Different approaches to car ownership

[darrenm]

This is something I often wonder about...

You could buy new and have no worries about maintenance costs, but suffer a whack a depreciation;

Buy something a few years old that is still nice but may require a little maintenance and suffer a little less depreciation;

Or just buy a few hundred pound crapper, spend no money on it, and scrap it after a while.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Defiant]

Ex-demo cars or anything that is less than a couple of years old with low mileage from a main dealer is the only way I ever buy cars - all the benefits of warranties, main dealer back-up (if anything did kick off you know your not dealing with someone who will break your legs) and a decent trade in on your current car if you twist their arm a bit, plenty of bargaining power to.

And most importantly, the depreciation hit has already been taken.

 

[darrenm]

Yes that seems like a sensible option.

Ideally I'd like a car that didn't depreciated, required no maintenace, an wasn't a piece of crap either.

I think I'm asking too much

 

[Effem]

Been bitten by heavy depreciation too many times on brand new cars in the past, so long since given up on that caper. I then bought 1 year old cars from the auctions and sold them on a year laterand that system worked well for a while. Now we have rising insurance, rising road tax, petrol at a £1 a litre and now our benefactors will be introducing tolls all over the place, the cost of running a carwill soonovertake ownership costs so drastic measures are needed to keep transport/motoring down the league table of monthly outgoings any household has. I now buy acar for a couple of hundred and then scrap it which works out the cheapest for me nowadays.

 

[Defiant]

Effem wrote:

Been bitten by heavy depreciation too many times on brand new cars in the past, so long since given up on that caper. I then bought 1 year old cars from the auctions and sold them on a year laterand that system worked well for a while. Now we have rising insurance, rising road tax, petrol at a £1 a litre and now our benefactors will be introducing tolls all over the place, the cost of running a carwill soonovertake ownership costs so drastic measures are needed to keep transport/motoring down the league table of monthly outgoings any household has. I now buy acar for a couple of hundred and then scrap it which works out the cheapest for me nowadays.

Would buying something like a few year old reliable 1.5 TDi Clio (off the top of my head) and running it into the ground not be a better solution? Or do you like the change?

 

[meninblack]

I buy stuff which is near to the bottom of the depreciation curve then budget a bit extra for maintenance.

I can run a Jag cheaper than my parents run their Honda Jazz - except for fuel!

 

[griffo104]

Effem wrote:

Been bitten by heavy depreciation too many times on brand new cars in the past, so long since given up on that caper. I then bought 1 year old cars from the auctions and sold them on a year laterand that system worked well for a while. Now we have rising insurance, rising road tax, petrol at a £1 a litre and now our benefactors will be introducing tolls all over the place, the cost of running a carwill soonovertake ownership costs so drastic measures are needed to keep transport/motoring down the league table of monthly outgoings any household has. I now buy acar for a couple of hundred and then scrap it which works out the cheapest for me nowadays.

This what I'll be doing. I bought a cheap Daewoo, amongst much laughing from friends, and yet 8 years later it's still going,never broken down, never failed to start. Ok it's pig ugly and the rust gives it a nice 2-tone feel to it.

But for me a car is functional - get's me where I need to get and that's it.

Rumours down here that Southend council are trying to get tolls on the A127 and A13 as the roads can no longer handle the traffic load on them. So the local train company, C2C, have already stated that they will have to put ticket prices up to handle the extra load on them.

You just can't win- everyone wants your money nowadays and you seem to get less for it as well.

there are serious road works on the M25 which are adding an extra hour+ to my journey back up to the Midlands.

How anyone wants to spend serious money for a car and then sit/crawl on the overcrowded roads doesn't make sense to me. Just shows you what a status symbol the car has become.

 

[Injector]

I run cheap cars, just above the 'banger' level - ie no rust, no oil leaks, no tired suspension etc. I keep them very well maintained andget rid when a major problem is just 'round the corner. I'm more comfortable with this policy than when I used to buy new cars and worry about them every time I parked the suckers and also that nasty word depreciation. PlusI get to change mycars often, which adds to my enjoyment. No long-running finance deals to see through. If you can live without status symbols I can thoroughly recommend this way of motoring.

 

[andrew1810]

Injector wrote:

I run cheap cars, just above the 'banger' level - ie no rust, no oil leaks, no tired suspension etc. I keep them very well maintained and get rid when a major problem is just 'round the corner. I'm more comfortable with this policy than when I used to buy new cars and worry about them every time I parked the suckers and also that nasty word depreciation. Plus I get to change my cars often, which adds to my enjoyment. No long-running finance deals to see through. If you can live without status symbols I can thoroughly recommend this way of motoring.

Bangernomics all the way for me

 

[earl of sodbury]

I just buy the best dull-mobile for about £2.5K that I can find and hope to run it for 3 - 5 years, so cost is £500 - £800 per annum - looks to be due soon

 

[Brown Bottle]

I take the company car route, I am now Gordon Brown's best friend.

 

[darrenm]

Well at the moment I seem to swap between ownership of cheeky french hatch-backs.

I've had a couple of 106 GTis that cost a few grand to buy and I enjoy them.

I guess they are towards the bottom of the depreciation chart, and I've never really spent any money maintaining.

I get bored and like to swap around, so I guess that if I sell before any spending is due, and try to get a good price, then I won't lose much money.

This should suffice until I grow up and need a proper car :Not Sure:

I think if I ever suffered major depreciation I'd cry for a while

 

[rockmeister]

tried all three routes...I love shiny new cars (had ONE... a polo...lovely smell a new car) but mostly I stick with my basic rule which is, research into quality, reliable makes that have at least some style...I want to like my motoring (Audi, Subaru, old M Benz etc) and then buy them on the '£1000 gets you one years trouble free motoring' principle...so if I buy say a 98 Subaru legacy for £3000, I'll run it for three years...after that it's 'free' and some old but good makes go on well beyond that. Best bargains to date were: 1992 Audi A6 avant, bought for 7500, ran for 9 years and current 1998 subaru legacy estate, bought for 2500 and so far been with me three, with no signs of illness yet! I should give an honourable mention to an old civic, which I paid 500 for and ran it for 2and a half years with no bills at all...sold it and still see it running around locally now...Honda eh!

 

[Ant]

My newest car has been a 1996 model. I've got a lot of friends in the car game so it works out cheap to run.

Spent £100 in 2 years, £68 in 2 years on the porsche as well

 

[wolfgang]

darrenmayne wrote:

You could buy new and have no worries about maintenance costs, but suffer a whack a depreciation;Buy something a few years old that is still nice but may require a little maintenance and suffer a little less depreciation...

If you are tryingto safe money like the majority of poor people like us then forget about depreciation.If your car is still functional, cheap to runand worth a lot then why wouldyou be stupid enoughtosale it.Secondhand dealers are obviously happy to take it off for next to nothing to resale for a profit for themselves not you. Some one who buy it will enjoy many years of trouble free motoring. And you the idiot have just boughtanotheraveragejob that costhuge amountto run, repairs in the months and years to come or worst a bomb waiting to kill you and your family.

 

[Guest]

i buy a car to use to earn me money if it cant do that i wont have a car plain and simple.

i bought a brand new berlingo multispace 2 years ago and it's more than paid for itself all ready so it's staying otherwise we take the bus and train everywhere.

 

[Jezzer]

I bought an Alfa Romeo... :Not Sure:

 

[Guest]

Jezzer wrote:

I bought an Alfa Romeo... :Not Sure:

muppetry

 

[Jezzer]

It was 'fun' while it lasted...