanks to ferry children around ,I finally got the car is always wanted .A nothing particularly special but beautiful ,nippy mini .
it was the first time I almost felt like I ‘got’ cars and why people love them .
It was written off whilst parked outside my house .The guy that did it accepted full responsibility and his insurance payed out almost immediately .
it was this time last year ,the start of the Easter holidays, and I really needed a car for the plans we had so ,thanks to the swift insurance payment , bought what seemed an almost identical one rather hastily .
its not identical .Its not the same at all .Its not done anything wrong but it’s not my mini .I miss it so much still .

I was so upset when I had to scrap my Qashqui I had to tell the breaker to hurry up and just take her before I started crying. You are not alone.

YANBU we have kept our last 4 cars to end of life and our current oldie is Sylvester , who is a 15 yo Kia Soul who I have owned from new . He has done 170k miles and currently just potters with my husband as I have a newer car for day to day . He failed his MOT this year but it only cost us £80 to get him through his retest .