whats wrong with us!
Discussion
just back from seeing family in the USofA ye ha lol
Anyway i was there seeing family and got to talking about cars. All of the 3 cars my family were driving had 100k+ miles on them and my sister in-law said that cars with these miles are very common in the states. They just dont seem to be shied away from like over here. There seem to be this psychological barrier for car that have crossed that mile marker of 100,000! Like they some how have came to the end of there lives, that the car could implode at any time now. However the yanks have no such hang-ups. cars with over 100k in the states does not seem to drop in value like in the UK. Why ?
Anyway i was there seeing family and got to talking about cars. All of the 3 cars my family were driving had 100k+ miles on them and my sister in-law said that cars with these miles are very common in the states. They just dont seem to be shied away from like over here. There seem to be this psychological barrier for car that have crossed that mile marker of 100,000! Like they some how have came to the end of there lives, that the car could implode at any time now. However the yanks have no such hang-ups. cars with over 100k in the states does not seem to drop in value like in the UK. Why ?
They don't (or didn't when I lived there) have MOTs for a start.
Secondly lots of new fleet cars in the UK = lots of cheap used cars.
Thirdly, the bangernomics thread shows you can get good cars cheaply and so cheaply it is cheaper to throw them away than repair them.
My car is still running beautifully at 111k, but it the whole machine is starting to show its age and the time is getting near when we need to part company.
Secondly lots of new fleet cars in the UK = lots of cheap used cars.
Thirdly, the bangernomics thread shows you can get good cars cheaply and so cheaply it is cheaper to throw them away than repair them.
My car is still running beautifully at 111k, but it the whole machine is starting to show its age and the time is getting near when we need to part company.
I dunno. From what I'm seeing at American forums, they got loads of very, very low mileage sports cars... You can find Ferraris, Carrera GT's etc. with just around 1000 miles that are 4-7 years old... It seems people on average over there got more cars per head, and thus a lot of garage heroes that are rarely used...
Cars dont die at 100k. Cars don't die at 250k either. What happens is that cars break - at any mileage - and require fixing. When your £8000 car breaks and needs £500 spending, you spend it. But here in the UK everyone wants a 12 plate Audi diesel, in white, for just £399 a month. So used cars are worthless, used cars with high miles even more so.
So, when that same £500 bill you'd pay on your £8k appears when your car has 150k on the clock and is worth £900, you throw the car in the bin. Did it die of high mileage? of course not. It was just a victim of the chronically low used car prices.
In other countries it is different. Your 150k £900 car would be worth more over there - enough that when it drops that 500 quid (or $760) bill on you, you pay it.
The days of cars being genuinelly life expired having rotten to death are long gone. It's now all about economics. Your average garage charges 50-70 quid an hour to fix a car so even simple faults can cost more than people are prepared to spend.
Especially when you can drive somebody elses white Audi A3 S-Line for £x a month instead.
Plus, Americans seem more tehcnically minded and are more likely to spend money on preventative maintenance than us Brits. Some of the guys on the American BMW forums are changing cooling systems at 60k irrespective of breakdowns. They are more likely to invest in suspension refreshes etc - they've got more money invested in preventative maintenance which again makes them more likely to keep the car. Next time you are over there pick up a copy of Car and Driver. You'll be amazed at the level of technical detail some of the reviews etc go into, over here nobody seems to care about that stuff.
So, when that same £500 bill you'd pay on your £8k appears when your car has 150k on the clock and is worth £900, you throw the car in the bin. Did it die of high mileage? of course not. It was just a victim of the chronically low used car prices.
In other countries it is different. Your 150k £900 car would be worth more over there - enough that when it drops that 500 quid (or $760) bill on you, you pay it.
The days of cars being genuinelly life expired having rotten to death are long gone. It's now all about economics. Your average garage charges 50-70 quid an hour to fix a car so even simple faults can cost more than people are prepared to spend.
Especially when you can drive somebody elses white Audi A3 S-Line for £x a month instead.
Plus, Americans seem more tehcnically minded and are more likely to spend money on preventative maintenance than us Brits. Some of the guys on the American BMW forums are changing cooling systems at 60k irrespective of breakdowns. They are more likely to invest in suspension refreshes etc - they've got more money invested in preventative maintenance which again makes them more likely to keep the car. Next time you are over there pick up a copy of Car and Driver. You'll be amazed at the level of technical detail some of the reviews etc go into, over here nobody seems to care about that stuff.
Depends what you buy fox imo.
When I ran the older 300 tdi 90 it was all about checks and preventative work. No money spared on it.
Now with the Bmw the only thing I do is check tyres,water,oil and running temps. I just dont feel like I have to do more than that nor do I have the interest to,even with a decent toolbox.
When I ran the older 300 tdi 90 it was all about checks and preventative work. No money spared on it.
Now with the Bmw the only thing I do is check tyres,water,oil and running temps. I just dont feel like I have to do more than that nor do I have the interest to,even with a decent toolbox.
