Time to sell the car

[Exonian]

That UP! lease deal is superb.

To the OP, don't be too hasty in getting rid of the Golf.
We all get patches where we get nothing but bad luck with our cars and I won't bore you with mine here but I will say that the advice about running an old banger as well as a decent car is sound.
For years and years I've run an old sh!tter alongside a decent Golf or equivalent of some sort which is used for all the jobs that I won't use my Golf for - supermarkets, shopping in general, car parks of any description, running to the dump, picking DIY stuff up etc etc.
Yes it's an additional cost but the wear and tear is much less on the Golf, meaning (aside from blow outs like I had last week) I don't have to stump up for 235/35/19 tyres at nearly £200 each every year and old cars cost peanuts to service, have much less to actually go wrong and you don't bother fixing scrapes and dents.
Then when the mood suits you have the nice shiny Golf GTI/D/E/R sat outside (and being as you don't use it so often it actually feels quite quick so you don't spend endless amounts of cash modifying it either once you're used to the power and it starts to feel slow).

[CraigW]

Let me get this straight. You have now had three dents, two of which have been caused by your own wife and one in a car park which was unfortunate but can happen to any of us. For this reason, your going to sell the car and lose £4 grand and move to a banger.

Sorry, your reasons for selling don't seen justified to me. Just to tell your wife to be more careful and that will reduce your stress levels

[mjh_056]

Had incidental damage inflicted on all my previous cars but have become very good at not dwelling too much on those that am aware of and definitely do not go seeking them out, if cannot see them standing back then certainly not going to worry about them

Have had to get a scrape that was given to me repaired but outside of that most that lived with just go with territory of car being used daily through each year.

If had collector car would take different view but not going to sacrifice driving a car enjoy being in and seen in for a few wear and tear marks only I can see.

Also if ensure park sensibly then forgive self fully if anything happens as not like can do anything else except never take off the drive!

Yes all very pragmatic but it really is only way to be and still enjoy the car.

On final note, do think colour choice helps, the 2 black cars that had on plain and metallic showed every mark yet this pure white is totally forgiving to the eye. Even when really dirty you only notice how bad when wash it.

Was thinking of the lapis Blue for R may be getting but having recently seen an R in white might just stay on that colour due to nice contrast it gives you with black trim and the aforementioned forgiving nature to dirt and nicks.

[Booth11]

As above really.

I think you just have to accept that a getting few dings comes with the territory of having a car, any car.  The simple fact is you can't completely avoid these things, unless you don't use a car at all. 

As for getting a cheap second car as a runabout, that's a fair option BUT you could use it daily for supermarket chores etc and it might never get a mark on it, equally you could take your precious GTI/GTD/R whatever, out once a month and be super careful about where you park but could still end up with a massive stone chip in the bonnet the minute you take it out of the garage.

Life's too short to worry about these things.  As someone else said the first cut is the deepest but after a couple of marks/dents, you become a little more philosophical about these things.  And if it is the wife is inflicting most of the dints then tell her to mend her ways or trade her in instead of the car 

[Exonian]

As for getting a cheap second car as a runabout, that's a fair option BUT you could use it daily for supermarket chores etc and it might never get a mark on it, equally you could take your precious GTI/GTD/R whatever, out once a month and be super careful about where you park but could still end up with a massive stone chip in the bonnet the minute you take it out of the garage.

Life's too short to worry about these things. 

Yep, been there and wrote the book! Grrrrrrrr
An old neighbour of mine has a lovely T5 and swore blind the more he looked after it the more it became a magnet for trouble.
It was ALWAYS having something unfortunate befall it. Poor chap!

[monkeyhanger]

Keep the Golf, buy a sh!tter and make the wife drive the sh!tter. When this thread started I hadn't realised she'd done 2 of the 3 incidents. 

My mate Stu has an accident-prone wife, she's always scraping the car, so she has a battered old Volvo V40, and as long as she scrapes a shop's oversized wheely bin or a bollard rather than another car, he's not bothered.

[Exonian]

Keep the Golf, buy a sh!tter and make the wife drive the sh!tter. When this thread started I hadn't realised she'd done 2 of the 3 incidents. 

My mate Stu has an accident-prone wife, she's always scraping the car, so she has a battered old Volvo V40, and as long as she scrapes a shop's oversized wheely bin or a bollard rather than another car, he's not bothered.

That's precisely the same for me.
My wife refuses to drive my GTI and won't even go on the insurance. So the old sh!tter we have now that we've had for about six years has been hit at least twice on the front bumper (parked, after she's been using it), one on the rear with her reversing. Not to mention mysterious faults and noises that only appear when she uses it!!! Grrrr! 

[charv94]

Cars are precious, but do you honestly think the novelty of not worrying about it being whacked will wear off when you finally realise how much of a piece of crap you are driving because of the threat of damage. Downgrading is ever so difficult. Dad went from 911 to a TT when they launched the last gen. That lasted 6 months. Then he was back in a 911. He also ran a golf to keep miles off the Porsche, but that was quickly binned for a 3 which he felt happier in.

You will lose the novelty of cheap and cheerful. 4k is also a huge hit. That makes your 500 banger actually cost you £4500 so is it worth it?

[Exonian]

Cars are precious, but do you honestly think the novelty of not worrying about it being whacked will wear off when you finally realise how much of a piece of crap you are driving because of the threat of damage. Downgrading is ever so difficult. Dad went from 911 to a TT when they launched the last gen. That lasted 6 months. Then he was back in a 911. He also ran a golf to keep miles off the Porsche, but that was quickly binned for a 3 which he felt happier in.

You will lose the novelty of cheap and cheerful. 4k is also a huge hit. That makes your 500 banger actually cost you £4500 so is it worth it?

Your dad is obviously not skint and is a car enthusiast(?) so it's not like he's gone to a £500 sh!tter that's already covered in dents and marks. He's gone to another mint condition new car but just not one he's as comfortable with or has any particular attachment to. Merely a convenience purchase but still something he wants to keep in good condition.

£4500 isn't quite the figure as the £4k depreciation has happened no matter what, that's just normal new car depreciation and is gone, written off. The £500 isn't on top if the Golf goes, if the Golf has finance on it then I'm sure at least £500 could be saved there alone (but we won't go into potential repair costs of an old heap as some you run for years and nothing goes wrong and some are a nightmare from the start - and probably that's why they were being sold in the first place).

Cars are always a financial drain but are generally preferable to taking the bus...

[dubber36]

My wife refuses to drive my GTI and won't even go on the insurance.

Isn't it cheaper to have her on whether on not she drives it? My Mum has a license, but hasn't driven for 40+ years. She's probably forgotten how to. Dad still puts her on as a named driver as it brings the premium down.