Feeling burned out on the car hobby...

I'm not sure why, but I'm really feeling burned out on the car hobby lately. I used to look forward to every moment I could get into the garage and work on something, now it all feels like a big, never-ending chore. The Renault has basically become garage art, as I put what little time I have into keeping the E39 DD maintained, and that's not much fun. Every repair uncovers something else that needs to be repaired, and every time I'm behind the wheel I just obsessively think about more stuff that needs to be repaired! It feels like a never-ending battle, throwing parts at cars that you personally think are really cool and interesting, while it's basically just throwing money at an upside-down investment.

It might be the fact that I'm now an adult with a "big kid job" and the accompanying responsibilities/obligations, and don't have a ton of free time to kill turning wrenches. Maybe I'm just spreading myself too thin between work and friends and hobbies, I don't know. Probably time, more than anything else. I still love driving but for some reason I find myself really drifting away from the car hobby lately.

I'm getting really tempted to just go finance a new Mazda 3, sell the E39 and the Renault, and just have one vehicle with a couple fun-increasing bolt-ons for a while. You know, sort of clean my palate for a year or more before I get back into a true project. Heck, with what I spend on projects every month I could pretty much have my choice of the FR-S, FiST, whatever. And that sounds more appealing by the day.

Has anyone else ever just found themselves getting pooped out on the car hobby? What did you do to get out of the slump? Am I insane for thinking of taking a step back for a while and just making payments on something new and fun, so I can enjoy actually DRIVING instead of just breaking my back working on stuff all the time?

Right now my DD truck is kicking my a$$ in maintenance. Parts by and large are cheap and the fixes are relatively easy (put in a new fuel pump Monday after work) it's just like you said, soon as I fix one thing something else needs to be fixed. I've got a leaky proportioning valve now, I replaced it back in March and it's leaking already but I've got to fix it because I like being able to stop without hitting solid objects. I love the truck but now i'm thinking it may be time for something else, that probably comes with a payment..

Your solution isn't "getting out of the car hobby," it's revamping how you enjoy the hobby.

I'd clean house, get the 3, and then FR-S/BR-Z/ND/Whatever. Force yourself to limit to ST-prep.

I joke sometimes that i'm always on the verge of just one more bad wrench day pushing me over the edge to dumping the entire fleet and buying a Camry.

But it's close to the truth. I am burrrrrnnnnnnned out. Mostly because i haven't done a damn thing but wrench for the last 3 years. I'm forcing myself to finish this "new" Miata so i can actually get some driving in, hoping it'll light a fire under my ass to resurrect the MX6.

I got burnt out and sold my E36 M3. It was good and bad. 69 Midget- had it for 25 years, and poof! Gone. Sold the '95 M3. Sold the '02 WRX. Bought brand new GTI. Now just that and bicycle.

Sad, but with no projects on it, there is a bit of freedom. I will confess to wandering around the garage on the weekends sometimes. I'll get another at some point, but the break has been good.

Swank Force One wrote: Your solution isn't "getting out of the car hobby," it's revamping how you enjoy the hobby. I'd clean house, get the 3, and then FR-S/BR-Z/ND/Whatever. Force yourself to limit to ST-prep. I joke sometimes that i'm always on the verge of just one more bad wrench day pushing me over the edge to dumping the entire fleet and buying a Camry. But it's close to the truth. I am burrrrrnnnnnnned out. Mostly because i haven't done a damn thing but wrench for the last 3 years. I'm forcing myself to finish this "new" Miata so i can actually get some driving in, hoping it'll light a fire under my ass to resurrect the MX6.

+1 for this. It's not really a hobby if you don't enjoy it.

The best thing I have ever done is have a reliable newer daily driver with a warranty, and a "fun car". The adult car gets you to work, and wherever else you want to go, no muss no fuss. Then you have your fun car, which you can drive when you feel like it, work on when you feel like it, and you don't need it to get you to work. Suspension install going crappy? Who cares, walk away, your big kid car will take you to work. Don't feel like working on it for another week? Who cares, it doesn't need to go anywhere! Leave your grown up car alone, don't touch it, and I mean nothing. Get your wrenching fix on the fun car, when you want to, not because you have to.

Does wonders for your sanity and your enthusiasm.

Must have a reliable daily! I even got to the point a few years ago that the DD goes to the mechanic. I work on the FX16 for fun. Doing DD repairs is just to stressful. Better things to do with my time. Like spend with family.

dinger wrote: The best thing I have ever done is have a reliable newer daily driver with a warranty, and a "fun car". The adult car gets you to work, and wherever else you want to go, no muss no fuss. Then you have your fun car, which you can drive when you feel like it, work on when you feel like it, and you don't need it to get you to work. Suspension install going crappy? Who cares, walk away, your big kid car will take you to work. Don't feel like working on it for another week? Who cares, it doesn't need to go anywhere! Leave your grown up car alone, don't touch it, and I mean nothing. Get your wrenching fix on the fun car, when you want to, not because you have to. Does wonders for your sanity and your enthusiasm.

