Run a car to end of its life
Discussion
My 1999 Audi A6 C5, always a 'daily', purchased at 6 months old, went to the scrap yard this week. (Sob!). I did not quite get it to 239,000 miles, though (the average distance earth to moon).
Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
Edit for typo. (Audi A6 C5). Thank you, annodomini2.
Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
Edit for typo. (Audi A6 C5). Thank you, annodomini2.
Edited by Cliftonite on Monday 22 March 17:20
Sheepshanks said:
AC43 said:
When the first kid was due in 2004 my wife sold her Vespa and bought a 4 year old Clio. It was a nice spec for the time - leather, ac, sunroof, leccie heated mirrors and came with the 1.6 16v.
Over the following 16 years it served really well as the family's city car. For the first 15 years it was pretty faultless apart from the fact years the sunroof cartridge would loosen off and leak which eventually led to the alarm being fried and decommissioned. Other than that and a couple of broken springs it was just routine (and cheap) maintenance.
My wife had one of those! Both rear springs snapped at 4yrs old when the dealer hung the car from a 2 post lift (which they denied caused the lovely shiny breaks). Renault replaced the springs FOC.Over the following 16 years it served really well as the family's city car. For the first 15 years it was pretty faultless apart from the fact years the sunroof cartridge would loosen off and leak which eventually led to the alarm being fried and decommissioned. Other than that and a couple of broken springs it was just routine (and cheap) maintenance.
We sold it at 5yrs at a very big loss compared to its new cost as there was little demand for a small car with a 1.6 engine, and you could buy a new basic Clio then for about £5K.
The funny thing is, a boggo Clio 1.2 in a flat colour with none of the toys and a Fisher Price interior retailed for the same amount.
I found the same thing with the 500 I just bought - it had something like £1.7k's worth of extras and was on silly miles (under 16k) but was priced almost the same as a standard one.
In both cases I just waited and waited until the right one finally popped up.
I bought a new Toyota Yaris in 2005 as a runaround to tide me over for a few years. It was towed away in 2018 and 136,000 miles later after a white van side swiped it on a roundabout and was written off. It only needed tyres, brake discs and pads and a repair on a wiper connector. It was known as the cockroach as only being stamped on would kill it off.
I know have a VW Up Gti which I plan to fo the same with
I know have a VW Up Gti which I plan to fo the same with
Cliftonite said:
My 1999 Audi A6 C6, always a 'daily', purchased at 6 months old, went to the scrap yard this week. (Sob!). I did not quite get it to 239,000 miles, though (the average distance earth to moon).
Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
What finished the car then?Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
Lincsls1 said:
Cliftonite said:
My 1999 Audi A6 C6, always a 'daily', purchased at 6 months old, went to the scrap yard this week. (Sob!). I did not quite get it to 239,000 miles, though (the average distance earth to moon).
Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
What finished the car then?Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
aaron_2000 said:
Probably served it's use and was ready for a change I'd guess. I'd rather take the £450 scrap money than take a little more and deal with the kind of cretins that would message about a 240k A6
That's another good point about running a car to it's end. Long before it finally dies it does reach the value point where the last thing you want to do is deal with the people who would buy it and it's far too good to scrap so you just keep it for that final five or so years. Cliftonite said:
My 1999 Audi A6 C6, always a 'daily', purchased at 6 months old, went to the scrap yard this week. (Sob!). I did not quite get it to 239,000 miles, though (the average distance earth to moon).
Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
C5, C6 was 2004 onwards, but good cars.Still on original engine, turbo, clutch, gearbox. And exhaust (!). Always reliable. Never 'failed to proceed'.
I run my vans until they die at the moment I have a Nissan env 200 electric van . Bought it almost five years ago when they could not give them away.Paid £11250 able to claim full depreciation in year one so the van was very cheap , no road tax , no CCcharge reduced parking cost in Westminster zone and never been serviced still on original brake pads! At the moment it’s showing 49700 miles will keep until I retire I’m hoping that’s soon but could be five more years . Battery still showing 100% on display !
Might keep it after retirement as it costs sod all to run and it’s always handy having a shed type vehicle.
Might keep it after retirement as it costs sod all to run and it’s always handy having a shed type vehicle.
More and more ULEZ charges may make running older cars prohibitive and render them worthless to anyone but enthusiasts. People in London are now selling pretty well looked after older cars for this reason.
A lot of cars sold to scrapyards end up being exported rather than scrapped, or even sold on and put back on UK roads.
