When to retire a middle-aged car

[Sheepshanks]

greggy50 said:

It's a Honda it will probably outlive you if you service it regularly

The Jazz is pretty bulletproof pretty simple car and a simple reliable engine I would say it could do 250,000 miles with ease if give it a service every year. Only thing that may go is possibly a clutch/suspension bushes (maybe shocks) just through age apart from that would be routine maintenance I would say.

Older Jazz's do have issues - gearbox bearings, suspension, a/c compressor, C post seals to the roof (boot fills with water) etc. We had a 2003 one and changed it in 2009 when the gearbox started getting noisy (although at about that time Honda did extend the warranty to, I think, 8yrs).

Up until that point I hadn't spent a penny on it apart from routine servicing and tyres so thought it was a good time to get out of it.

[greggy50]

Sheepshanks said:

Older Jazz's do have issues - gearbox bearings, suspension, a/c compressor, C post seals to the roof (boot fills with water) etc. We had a 2003 one and changed it in 2009 when the gearbox started getting noisy (although at about that time Honda did extend the warranty to, I think, 8yrs).

Up until that point I hadn't spent a penny on it apart from routine servicing and tyres so thought it was a good time to get out of it.

Apart from the gearbox they all sound pretty cheap fixes to me though to be honest...

Maybe keep it until the gearbox gets rumbly?

[AndyNetwork]

Up until March this year, I ran a 13 year old Octaivia estate. I used to budget £200 a year for servicing (or £300 if I knew it needed a cambelt), £160 a year for a couple of tyres, and £200 for getting it through it's MOT.

Quite often, I was not over budget (perhaps once when it cost a bit to get it through its MOT, but that turned out the guy who serviced it last, hadn't done half the work he billed me for - but that's another story)

Only changed it because it had started to leak water in (and it smelled dreadful), needed a cambelt service and a clutch, plus front suspension work and some electrical investigations - Things not working when they should, and other things (electric windows) working when they shouldn't.

[Paul O]

"Drive it to the ground" is a situation that will rarely - if ever - happen. The car won't simply collapse all Herby style one day, more likely you will get more and more bills for repair, with increasing regularity.

By continuing to run it and pay the maintainence, you will continue to drive the car. You have to pick a budget (or breakdown frequency) at which you think is beyond the limit you want to continue to pay annually - then get rid.

[Sheepshanks]

Paul O said:

"Drive it to the ground" is a situation that will rarely - if ever - happen. The car won't simply collapse all Herby style one day, more likely you will get more and more bills for repair, with increasing regularity.

In our extended family quite a few people run cars for a long time - they don't usually fail catastrophically, they usually just increasingly have more and more niggles, or intermittent faults develop such that you lose confidence in relying on the car.

I suspect with tighter MOTs, many cars are going to be killed off by ABS or airbag warning lights.

[skyrover]

Paul O said:

"Drive it to the ground" is a situation that will rarely - if ever - happen. The car won't simply collapse all Herby style one day, more likely you will get more and more bills for repair, with increasing regularity.

By continuing to run it and pay the maintainence, you will continue to drive the car. You have to pick a budget (or breakdown frequency) at which you think is beyond the limit you want to continue to pay annually - then get rid.

Erm... a car will last as long as you look after it.

Typically you are looking at.

Oil/Fluid Changes
Cam Belt/Chain
Ball Joints
Bushes
Electric motors/switches/connections/sensors
Alternator
Power steering pump
Clutch
Wheel Bearings
Rubber Seals

These will require your attention normally before something terminal such as bad rust or catastrophic engine/gearbox failure.

[lowdrag]

Re above, I don't think cam chains need attention. Have had two Mercs over the last 22 years doing 250,000 each and neither had a cam chain change. In all I spent less than £4,000 on the pair in repairs in all that time. My daughter has had her Jazz nearly nine years and hasn't had a problem at all with it, unless you call a gas recharge for the aircon a problem.

[va1o]

Twilkes said:

So I can get an idea of costs, if anyone has a 5-6 year old car, how much would you expect to pay in servicing/maintenance in an average year? Anyone had a few clear MOTs with no maintenance costs at all?

That's the worse age to buy at in my experience as its the point in the cars life when it's still worth a fair chunk of value but things start to wear out and go wrong. When it's older you'd just accept its not worth much and has a few niggles, and when it's newer you're covered by warranty. It's that middle age half way point that seems most expensive to me.

[ch108]

My Astra is approaching 8 years old this year. I've owned it 4 years already with no plans to get rid. It only had 19,000 on the clock when I bought it and has now just turned 50,000 miles. (It was an ex motability car, i think last owner hardly used it). It failed its MOT last year due to cracked rear springs and outwith normal servicing/tyres that is the only cost I've had. It passed its MOT no problem this year and has just been serviced.

If I was to buy another car two or three years old its likely to have 20-30,000 on the clock, which isn't that much less than on my own car, so it doesn't seem worth spending the money.

Cars have progressed in the last few years. Gone are the days when a 10 year old car was fit for the scrapyard.

[regprentice]

If its anything like my jazz then its seemingly invisible to other carpark/road users an will pickup a stupid amount of dings and scratches over time. The bodywork and paintwork aren't brilliant - i was surprised to find my cat could put significant scratches in the paintwork!

My car (an '09') had a 5p piece sized hole in the paint which was starting to rust. No idea how it happened. you really just need to keep on top of the paintwork to prevent the start/spread of rust. a proper colour matched touchup kit can be had for 20 quid.