+1, absolutely! In my case, since I only have a 1-car garage, my "fun car" is a tiny motorcycle, a Honda C70 Passport. Man, that thing brings joy to me every time I work on it. And I don't need to rely on it for anything.

Being burned out is one of the reasons I'm selling my race car, that I never raced.

dinger wrote: The best thing I have ever done is have a reliable newer daily driver with a warranty, and a "fun car". The adult car gets you to work, and wherever else you want to go, no muss no fuss. Then you have your fun car, which you can drive when you feel like it, work on when you feel like it, and you don't need it to get you to work. Suspension install going crappy? Who cares, walk away, your big kid car will take you to work. Don't feel like working on it for another week? Who cares, it doesn't need to go anywhere! Leave your grown up car alone, don't touch it, and I mean nothing. Get your wrenching fix on the fun car, when you want to, not because you have to. Does wonders for your sanity and your enthusiasm.

Hi, my name is Slefain, and I own a Toyota Camry. It is boring, uninspiring, and borderline mind numbing to drive. But it is reliable as a rock. That allows me to own a '75 Duster, a '69 Olds, and a '87 Mirage Turbo that get driven when I feel like it. The best thing I ever did was move to a multiple car system. Even when I lived in an apartment I had two cars, I just kept one parked in the far side of the lot.

I got burnt out about ten years ago and sold 6 of my 7 cars, and kept busy by raising my son. Now that he is older, and we are in tune with the ups and downs of him having diabetes, I will get back into cars/motorsports. Probably something that relates to diabetes awareness. The only problem is the usual "What car?"

I will echo the keeping a dedicated reliable daily driver/appliance car thing.

i find questions like this are most helped by simply asking about what you want to do.

it seems overly simple, i know, but if you have even the slightest motivation to point at something and say 'I WANT to do that,' then you have half the solution.

Many times we get caught up in orbital trappings around the thing that we want to do, and those orbiting tasks are decidedly NOT what we want to do, but we get convinced too easily that they are inseparable from the thing we ARE motivated to do.

Slick, in your case you may find yourself with an unnecessary attachment to that car in the garage because you think you need THAT one to reach the place where you are doing the things you WANT again. because it seems like you don't WANT to be wrench turning (at least in its current form), but sometimes we have a tough time admitting that there are things we actively dont wanna do...

dinger wrote: The best thing I have ever done is have a reliable newer daily driver with a warranty, and a "fun car". The adult car gets you to work, and wherever else you want to go, no muss no fuss. Then you have your fun car, which you can drive when you feel like it, work on when you feel like it, and you don't need it to get you to work. Suspension install going crappy? Who cares, walk away, your big kid car will take you to work. Don't feel like working on it for another week? Who cares, it doesn't need to go anywhere! Leave your grown up car alone, don't touch it, and I mean nothing. Get your wrenching fix on the fun car, when you want to, not because you have to. Does wonders for your sanity and your enthusiasm.

^This, when you have to wrench on your DD, it takes the fun out of wrenching and the time away from the fun cars.

Get thee a fun but reliable DD. New or lightly used. Hell I'll make ya a great deal on an Abarth ;) But let your hobby be your hobby. It's not a hobby when the job has to be done to get you to work on monday.

I feel your pain. All of your pain. After working on my Focus since October '14, I'm starting to lose well, focus. I've redone so much of that car. All I have to do is a DIY alignment and get it inspected. I just can't find the motivation to do so in the last two weeks.

I put a lot of hours installing new seats and other fun stuff over the winter and then put about 1500 miles on the Mini in March-May, then something happened and I now have no brakes. Either a leaky rear wheel cylinder or the old rubber brake hose failed...something at the right rear brake resulted in a puddle of fluid. Instead of looking at it and fixing it, I just rearranged the garage so the Mini is ahead of the Miata and started driving the Miata since it had been parked since sometime around February. I figure I'll fix it in August when I can look forward to cooler temperatures coming and enjoy my summer not working on cars. Battery Tender is my friend.

Sometimes projects are better left alone while you do other things.

Repairing a DD is more of a chore than a hobby. Having to get the car ready because you need it to get to work can suck a lot of the fun out of the hobby.

Sometimes life can, too. I found myself a bit less into the hobby now that I've got two small children. But then sometimes something can spark renewed interest. Recently I took my son to the NHRA Summer Nationals. Even though he was too small to sit down and watch - he wanted to run all over the place instead - seeing the racing did something to remind me of what makes cars fun.

Perhaps trying something different will re-kindle your interest.

In reply to SlickDizzy:

Yeah, I have been there. Went from buying cool cars that I know need work to what I thought would be about as appliance as possible.

I am getting back into it now and thinking about it, but just haven't pulled the trigger.

Take a break, sell all your projects. Get something you don't mind being in. Don't get so burned out you hate it. You will come back bigger and stronger.

As touched on, you are facing HAVING to wrench vs WANTING to wrench. It makes a big difference.

You yourself said, its having the DD that you HAVE to get fixed that is burning you out. Nothing like a time pressure to make something hateful.

SlickDizzy wrote: Has anyone else ever just found themselves getting pooped out on the car hobby?

