For these guys, buyer's remorse doesn't last long

Imagine changing cars as often as you change your wardrobe. That roadster you bought last year? It's so 2007. Time for something fresh. It may seem like a fantasy, but it's not for a small segment of buyers.

"It will come over me so quickly. The night before, everything's fine, and I won't think about it," said Bill Owen, a graphic artist who lives in Norfolk. "All of a sudden I think, 'I have to get a new car, and I have to do it right now.' "

Owen, who drives an Audi A4 Cabriolet, has never put more than 12,000 miles on any of the 30-plus cars he has owned.

"Right now, I've got friends with bets riding on when I'm going to get rid of that Audi," he said. "As a matter of fact, someone just lost a bet this past weekend. They thought I was going to get rid of it."

He's not the only owner who is driven to replace his cars frequently.

Lin Miller, a real estate agent from Norfolk, has been driving a BMW 335i since May. Even though he describes it as "the sexiest car I've ever had," Miller knows what's in store.

"It will probably be gone by Christmas," he said.

There's little rhyme or reason as to how often Miller or Owen buys a car.

"I don't care what the price range is if it hits the buttons," Miller said. "It can be a $25,000 car; I don't care what it costs. For me, it's completely an aesthetic thing."

The longest Miller has owned a car is almost two years.

"I just couldn't find anything compelling," he said. "I would go to car lots and say, 'Doesn't anyone want to come home with me?' And none of them looked right. I was going through a dating drought in the car market."

Owen's 2005 Ford Thunderbird lasted 18 months.

"It had no headroom at all," he said. "I had to lean all the way back and still my head would brush the roof. I thought, 'If this thing goes over, I'm dead meat.' "

Most of their cars don't last that long, which leads to its share of short-term relationships.

"There were some that were like bad dates; I knew they were mistakes almost instantly," said Miller, citing an Infiniti G35 he owned for 71 days.

Another short-timer was a Porsche 944. "I hated that car; Fred Flintstone's car was more comfortable than that thing," Miller said.

He liked his 1991 Toyota MR2 until he went to Home Depot.

"I took the T-tops off, but nothing would fit in the car," Miller said. "So I paid $20 to a lot attendant to watch my stuff and went down to Charlie Barker's and came back in a new Toyota 4Runner."

Owen loved the Volvo S60 he bought after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"I thought, 'Well, I'll keep the economy going' and went out and bought a new car. I liked the size and look of it."

But the love affair waned after five months.

"I began to feel that it was an old man's car," Owen said. "One of my friends accused me of being old and that's all I had to keep me going."

Of course, owning a car a short time has its advantages, such as having a car that's always under warranty.

"I had a client once ask me where to buy tires," Miller recalled. "I said, 'I don't know, I never had to buy tires.' "

Neither Miller nor Owen finds their habit unusual.

"It's sort of like people who browse through a department store and see a coat that they have to own," Miller said.

Owen added, "The person not doing the car thing probably has 150 pairs of shoes in their closet and can't go past Nordstrom without getting a new pair. I think everyone has something."

And depreciation? Well, that's part of the game.

"It's really not a lot more than what people put into their hobbies," Owen said.

Still, their hobby isn't cheap, says Rob Gentile of Consumer Reports.

"Average depreciation in the first year is about 30 percent or so. Obviously, it's different depending on which car you're buying. We don't advise it."

But for those who trade cars often, Gentile has some advice. "If you are going to do that, you're better off leasing it. You tend to get a better deal."

John Hall, general manager of Checkered Flag BMW Mini in Virginia Beach, says frequent buyers are few, but most tend to be men. "They may not have other hobbies, and they reward themselves. It's a pleasure for them. They know it's going to cost them a little bit more, but they feel that they can indulge themselves."

For frequent buyers, it's having that hot new ride that matters most.

"I think the second I buy that new car, I'm looking for the next one," Owen said.