Are you into shite out of choice

[dollywobbler]

I'm skint, so that does force my hand a little, but the Rover has proved how much of a Nostalgia kick shite motors can give. It's why older folk get excited about older cars. Good times in the past that you try to connect with by buying cars from that time.

I liked my 1955 A90 Westminster, and my P6B, but good as they were, I couldn't relate to them like I can with the 416. I studied the brochure more than I studied for school. I remember my dad's 414 and the time the radiator fell apart. I recall a 216 hire car we used for a holiday.

New cars don't have that magic about them and cost a fortune. No brainer.

[Richard]

I see people who on the same sort of wage as me driving new cars so I suppose I could have one in theory. There are two reasons I don't- I don't enjoy my job enough to spunk 25% of my income on a car I will never own and I could never buy a new car as posh as the one I have now anyway.

[Sloth in a bowl]

I have a new modern (as I do 300 miles plus a week for work)

I have a classic (though twas cheap when I bought it)

I have a chod (it's a giggle to drive something different and I can learn how to maintain a car without worrying about screwing up)

 

 

Aye, for lower mileages newer stuff is fine if you've neighbours/wives who become twitchy with last-decade design. But as we all know, for high mileage motoring, the last thing you need is a modern contraption relying on hundreds of Chinese whispers via the multiple electronic networks before they'll even start. Let alone the yearly cambelt changes (at higher mileages) and other such mechanical bollox - and so financial pain - on recent motors.

 

For higher mileages something as old as Merc diesel or Saab 900 (the non-GM one) excels. Not only will they cover vast daily mileages without leaving you with back pain and a numb head, they'll do 2000 miles a week, year on year, without causing head-scratching at the workshop. Even a 1989 Vauxhall Cavalier would make more sense for high mileages many modern things.

 

I will expand.

1. I wanted a big fast hatchback and the vrs is both big (almost 1600 liters of space with seats down) is very rapid (it is a proper 150mph car) and I average over 37mpg on a tank of mixed driving (44mpg average from Brum to Lake district).

2. I have paid off the mortgage so the cost of a new car on 0% finance over 4 years isn't a stretch for me, it will probably be the only new, new car I ever get.

3. I'll be keeping it for at least 10 years and probably till the car dies, I expect to see over 200,000 miles out of it.

4. With 3 in mind I avoided diesels, modern autoboxes and electronic handbrakes. VAGs turbo petrol engines for the last 15 years seem to be fairly tough beasts and the fact that people can tune the AE888 motor to over 300hp with just an electronics reflash suggests that the standard 220hp isn't overly stressing the motor.

5. Other electronics, well I can't control the whim of the driving gods and most electronic fails are cheaper sensors that sit in harsh environments rather than the expensive stuff.

6. I still think that anybody that buys a new car and switches it in after 3 years is a muppet.

7. The seats are surprising comfortable for long journeys, at least the fronts are, I'm not so sure of the rear bench but I don't sit there.

 

I totally get the view that it is much cheaper to put high miles on old chod and bought my previous family motors based on cheapness, but this time I really wanted to push the boat out for space and power and to get an old car with the same performance (e.g. 10 year old Audi S8) would have meant spending up to £1500 a year more in fuel and still be prepared for big bills.

Anyway, after 6k miles in the Skoda I currently don't regret my decision. In 4 years time when it has 70,000 miles on the clock, is out warranty and starts throwing up random bollocks problems then I may have a different view.

 

If I won the Euro Million's I would keep 3 all 3 cars I own but would add a Ferrari Dino and some form of historic racer (Marcos?) to the collection as well a buy random old chod.

[purplebargeken]

Hmm, interesting question actually. 

 

My reasons:

 

I am cheap

I have feck all spare dosh

Modern cars are all boring as fuck

You get more bang for your buck

I have more of a chance of being able to fix something if I can get the energy levels up

Parts are fairly available

People on here swap/buy things

I like older cars

I get to piss the neighbours off (hopefully)

I know lots more people into the same shit as I am

The cars I have are from a time period I like.

I see no difference between chod/shitter/interesting car

 

Will add more if I can remember

 

Euromillions win? 

 

Very big Communist thing, A Yank car but not sure what. MG ZTT with 160 remap. Daf 44 in Mimosa with a 12v conversion. Early Lada of some flavour. Mk3 1.6XL Cortina in Daytona Yellow like my Dad had. Mk3 Granada 2.9 Ghia auto. All fully restored/no expense spared. However, I am pretty near to car nirvana with my current stable:

 

MGF VVC

Volvo Amazon

Rover 75

Triumph Toledo with the TR7 engine

Dolomite Sprint Project

[Leyland Lawrence]

mine is a choice to have cars that remind me of my happy childhood and cars i have a connection with, it would be too easy (but boring) to drive a brand new soul less euro shitbox, if this was the case i would not be me, if i won the euromillions i would literally be surrounded with magnificent shite

 

This is spot on. If I won the lottery you wouldn't find me anywhere near Ferraris and such like. I never saw them growing up; they're an expensive irrelevance. I have a newish z4 but it bores me (if I kept it for 25-30 years I'd feel totally different)). I'd genuinely derive a lot more enjoyment from a two door allegro or an orange Maxi, a yellow Volvo 343 or a maroon Princess - I saw so many of these growing up but i suppose I have to have something reliable and, probably more importantly, safe for today's roads when you're up against so many 4 x 4s.

