So.... There's a "one owner" Trabant 601 for sale in town for $300 (that's about the average going rate here). But SWMBO says "no". This might have something to do with the fact that our 1/2 car garage is filled with my GT40 project and our two daily drivers are parked in our yard/poor excuse for a driveway...
"You can't get a Trabant until we have a place to put it..." was pretty much her response. (I hate logic, and reason)
If moving to a house with a real garage is not an option, how to I change her mind?
Begin
mndsm
PowerDork
10/19/12 12:45 p.m.
Buy it anyways? Make sure you "find" a purse that she likes in the trunk.
You can't. Sometimes you just have to accept she is right (Yea, yea, here's my man card) and make the compromises necessary to get where you want.
But this is coming from the guy with a Miata and a GT Mustang in the garage, so take my advice as you will. 
Part of getting the Mustang meant agreeing to:
Keeping it until it's paid for, no exceptions. (I've had too many cars the last few years.
Adding some extra money every year to the vacation budget. Instead of modding for either car.
Yeah yeah... "Pacification of my automotive ADD" was my "get out of jail free card" when I came home with the Impala.
That didn't last long 
and she doesn't really dig purses... I frivolously used up the "Diamond earring card" last year.
find a nearby rental garage. out of sight, out of mind 
"It is ALWAYS easier to ask for forgiveness then permission." 
mndsm
PowerDork
10/19/12 1:05 p.m.
Hungary Bill wrote:
Yeah yeah... "Pacification of my automotive ADD" was my "get out of jail free card" when I came home with the Impala.
That didn't last long
and she doesn't really dig purses... I frivolously used up the "Diamond earring card" last year.
Risky tactic, hand her a wad of cash equal to the amount of the car. Don't ask questions as to what she buys. My uncle did that once after he put a new stereo in a car.
Honestly if $300 is the going rate it sounds like there will be more. Unless it's particularly rare, cheap or nice I'd just let it ride. If it's a Project and not a runner focus your efforts on the GT40.
Been there, done that on this topic several times. If she says no, unless it's a one in a million car, just walk away. If it's really important to you to get it, tell her and have a good reason why (not just "because I want it"). If she's still opposed, you're sunk.
You shouldn't have said anything and simply bought it.
Sometimes it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.
What GT40 kit do you have?
That pic cracked me up Bill. LOL
Cotton
Dork
10/19/12 1:52 p.m.
Is the Trabant in really good, running shape? If so, you could try the "I'll use it as a daily driver and it'll more than pay for itself in what I don't spend on gas" approach, assuming your DD is something medium to large.
mndsm
PowerDork
10/19/12 2:10 p.m.
MadScientistMatt wrote:
Is the Trabant in really good, running shape? If so, you could try the "I'll use it as a daily driver and it'll more than pay for itself in what I don't spend on gas" approach, assuming your DD is something medium to large.
It's a Trabant. Those weren't in good, running shape NEW.
logdog
Reader
10/19/12 2:24 p.m.
Just remember " If momma aint happy, aint nobody happy". Of course you could always just put some vinyl wrap on it and disguise it as a car you already have.
Klayfish wrote:
Been there, done that on this topic several times. If she says no, unless it's a one in a million car, just walk away. If it's really important to you to get it, tell her and have a good reason why (not just "because I want it"). If she's still opposed, you're sunk.
This is a good one as well.
When I brought home the very poorly running E30 convertible last year, I told her even if something was horribly, horribly wrong with it, there was still enough good parts to strip it and double my money. So she agreed.
I ended up trading the car ($500) and the $400 in parts to fix it for an engine I sold for $3k.
Its a Trabant, cant you just hide it in the lawnmower shed or something?
Something I picked up from a Lambo guy:
"It is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission..."
Cotton wrote:
Ranger50 wrote:
"It is ALWAYS easier to ask for forgiveness then permission."
this...sometimes my wife comes out to the shop and says "when did you get this?"
No kidding. I don't think my fiance has noticed that there's a "new" '71 CB175 in the garage, and she's even used it as a stool a couple of times while she's been visiting me in the garage.
A Trabant might be slightly more noticeable, though.
you've already lost this round by asking.
next time you'll know better. by the fifth or sixth time you drag something home unexpectedly, she'll hardly even notice.
z31maniac wrote:
You can't. Sometimes you just have to accept she is right.
I listen to the wife and do not currently have a project car. In reality with some current medical bills I am paying off and the 3 cars we already own; getting a 4th car project "fun" car is low on the priority list for the family.
So I too must hand in my man card.........
Conquest351 wrote:
What GT40 kit do you have?
That pic cracked me up Bill. LOL
I'm building from the GTS Tuning Chassis plans (yes, I did a lot of reading about GTS when I started this). I'll be using their Body panels and most of the suspension bits (Front A-arms, rear trailing arms, etc). Progress is slow though and the budget for the build is a bit "small", but I love every minute I get to spend on it Last year I was working on getting the front suspension together (minus shocks, springs, and swaybars) this year I want to work on the rear suspension.
I can try the "gas mileage" approach to the Trabant, but unfortunately I only live 7km from work and my wife is pretty good at math... I don't think she'll bite.
Dang it sucks being 5-years-old sometimes!