Fox- said:
Cars dont die at 100k. Cars don't die at 250k either. What happens is that cars break - at any mileage - and require fixing. When your £8000 car breaks and needs £500 spending, you spend it. But here in the UK everyone wants a 12 plate Audi diesel, in white, for just £399 a month. So used cars are worthless, used cars with high miles even more so.
So, when that same £500 bill you'd pay on your £8k appears when your car has 150k on the clock and is worth £900, you throw the car in the bin. Did it die of high mileage? of course not. It was just a victim of the chronically low used car prices.
In other countries it is different. Your 150k £900 car would be worth more over there - enough that when it drops that 500 quid (or $760) bill on you, you pay it.
The days of cars being genuinelly life expired having rotten to death are long gone. It's now all about economics. Your average garage charges 50-70 quid an hour to fix a car so even simple faults can cost more than people are prepared to spend.
Especially when you can drive somebody elses white Audi A3 S-Line for £x a month instead.
Plus, Americans seem more tehcnically minded and are more likely to spend money on preventative maintenance than us Brits. Some of the guys on the American BMW forums are changing cooling systems at 60k irrespective of breakdowns. They are more likely to invest in suspension refreshes etc - they've got more money invested in preventative maintenance which again makes them more likely to keep the car. Next time you are over there pick up a copy of Car and Driver. You'll be amazed at the level of technical detail some of the reviews etc go into, over here nobody seems to care about that stuff.
Having spent about a year in the states I found the opposite. Where as some M5 owners who are loaded (or have access to cheap cash) will spend lots of money on their M5, there are a huge number of cars that would never pass an MOT over here. Bald tyres, faulty brakes, collapsed suspension etc. BMW's are considered a premium brand there so tend to be more well maintained. Here they are everywhere.So, when that same £500 bill you'd pay on your £8k appears when your car has 150k on the clock and is worth £900, you throw the car in the bin. Did it die of high mileage? of course not. It was just a victim of the chronically low used car prices.
In other countries it is different. Your 150k £900 car would be worth more over there - enough that when it drops that 500 quid (or $760) bill on you, you pay it.
The days of cars being genuinelly life expired having rotten to death are long gone. It's now all about economics. Your average garage charges 50-70 quid an hour to fix a car so even simple faults can cost more than people are prepared to spend.
Especially when you can drive somebody elses white Audi A3 S-Line for £x a month instead.
Plus, Americans seem more tehcnically minded and are more likely to spend money on preventative maintenance than us Brits. Some of the guys on the American BMW forums are changing cooling systems at 60k irrespective of breakdowns. They are more likely to invest in suspension refreshes etc - they've got more money invested in preventative maintenance which again makes them more likely to keep the car. Next time you are over there pick up a copy of Car and Driver. You'll be amazed at the level of technical detail some of the reviews etc go into, over here nobody seems to care about that stuff.
Regarding fixing cars. Its all the things you mentioned and more, remember that almost all car expenses are half the price in the US. Their labour rates, fuel prices, tyre prices, part prices, all of it. So here, BMW's are more plentiful creating a lower used price and they are twice as expensive to maintain in every regard.
Something I noticed, having just returned from the US, is that there are a lot of banged up cars on the road over there. Sure, they made up a only a very small percentage of all of the cars I saw on the road while I was there, but I saw at least one car a day that was held together by duct tape and prayers. You see some right shockers in the UK, but not on as regular a basis. I was in an affluent area too, the Las Vega strip, where rich locals cruising about in Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Ferraris etc is a common sight, no doubt the further you head into the "downtown" areas of any big US city, the more duct tape special you will see.
I think a lot of it probably has to do with the fact that motoring is so much cheaper in the US - the downtown of Las Vegas seems to have a bodyshop and a garage offering "Cheap servicing and Labour!!!" on every block. Even the very poor people of America can afford a car, even if they are bangers, so you get old cars doing huge mileages because thats all they can afford. Compare that to the UK again, with the tightening of the rules on benefits and the death of quick and easy finance, a lot of our poorest sector have had to give their cars up. No more Imprezas on no questions asked finance any more.
Another thing I noticed about America, that backs up the suggestion earlier in the thread that Americans take some pride in looking after their own cars, was the number of car parts store adverts on tv over there. O'Reilly Autoparts in particular had an advert on just about every channel I watched, at every hour of the
I think a lot of it probably has to do with the fact that motoring is so much cheaper in the US - the downtown of Las Vegas seems to have a bodyshop and a garage offering "Cheap servicing and Labour!!!" on every block. Even the very poor people of America can afford a car, even if they are bangers, so you get old cars doing huge mileages because thats all they can afford. Compare that to the UK again, with the tightening of the rules on benefits and the death of quick and easy finance, a lot of our poorest sector have had to give their cars up. No more Imprezas on no questions asked finance any more.