[Six-cylinder]

I have tried a new car of my own rather than company supplied and bought a nearly new Fiat 500 sport diesel in black with red leather and chrome pack, looks stunning. but turbo lag and poor ride on 17 inch alloys stopped me wanting to drive it. After 14 months I had done 2000 miles and my wife asked me are you ever going to use the drive ornament! 

[scooters]

My biggest gripe about most modern cars is that they have ceased to be machines and are now consumables. Obviously this has been going on for years but it has reached daft levels. They express much that is wrong in our society..throw away culture, shallow image, lack of self reliance, flawed soundbite environmental science, over engineering, isolating people from other people and their environment, bloated bulky aggressive and hostile design (with a few exceptions) ...The automotive expression of the over reactive defensiveness of the general behaviour of people in our time. ..me...I prefer a more elegant vehicle from a more civilised time which is why I drive a CX.. (or at least I do when it's working!)

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I have to have a car newer than 6 years old due to licensing restrictions and my wife needed something newish to qualify for a substantial essential car user payment at her last job, but it pains me to think of what old chod we could have for the money tied up in our 2 daily's.

Interestingly we both arrived separately at a family barbecue yesterday,she in her old CLK and me in the ex-AngryFatha 600. The Gaylander and 300 with their super cold aircons both dropped off at home at the earliest opportunity.

If I could I'd be using something like a W126 S Class for work, or a 6.0 XJ40 or an old Lexus or Audi V8 or....".....

[Lukas]

I am thankfully not so tight as some here may be. I could affort a new car, bought only one car new in my life, a 2007 Subaru Impreza. Not a good deal, I drove it two years and sold it for half the price I paid for it.

 

The reason why I drive older, used cars as daily drivers is because I like to change cars every one or two years. Way too much depreciation if I did this with new ones. I don´t drive my old cars (87 + 89 Pajero, 86 Leone) much, hardly 1000km a year each, so they don´t count.

 

But I made the experience that the cheaper and older the daily driver were when I bought it, the more it cost me to keep it reliably running because the more I had to have it repaired and mantained. My 2007 Mazda 6 I bought last year needed nothing by now. No repairs, only one oil-change, and drove absolutely troublefree for 25.000km. In this time, the 1999 Volvo S80 or the 2000 Subaru Legacy or the 1996 Mercedes-Benz C220 Diesel were a lot cheaper to buy, but cost me more to run so it equaled out almost every time.

 

And if I have to choice of paying more money in the beginning and don´t need to care for frequent visits at a garage or if I pay less when buying it but need an expensive repair every month, I like to choose the first possibility.

 

L

[HillmanImp]

My logikkkk:

 

OPTION 1 - Buy a new car for £17,000. No worries about costs when it breaks down as its all under warranty.

OPTION 2 - Buy a 2nd had car approx 3 yrs old for £10,000. If this goes wrong it has the potential to cost thousands to repair.

OPTION 3 - Buy a car for under £1k. This is probably no more likely to break down that the £10k car (but might need a few more bits replaced for the MOT) but if it shits itself and is totally borked you wont lose more than £1k less the money saved in the time you have owned it compared to a £10-15k car.

 

I think option 1 is too much money I would prefer to spend on nice things. The 2nd is too much risk. The 3rd is the only sensible option for me. 

 

I used to always drive shitters for years and years. My mates kept saying 'Get a modern car Scotty, I don't know why you insist on driving all these old cars'. Eventually I buckled and bought a modern to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately I bought a Vauxhall. It cost me over £3k and sold it 3 months later for £625 as ALL VAUXHALLS R SHIT.

[dollywobbler]

As ever, the dilemma is always how much money to spend on shite. I've bought a £300 Rover. Bangernomics would suggest spending not a penny on it, but I want to get a cambelt fitted, perhaps some front discs (slight judder through the pedal), an Oxygen sensor is needed too even though it drives fine. I like to look after shite even if it's worth peanuts.

[cort16]

1 or 3 for me. I did 2 with that 520i I had and it was a disaster. The 5 series forum is full of tales of 8-9000 fubard 530ds with owners facing massive bills.

 

I do quite a lot if stuff with car finance at my work and it's not leasing that's for eejits it hire purchase .

