What floats yer boat?

[Bren]

I have noticed more people on here buying new / nearly new - nothing wrong with that, you get peace of mind as cars are becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to work on. Plus as you get older it becomes increasingly difficult to contort yourself during the course of repairs.

 

Me personally I look for something oldish with good provenance and without starship mileage. My A6 was a 50 k car - at 11 years old (when I bought it in 2015)and £5k it was not cheap however as I looked after the car and only added another 10k I still got £2900 privately.

 

My previous vectra 1.9 cdti cost me £3600 in 2012 - again sold privately in 2015 for £2450 - it had 74k on the clock and went very quickly.

 

I try to sell before the car becomes worthless, as I now only cover low miles I dont really need a diesel and I can indulge in something a bit thirstier than the norm.

 

I viewed a very nice BMW 545 - 2004 with 85k on the clock. Unfortunately I had to put things on hold as my mortgage deal expires end of the month so I needed to get that sorted first.

 

A 14 year old BMW is potentially a money pit but everything has an element of risk - I would sooner have something like this than a nine year old focus for the same money.

 

So, what floats yer boat?

[sierraman]

No I just buy them when they are practically worthless, then first big expense like clutches or head gaskets, it gets weighed in. Works for me. Usually see a year or so out of them, net cost usually inc scrapping it is probably £500 a year.

[Simonsays]

I'm lucky really. As I have an 80 mile commute I need something frugal to haul me to work and back 4 days a week for the next 4 years till I retire. Step forward my 14plate Nissan Note diesel which I was able to pay cash for. Currently returning 75mpg. Hopefully this should meet my requirements with some life to spare when I retire.

 

This leaves space in my life for one other car for weekend use. Currently a Volvo bought for not too many £££'s (although it's had a bit of work since) If it lasts a year or two then I'll count myself lucky. If it grenades tomorrow then its scrapped and I'll move on to the next thing that catches my eye with few regrets

 

I have nothing but respect for the members who run chod 'fulltime' but for me... It's just a hobby really.

[Wingz123]

The way I think is this....

 

I want a comfortable, economical car that doesn’t give me the stress of worrying too much about it getting knocked in a car park. It isn’t me...its others! And its just my luck that I come back to the car dinged.

 

I have often thought about buying a 2/3 year old Audi Q5 or BMW X5 BUT it would only stress me out more worrying about it getting knocked and life is stressful enough as it is!!

 

So I like the idea that if something went majorly wrong I wouldn’t cry about it and if it wasn’t cost effective to repair I would simply move on. That applies for all except my 13’ Prius! I bought that and a friend of mine rents it from me.

 

And as many say about older vehicles, I like the fact that in order to diagnose an issue process of elimination is often used. That Mitsubishi Spacewagon I own and have replaced bits on, never have I owned a car that is so easy to work on (I mean from an access point of view) loads of room!

 

I am trying to scale back my car collection as I really have too many cars for the space I have.

 

So with a fondness for older vehicles, I will work/repair/service my own vehicles to save money and just continue with routine maintenance to keep the car going. My A6 has 130k on (bought it 3 years ago with 105k) everything has been done (cambelt and clutch etc) so really is no point changing the car - in theory with the mileage the PD130 AWX engine is capable of it may (and hopefully) last me some years yet! I still drive it to Spain too!

 

A bit of a jumble but like the idea of a newer car but not the stress/worry I would endure worrying about where it was parked all the time!

 

Hopefully some can make sense of the above!

[davehedgehog31]

There are good cars to be had for around 500 quid, or a good wedge less if you're prepared to buy the least fashionable of wheeled conveyances. 

 

I've tried a few approaches to motoring and I think this is my preferred method, you're riding your luck to an extent but law of averages means it will almost always work out as by far the most cost effective approach if you buy well. 

 

I don't really like having a car thats worth much more than a grand, if it throws up a few hundred quid of a bill then you feel you need to see to it. If it's some 400 quid shed, you judge it on the car's service to date and how good you know the rest of it to be then decide to fix it or frag it. Also don't need to worry about where you're parking it and halfwits bumping into it.

 

Of course, I negate all of this thriftiness by having two of the fuckers and wanting to get a new one every two months. Would rather endure the depreciation on a 300 quid shitbox than chopping in something newish.

 

Edit to add - Thankfully I actually like older cars anyway, Money aside I just like my 405. I like it's simplicity, visibility and the fact it's a bit different these days.

[Jewel25]

I bought my 45 at 65k when it was 10 years old. It's now done around 125,000. It's had aclutch , a couple of back boxes and a rear caliper. More recently it has started to need welding , brake line replaced and will now need another caliper along with more welding. Virtually every panel is mint as it the interior , but the jobs are mounting up and the MOT expired. It's almost impossible to find the time with kids. Our Mazda 6 is on 134,000 and is our daily now - 7 years younger and feels like it will go in and on.

 

It's probably got a couple of years left our 6 , afterwards I'm not sure what to do. I won't have the time to make right a £1500 car like I did with the 45.

 

Maybe a 3-4 year old Hyundai with a bit if warranty left but you are still looking at 7k for an i20 . Is it better to buy nearly new and run it for 10+ years ?

[Shep Shepherd]

Any large, fast, interesting, petrol-engined, pre-2001 European-made car in decent condition up for less than £1000. 

[Jim Bell]

If its £400 or near £400 or can be £400 then the buoyancy of my boat is sufficient for it to usually be floated.