Absolutely. That was the main reason I sold the Le Mans to Curtis. It was sitting there waiting for me to have the time, patience, energy, and money to work on it. It wasn't going to happen in this decade. I sold a pretty fixable Grand Caravan to my nephew for $300 and spent $20,000 on a much newer, much nicer van, because I didn't feel like dealing with what it needed, and was going to need.

Pick your battles wisely, because you can't fight them all, let alone win.

I wonder if some of this is from achieving the seemingly unachievable?
Could it be that finding a genuine Renault GTA has caused some of this? Could the hunt be greater than the capture?

As all have said, priority 1 is getting to work.
Additionally, having to work on a car is not the same as wanting to.

Best thing I ever did as far as the car hobby is concerned is buy a new reliable car. Nice that was able to get away with those being Miata and FRS, but it took all the pressure off and made the hobby car fun.

My recipe for the last 15 years has been one DD, one running toy (MGB GT) and one project car. I think that I am going to streamline it to one DD and one project car. Seem to have lost the love of actually driving antique cars.

I've been there too. I now have a new BRZ and...nothing. Seems strange really. I sold the 370, sold the Cooper S, sold the 240Z. I just got tired of the non-stop needs.

What do you (did you) like about the car hobby? The people? the wrenching? the driving? Seeing other people's cool cars? being part of a team? Winning?

I think a lot of people think they like one but really like another more.

Maybe try to go volunteer for a race weekend or something? Do a car event but focus on some different aspect than you usually do.

SlickDizzy wrote: I'm not sure why, but I'm really feeling burned out on the car hobby lately. I used to look forward to every moment I could get into the garage and work on something, now it all feels like a big, never-ending chore. The Renault has basically become garage art, as I put what little time I have into keeping the E39 DD maintained, and that's not much fun. Every repair uncovers something else that needs to be repaired, and every time I'm behind the wheel I just obsessively think about more stuff that needs to be repaired! It feels like a never-ending battle, throwing parts at cars that you personally think are really cool and interesting, while it's basically just throwing money at an upside-down investment. It might be the fact that I'm now an adult with a "big kid job" and the accompanying responsibilities/obligations, and don't have a ton of free time to kill turning wrenches. Maybe I'm just spreading myself too thin between work and friends and hobbies, I don't know. Probably time, more than anything else. I still love driving but for some reason I find myself really drifting away from the car hobby lately. I'm getting really tempted to just go finance a new Mazda 3, sell the E39 and the Renault, and just have one vehicle with a couple fun-increasing bolt-ons for a while. You know, sort of clean my palate for a year or more before I get back into a true project. Heck, with what I spend on projects every month I could pretty much have my choice of the FR-S, FiST, whatever. And that sounds more appealing by the day. Has anyone else ever just found themselves getting pooped out on the car hobby? What did you do to get out of the slump? Am I insane for thinking of taking a step back for a while and just making payments on something new and fun, so I can enjoy actually DRIVING instead of just breaking my back working on stuff all the time?

I had a period of time where I was straight up burned out and didn't touch my car for quite a long time. My 924 was originally hit by a drunk. I repaired that damage. Then it was vandalized. The engine was ruined and needed rebuilt. I rebuild it, built up my megasquirt and it never ran right.

After a while of dabbling, and frustration, I had it running for a few weeks. The car got hit (again) by another drunk driver. I fixed that damage... yet again, and then the car was running odd. I got really frustrated, forgot to back up my tune, accidentally wiped my VE map and replaced it with the wrong one, and loaded a tune up from an old default setup and the car stopped running. I pretty much ragequit.

Finally, after the car was once again repaired, I decided to give it another shot. I got rid of the ignition system I was attempting to use, and ended up bringing the dizzy back to stock, installed MSD ignition, ran the MS off the tacho signal and told it to go fuel only. The car was finally running again, and reliably, and starting, and suddenly all the time I spent mad at it just sort of melted away.

I also decided to keep myself a rule of, "Only one non-runner" at a time. At one point I had a 911, 914, 924 ITB car, 924 turbo and regular 924... and at one point, only one of them ran reliably. Then it was two. Then it was 3... then one would break. I finally said "Forget this crap." sold them all off except a few, kept the runners, and bought myself a new project.

Since the rest run now, it was much easier to feel less overwhelmed, less frustrated, and concentrate on one major project at a time. Now that my 924 runs and drives, all it needs is tuning, and the rest is a cake walk. Unless it breaks again.

Sometimes it feels good too to go back and look at your progress and remind yourself how far you've come with progress on a car. Some days it helps me when I go, "UGH there's so much to do!"

Big +1 to the multi-car system.

Here's a for instance. The 635 puked, 100 yards from the house, 3 weeks ago. Crank, no start, something in the ignition. I spent 5 minutes diagnosing it and said berkeley it. It got pushed into its parking spot in the driveway and has been sitting ever since. I don't feel like working on it. It probably won't be touched until after vacation, a month from now. I might not fix it until after it cools down some, in September.

By the same token, I might decide I really want to take it for a spin and fix it tomorrow.

It really doesn't matter when I fix it.