Someone will buy a 14 grand car over 5 years at 8% flat a meaning they're paying 40 % (about 6000 quid) in interest. This means they're stuck in negative equity for about 4 years before they can get rid of the fuggin thing

[Lukas]

 

Buy a car for under £1k. This is probably no more likely to break down that the £10k car

 

This never worked out for me. If you buy the right, newer car (petrol, built in Japan, well cared for, not many new-car-toys), it will be less hassle than the old cheap one. At least that´s my experience.

 

But I plan on testing this. The 89 Pajero I bought very cheap (< 1500 Euro) will be pressed into daily service by september. Of course it needs ~ 2000 Euro spent before that, but that´s no surprise to me. I am very curious how this will work out.

[Angrydicky]

This is spot on. If I won the lottery you wouldn't find me anywhere near Ferraris and such like. I never saw them growing up; they're an expensive irrelevance. I have a newish z4 but it bores me (if I kept it for 25-30 years I'd feel totally different)). I'd genuinely derive a lot more enjoyment from a two door allegro or an orange Maxi, a yellow Volvo 343 or a maroon Princess - I saw so many of these growing up but i suppose I have to have something reliable and, probably more importantly, safe for today's roads when you're up against so many 4 x 4s.

Liked for the bit about exotic cars, they don't do anything for me either. However, I don't agree with the last section I'm afraid. I have faith in my driving skills to avoid the 'tards on the roads, as you should.

[mouseflakes]

Are you into shite out of choice?

 

No

[Lukas]

 

 I trust my driving skills to anticipate the 'tards on the roads, as you should.

 

This can only be said by a man that never had an accident. Last year on 24.12., an old man drove into my car. I couldnt do anything about it. Maybe my skills are not that good as yours though...

[Angrydicky]

Well someone crashed into my 2CV, from behind while I was stationary at some traffic lights, but that was a long time ago and shit happens. I certainly won't be replacing my old chod with a modern just because they've got seatbelts, airbags and all that jazz. If in the unlikely event I end up getting killed while out in one of my cars, then you can say I told you so. But until that happens, it's old cars for me all the way.

[chaseracer]

Chod is a choice for me.  I could always spunk the savings on a new motor but the combination of Musical Offspring and a four-year course at RNCM suggests a better use for available funds...

[SambaS]

Absolutely wouldn't have it any other way, all a lottery win would do would be speed up the repair of the fleet. And add a Diablo SE30, which I would use daily for a year at least, between using the Monza and the Jimp of course.

[forddeliveryboy]

I find £900-£1500 range can turn up stunningly good cars (when I last looked) - it's also the range in which the worst horrors exist for the unwary. Something sub-£400 is rarely going to be all that good for more than a few months of use unless you're prepared to spend quite a lot of time/money sorting it. Of course there are always exceptions. I bought a £350 diesel estate almost ten years ago which is still solid and smoking somewhere amongst family and friends. Nothing required beyond the usual brakes, tyres, cambelt, strut top bushes, lower arm bushes and a back box - except for a £15 starter solenoid and a couple of brake pipes.

[eddyramrod]

In the beginning I drove shite cars because that was all I could afford. Many years have gone by since those carefree days of a freebie 1960 Austin A40, and suchlike. The car was 18 years old, a year younger than I was. Now I'm driving a 1993 Mercury, for which I paid not very much really, and a 2007 Tacumablob for which I paid retail (but that was to get rid of the horribe Blazer). The Mercury is very much by choice. It is absolutely shite, as it was a low-selling model new and virtually unheard-of on this side of the Atlantic. As American cars go (and surely just that gives it a head start!) it has only fine hints of the style and luxury that drew me to the breed. But, it's cost me less than my stepson's Golf Blumotion lost in the first six months and is immeasurably more fun.

I just checked my Euromillions from last night: one number. What would I be buying? More old American shite mostly, but the finest examples I could lay hands on. I'd mostly avoid the hyped-up models in favour of more bread-and-butter stuff like late 50s station wagons. I might also keep something like a newish Transit for daily round-town duties. More important would be a suitable house to keep them at, I certainly wouldn't be staying in this little terrace! There must be a 4 bedroom bungalow for sale overlooking Windermere, with planning permission for a car barn...

[Felly Magic]

My mate is a strange one tbh, he adores Iron Curtainshite, but has a £300K Roller, a 2002 Bentley and a 55 plate Fezza 550 in his fleet too.

[gordonbennet]

I like maintaining good products well, and making them last as long as possible, i love getting an old car up to as good as new condition, mechanically anyway, bodywork depends on the type of car and use its getting.

 

I don't mind paying for quality in the first place whether its new or used, that applies to all products, but my idea of quality doesn't pair up with the computerised shit cars that been made for the last ten or more years.