Someone I know sold a car to a dodgy mechanic who told her it was done for and he'd see to having it scrapped for her. She then saw it on the road a few weeks later.
A lot of cars sold to scrapyards end up being exported rather than scrapped, or even sold on and put back on UK roads.
Someone I know sold a car to a dodgy mechanic who told her it was done for and he'd see to having it scrapped for her. She then saw it on the road a few weeks later.
RichardAP said:
iacabu said:
My parents bought a 2006 Kia Picanto brand new, it's currently sitting at around 110k.
Had virtually zero money spent on it, although it's now requiring little bits doing more frequently. Not quite as orange as it once was either.
It certainly hasn't got heaps of life left in it but it's now surplus to requirements, so whether it'll find a buyer or get scrapped is any body's guess.
I have to say I applaud anyone who has done 110k in a Picanto, had one as a courtesy car once, possibly the worst new car I’ve driven.Had virtually zero money spent on it, although it's now requiring little bits doing more frequently. Not quite as orange as it once was either.
It certainly hasn't got heaps of life left in it but it's now surplus to requirements, so whether it'll find a buyer or get scrapped is any body's guess.
They've been happy with it so can't argue with the value for money.
Blakewater said:
More and more ULEZ charges may make running older cars prohibitive and render them worthless to anyone but enthusiasts. People in London are now selling pretty well looked after older cars for this reason.
A lot of cars sold to scrapyards end up being exported rather than scrapped, or even sold on and put back on UK roads.
Someone I know sold a car to a dodgy mechanic who told her it was done for and he'd see to having it scrapped for her. She then saw it on the road a few weeks later.
This is primarily a function of excess wealth. Like edible food being taken from the fridge to the bin in order to make room for something else. A lot of cars sold to scrapyards end up being exported rather than scrapped, or even sold on and put back on UK roads.
Someone I know sold a car to a dodgy mechanic who told her it was done for and he'd see to having it scrapped for her. She then saw it on the road a few weeks later.
We now have charges that mean using one's older car in London can incur a fee but many are choosing to spend thousands to exchange that car rather than their habits as a workaround. The truest indicator of excessive car usage in London being at the gates of primary schools where the catchment areas can be as small as 300 yds but large numbers opt to travel by car.
A major casualty of the chosen route to cleaner urban air is the profligate waste it is causing due to how it encourages excessive consumption such as the disposing of perfectly good vehicles and their replacement with new products that due to the much lower lifetime mileages of urban vehicles will take a very long time to start repaying on their initial pollution.
All of us used to run a 'City' or 'Station' car. It was typically the car that was bought new to be used for primary family duties and in old age became the car you used when you needed to park somewhere a bit grotty, or the car that simply sat stationary for weeks on end out side of a flat and was used once in a while, typically to leave Town.
In some ways it would have been more environmental to grant residents two days of the week when they could use their old car. That would have meant those old cars which were almost never used would not be triggers for a huge block of pollution through enforced replacement and those people who used their cars in a wholly unnecessary local pattern would be more likely to change their pattern than their car.
But the real threat to old cars isn't urban air zones but profligate and archaic consumer debt rules around automotive loans that facilitate extremely excessive consumption practices. Give the people the tools to obtain the 'shiny shiny' and the 'bigger is better' and they will naturally do so, while discarding the old while still serviceable. It's not exactly a coincidence that most practical classics only exist because they had at least one owner who was frugal and not an apex consumer moving from one chattel to the next as quickly as Equidax would permit them.
AmyRichardson said:
A childhood friend's parents owned a 760 Volvo that I can remember being driven to Devon in c.1993. If they hadn't bought it new then it was certainly nearly-new when they got it.
I saw on social media that their son took it to the breakers about two years ago.
(The family were a proper example of "non-consumerists by without trying" - generous, hard working, tidy but deeply unconcerned by 'fashion', saw cars as transport, knew everyone in the village, etc, etc)
Sad that he didn't restore it to its former glory. I saw on social media that their son took it to the breakers about two years ago.
(The family were a proper example of "non-consumerists by without trying" - generous, hard working, tidy but deeply unconcerned by 'fashion', saw cars as transport, knew everyone in the village, etc, etc)
Dav72D said:
My 2014 Vauxhall Ampera is paid for and costing hardly anything to run each day. Even using a small amount of fuel each day it averages 160mpg.
