An addiction CR might be sympathetic to....

[Geeto67]

This is fascinating:

 

http://jalopnik.com/the-bmw-addiction-that-completely-destroyed-this-man-s-1794882542

 

some highlights:

 

“Before we get to your car questions,” my former next door neighbor, Terrance, said, “I need to tell you both something. My wife left me. My kids won’t talk to me. I lost my job. I embezzled almost a half a million dollars because I’m addicted to BMWs, and have been hiding them all over the state. I’ll probably be going to prison soon.”

 

My wife and I looked at each other in utter disbelief.

 

Owning 42 more vehicles than his family thought he did, Terrance looked beyond his driveway for storage. “I had a friend who ran a salvage business, storage place, and had 30-plus cars sitting at his place,” in Weld County.

 

And then there were the massive caches of parts he kept elsewhere. “I did get a chance to see, when we were helping him move stuff, some storage places by Boulder and other places” Steven Weber told me. “He actually had these storage places completely full of parts. I never knew the scope of how into this obsession he was with his cars... I can’t even comprehend it,” he said.

 

He also had 12 other BMWs stored in the parking lot of the company he worked for. Not only did he have cars stored on their lot, he filled empty units in the building with yet more BMW parts. “FedEx and UPS used to show up at my office every day with stuff that I bought off of eBay for these cars,” Terrance recalled. “There was some unfinished space in our building that hadn’t been built out for a tenant that was literally filled with BMW parts.”

[Miller]

I empathize with this gentleman.

[Geeesammy]

Kinda reminds me of a CR member who is caught up in the persona of a know it all lawyer who does no wrong.

[Geeto67]

Kinda reminds me of a CR member who is caught up in the persona of a know it all lawyer who does no wrong.

 

kinda reminds me of a CR member who is a dick on the internet and then cries to people in real life that he is going nowhere....oh wait...you remind me of that...because that is something you actually did.

[Forrest Gump 9]

That's gonna be me in five years. But Mercedes and AMG instead of BMW. I need to talk to a professional head doctor

[Geeto67]

It does put in perspective some of the obsessiveness of the automotive hobby and how a lot of it is given a pass.

 

I'm not saying everyone who has a large collection has something wrong with them, I had almost 30 vintage motorcycles myself at one point, just that when it does get out of hand it can get ugly fast and go largely unchecked.

[Geeesammy]

kinda reminds me of a CR member who is a dick on the internet and then cries to people in real life that he is going nowhere....oh wait...you remind me of that...because that is something you actually did.

 

Everything I own is still nicer than yours and im a fraction your age

Keep swinging, eventually you'll get a single.

[Geeto67]

Everyrhing I own is still nicer than yours and im a fraction your age

Keep swinging, eventually you'll get a single.

 

All this and superficial, shallow, and materialistic too...you are quite the catch!!!!

[zeitgeist57]

I saw that article floating on Jalopnik, but just took the time to read it. Very well-written article and I appreciate the depth of David's questions. This is definitely a problem amongst car people that I see all too often, especially with one-on-one conversations where car people.

 

I have no sympathy to a married man with children and a good career that chose to give in to his obsession in this way....be it BMWs, hookers, drugs. I certainly feel similar urges as a passionate man involved in the car game, but you gotta have balance in your life if you want to make it to your 50s without being a shell of a man.

[Geeto67]

I have no sympathy to a married man with children and a good career that chose to give in to his obsession in this way....be it BMWs, hookers, drugs. I certainly feel similar urges as a passionate man involved in the car game, but you gotta have balance in your life if you want to make it to your 50s without being a shell of a man.

 

If you have felt similar urges then you certainly have felt sympathy. And I struggle to think that you don't feel sad for other people's misfortune's in general.

 

I think you are trying to say you don't feel enough pity to excuse or overlook the lengths he went to or the crimes he committed which is completely fair - he doesn't think so either. These were all signs of mental illness, one that if it were drugs or alcohol or hookers would have identifiable treatment paths, but it manifested itself in a hobby that is very tolerant of obsessive behavior.

 

You have to be pretty subconsciously miserable to want to burn your life down in general, to do it in this way was just a miserable person chasing his metaphorical opium.

[Wease]

My wife isn't happy that I own as many cars as I do, but it doesn't affect my life like this dude.

[SpaceGhost]

 

I have no sympathy to a married man with children and a good career that chose to give in to his obsession in this way....be it BMWs, hookers, drugs. I certainly feel similar urges as a passionate man involved in the car game, but you gotta have balance in your life if you want to make it to your 50s without being a shell of a man.

 

^What Clay said.

[90G60]

Good read. Reminded me of this

 

[Forrest Gump 9]

I actually know someone here in Cbus with an underground garage full of cars that he sometimes surprises himself with what he found. Easily worth $2+ million in that one garage.

[verse]

I wish the article told me what happened to all the cars. I mean 50 BMW 2002's could at least pay off a chunk of that restitution. Does he still have some hidden that they never knew about? I'd imagine with 50 cars, he probably had a couple that are still hidden.

[Geeto67]

I wish the article told me what happened to all the cars. I mean 50 BMW 2002's could at least pay off a chunk of that restitution. Does he still have some hidden that they never knew about? I'd imagine with 50 cars, he probably had a couple that are still hidden.

 

Some of the comments did discuss it, but not in great detail.

 

Some of the cars were seized by the courts and used to pay restitution and legal fees. although I am just speculating I am going to assume the cars and parts he had stashed at his employer's were probably among those since it would be really easy to do so. If that is the case they would have been auctioned through state run auctions where they could have traded for pennies on the dollar. I imagine being a financial crime they would have also suspended all his accounts and seized his other assets as well. that's the thing about special cars - sometimes it requires a special way in which to market and sell them to get maximum value and when they go into areas where people are usually trying to get a deal and pay as little as possible and don't really care about how special the car is - stuff sells cheap.

 

Some of the cars sat in storage until he got out and he was able to collect them. It is mentioned in the article he kept at least one (the E39 540I wagon) that is serving as his DD. Still he probably had to sell a few to pay for legal defense or trade them for debts owed (since he has no cash to pay). The article says he only has one car left and I believe it, it seems like he swung the other way and is now avoiding the trouble at all costs.

 

if you go down the comments far enough there is a picture of the cars he had parked at his work from google street view (6 bmw 2002s, An E28 M5, and his E39 540i wagon):

 

[ImUrOBGYN]

Kinda reminds me of a CR member who is caught up in the persona of a know it all lawyer who does no wrong.

C'mon, man. Stay on topic. Don't tell me that Supra couldn't use some of that energy.

 

That's one crazy addiction. As for those who have zero empathy, you simply don't understand the man's craziness. Which is why instead of putting him down, you should be thanking life you're lucky enough not to suffer from an obvious mental issue. I'm not saying he didn't fuck up, but I believe it's healthy to have a little human compassion and understanding. Keep an open mind for something you cannot understand and have never experienced.