Yes we could afford new cars but they do bugger all for us, my mate's always buying himself and his missus new cars, fuckin near on £30k for his missus' MINI....WTF!!!...i hate the sight of the bastard heaps, and her previous 3 spent more time in the workshops than on the road, utter shit, now on the 4th bastard.

 

I just aint having certain things, no wanky automanual gearboxes, i'd sooner slit me wrists than have an electric parking brake, i used to like Diesels when they were simple, now they're ticking bloody time bombs.

 

Only bought one new vehicle in me life, that was a Hilux, thats my idea of engineering excellence, simple and tough.

 

Unfortunately the lorry i drive at work is only 18 months old, had it from new and i keep it in good order, but as said in other posts thats got no soul either, if i want to all i have to do is point it and steer thereby reduced to a  steering wheel attendant, instead of that i control the auto gearbox manually and thoroughly enjoy getting better fuel figures than the sister lorries all driven in full auto...silly i know but i hate the fuckin computers that much that i feel compelled to prove to meself that i can still do it better matey.

 

I've asked work time and time again to get me a Hino (Toyota group) lorry, good old fashioned if it aint broke don't fix it engineering...a proper gearbox and real wiring that connects things like it should, even the mad Irish lads can't break the buggers.

 

Suppose i could pack me job in and buy meself a Hino, but too bloody old to start that owner driver shennanigans now, plus me job is too good to pack in.

 

Some of the lorries we have at work now sport electric parking brakes, what a load of bollox and one on demo at the mo has radar controlled cruise control which will brake the lorry automatically if you get too close to the vehicle in front.

Sounds great dunnit...yeah till the fucker goes wrong and jams the bloody brakes on full pelt at 55mph on a crowded wet motorway, the parking brake apparently will apply automatically too as it does in modern shit cars, but if like Passtas the bloody thing comes off when it feels like it there's gunna be 44 tons trundling off on its jack jones....all in all there's too much automated shit now and the more they put in the less i want to play.

[Bobthebeard]

Personally I like to run the cars now that I wanted when I was younger. A Honda Prelude being a favourite twenty five years ago.... Also recently had a Porsche 944.

I would look, and feel totally out of place driving something new and posh today. I don't have the income, clothes or lifestyle to run owt swanky. Nor would I wish too TBH.

I can live my dreams on a budget without the drawbacks and expense really.....

That's me firmly back in the 1980's/90's then. 2014 can FRO!

[Mr Lobster]

I wouldn't have said I'm into shite particularly - more that I just want my money's worth out of cars.

 

I tend to buy at two to three years old and run to ten plus or until it becomes economically unviable. Toledo was £6k at almost three years old and now after seven years and nearly 80k miles has been a pretty good investment (as far as cars ever can be) but is now at the point where an accident or significant mechanical problem would see it finished. At that point it'll be replaced with something two or three years old and the cycle starts again.

 

If I win Euromillions? I'll definitely have a Ferrari - F40 please. Other than that I'll have a load of '80s Renaults and Citroens just cos that's the sort of stuff I like.

 

Can't see any point in buying a new car and replacing it every three years, that seems like financial lunacy.

[holbeck]

/\ funnily enough I was only thinking today that a prelude  to smoke around in would be  nice.

 

For me it's both hobby, and choice.

 

It's just that there are an awful lot of chod cars that I am interested in, and there's no better reason needed to run around in one.

[Lacquer Peel]

I'm into shite to make other people into shite feel bad for spending so little money on their shite.

[AlabamaShrimp]

At what point does new become chod? In ten years will people be on here wishing they still had that (insert crap car) that they weighed in or whatever?

[HH-R]

There's a few reasons I'm into shite motors:

 

1) I'm stuck somewhere in the late 90s and lust over the sort of motors I grew up with and what my brother and his mates had when they first started driving - 205s, Metros, that sort of thing.

 

2) My cars always end up getting trashed, not though being careless but just being used. My current car was 2nd hand when I bought it but low mileage and in really nice nick. In a year, the interior is rattly and needs suspension parts replacing due to crap roads and a council obsessed with speed bumps, exterior has some nice dents in from careless people opening their doors in car parks, and the interior is minging from too many trips to DIY shops and the tip. If I bought a brand new car it would look shabby by its 1st birthday.

 

3) Motor finance is a total ripoff.

 

4) A long term keeper for me is 18 months, I get bored and have itchy feet for new motors all the time!

 

I reckon if I won the lottery I'd just have a collection of 80s chod, 70s/80s buses and maybe a new Dacia Sandero if I was feeling a bit posh.

[forddeliveryboy]

At what point does new become chod? In ten years will people on here be wishing they still had that (insert crap car) that they weighed in or whatever?

 

Possibly - what do we think are the finest machines, post 2007?