Another thing I noticed about America, that backs up the suggestion earlier in the thread that Americans take some pride in looking after their own cars, was the number of car parts store adverts on tv over there. O'Reilly Autoparts in particular had an advert on just about every channel I watched, at every hour of the
The roads in the US generally are a lot better too. ( they have been in the states I have visited ). What I noticed is there are hardly any potholes and most roads seem to clean and smooth. Our suspensions take a battering here in the UK and while we replace these parts all these bumps and shudders still take their toll on the rest of the car. Take that out of the equation and cars will tend to last much longer.
fizz47 said:
The roads in the US generally are a lot better too. ( they have been in the states I have visited ). What I noticed is there are hardly any potholes and most roads seem to clean and smooth. Our suspensions take a battering here in the UK and while we replace these parts all these bumps and shudders still take their toll on the rest of the car. Take that out of the equation and cars will tend to last much longer.
I found the complete opposite! City and interstate roads are terrible, they don't have potholes so much as enormous craters!fizz47 said:
The roads in the US generally are a lot better too. ( they have been in the states I have visited ). What I noticed is there are hardly any potholes and most roads seem to clean and smooth. Our suspensions take a battering here in the UK and while we replace these parts all these bumps and shudders still take their toll on the rest of the car. Take that out of the equation and cars will tend to last much longer.
Try New York City where sections of the road is missing and remains that way for years. Or DC where they put huge ruts in the road for drainage that you end up crashing through.I found that too when I visited a Petrolhead mate in the US a while back.
They all seem to commute and drive huge miles for fun, without thinking about it.
One thing I did also pick up on, is that a lot of ordinary people there know a bit more about how to treat engines, and the importance of regular oil changes - even women seem to know this, compared to here where I've never met a woman with any interest in servicing or even mild concern about oil changes.
Might be driven by the fact that, where I was in Ohio at least, there are 'oil change' bars that do nothing except 'drive in-drive out' oil changes. You literally pull up to one like you would a petrol station, and they do an oil and filter change while you wait in 5 minutes flat.
They all seem to commute and drive huge miles for fun, without thinking about it.
One thing I did also pick up on, is that a lot of ordinary people there know a bit more about how to treat engines, and the importance of regular oil changes - even women seem to know this, compared to here where I've never met a woman with any interest in servicing or even mild concern about oil changes.
Might be driven by the fact that, where I was in Ohio at least, there are 'oil change' bars that do nothing except 'drive in-drive out' oil changes. You literally pull up to one like you would a petrol station, and they do an oil and filter change while you wait in 5 minutes flat.
caraddict said:
I dunno. From what I'm seeing at American forums, they got loads of very, very low mileage sports cars... You can find Ferraris, Carrera GT's etc. with just around 1000 miles that are 4-7 years old... It seems people on average over there got more cars per head, and thus a lot of garage heroes that are rarely used...
Of course, there is that other reason high end sports cars always seem to have "low" mileage.Probably just as prevalent here. I've often heard that Ferrari's (for example) can be (and are) used as "daily" drivers and no longer limited to just doing a hundred miles every other Saturday. With this in mind, it stands to reason there will be some in the used car ads with a fair old mileage on them but where are they? A high proportion of them all seem to have low mileage. Now either all the owners were fibbing when they said they used them a lot or there's the other option....... Quite often their interiors seem to wear 3 or 4 times more quickly than most other cars too
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
I found that too when I visited a Petrolhead mate in the US a while back.
They all seem to commute and drive huge miles for fun, without thinking about it.
One thing I did also pick up on, is that a lot of ordinary people there know a bit more about how to treat engines, and the importance of regular oil changes - even women seem to know this, compared to here where I've never met a woman with any interest in servicing or even mild concern about oil changes.
Might be driven by the fact that, where I was in Ohio at least, there are 'oil change' bars that do nothing except 'drive in-drive out' oil changes. You literally pull up to one like you would a petrol station, and they do an oil and filter change while you wait in 5 minutes flat.
There is a lot of that. Added to that most US cars are automatics, which don't put so much stress on the drivetrain, suspension is designed softer, and warranties tend to be longer - Chevrolet offer 5 years/100,000 miles on all their cars, for example. They all seem to commute and drive huge miles for fun, without thinking about it.
One thing I did also pick up on, is that a lot of ordinary people there know a bit more about how to treat engines, and the importance of regular oil changes - even women seem to know this, compared to here where I've never met a woman with any interest in servicing or even mild concern about oil changes.
Might be driven by the fact that, where I was in Ohio at least, there are 'oil change' bars that do nothing except 'drive in-drive out' oil changes. You literally pull up to one like you would a petrol station, and they do an oil and filter change while you wait in 5 minutes flat.
[quote=Fox-]Cars dont die at 100k. Cars don't die at 250k either. What happens is that cars break - at any mileage - and require fixing. When your £8000 car breaks and needs £500 spending, you spend it. But here in the UK everyone wants a 12 plate Audi diesel, in white, for just £399 a month. So used cars are worthless, used cars with high miles even more so. [quote]
Amen to this, so true in the UK car market!
Amen to this, so true in the UK car market!
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