Now it's paid for I'm looking for a weekend car.... TVR?
The older EVs are already becoming the defacto station car. It doesn't matter if the battery on an old Leaf is shagged as all the car is doing is going a few miles a day from driveway to station and back. But the cost of purchase is still much higher than the comparable ICE for the same task at the moment. Now it's paid for I'm looking for a weekend car.... TVR?
I can see the i3 becoming the defacto suburban knacker in due course as it's CF body should mean it'll last for decades.
_Leg_ said:
I tend to buy and keep cars that I like and I enjoy the 'that's never x old??' conversations with people. I'm not one for 'latest is best' either.
Nice selection of cars you have there.Cars are so well made these days that they can go on and on for many years, especially if your mileage is low.
My other car is a 2010 E Class on 72k. Bought four years ago on 54k. I've recently had the wheels refurbed and have replaced a couple of ball joints. And I'm going to replace the air springs at the back at some point. Bar the odd paint imperfection it still looks and drives really well.
Then only thing that betrays its age is the infotainment system. I'm vaguely considering sticking an Android head unit in it - but I can stream using an after market dongle and that worked fine on my last 800 mile trip.
epicfail said:
I have had a Citroen C4 from new in 2005, currently on 167k miles. It will be with me till it's got nothing left to give. Also have a couple of Alfa GTV's, both over 100k, the twin spark might have to go but I can't see me ever selling the V6.
It'll have to be electronic or mechanical failure to kill the C4! They're all-aluminium from what I remember of my own. Quite a comfortable place to sit apart from a few quirks. If your glovebox hasn't already broken that's a surprise, but X8R on eBay made an aluminium replacement handle if you need it fixed.I liked my C4 in my ownership.
TWPC said:
Earthdweller said:
I bought my X3 new in 2015
Normally id change every three or four years but a couple of things made me decide to keep it
Firstly, it’s brilliant at what it does and fits our needs perfectly and the obvious replacement would be another one. I just can’t bring myself to lay out another 20-30k to continue driving something essentially the same but newer.
As it approaches six years old it’s got 64k on the clock and is like a new ( ish ) car inside and out and when not being used sits in the garage
It’s now essentially a free car as it’s paid for ... so for now it stays the intention being long term
Secondly, technology is changing so fast and the options are continually improving that it seems sensible to wait out to as close as 2030 as possible before jumping into a replacement, at which point the X3 will be 15 years old
Therefore I sit and wait and see what happens in the world of cars and taxation ... and well of course because of Covid it’s hardly getting worn out
I'm in a similar position to Earthdweller, having bought our Volvo XC90 new in 2010. Normally id change every three or four years but a couple of things made me decide to keep it
Firstly, it’s brilliant at what it does and fits our needs perfectly and the obvious replacement would be another one. I just can’t bring myself to lay out another 20-30k to continue driving something essentially the same but newer.
As it approaches six years old it’s got 64k on the clock and is like a new ( ish ) car inside and out and when not being used sits in the garage
It’s now essentially a free car as it’s paid for ... so for now it stays the intention being long term
Secondly, technology is changing so fast and the options are continually improving that it seems sensible to wait out to as close as 2030 as possible before jumping into a replacement, at which point the X3 will be 15 years old
Therefore I sit and wait and see what happens in the world of cars and taxation ... and well of course because of Covid it’s hardly getting worn out
Our third child had just been born and today it still fits our needs as a family wagon perfectly. It doesn't have the luxury of sitting in a garage but has survived the passing years in remarkably good shape apart from the occasional cosmetic dings and scratches inevitable from life in London. Any replacement would demand significant expenditure on something that would do the same job little better or with the uncertainty associated with a used purchase: there's great comfort to be taken from knowing the history of our car and the fact that we were lucky and got a reliable one!
Bought my X5 new, 4 years ago next week, with the intention of changing it this year, which was then going to be my last new car, to take into retirement.
However, the combination of not much option of a similar vehicle available without a significant cost to change, and with the newer ever more tech fest on new cars, and huge work uncertainty due to Covid for next few years before retiring (had no work for nearly 9 months last year) means I've now pretty much decided to keep this current one and just run it into the ground.
Plus, hoping that I'm now not tempting fate, its been the most reliable car I've ever owned, being faultless for the 4 years so far. Its only now done 36k miles as well, so should have plenty of life left in it, and its running costs are pretty low for a car of its type (its still on its original factory set of tyres for example)
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