Did our dad's do it much differently?
Discussion
By the 1970s my Dad was able to buy a new car every three years. Nothing too fancy, he worked his way through a Mini 850, a Mini Clubman, Two Maxis, An Audi 100 5E, An Ambassador, An Astra, A Carlton, A Granada, A Nissan Primera then 11 years ago a Zafira which will probably see him to the grave. He financed these cars by placing a 33% deposit and paying the balance over 3 years.
Once the car was paid for it was pretty much done (think 1975 Maxi in 1978 with 45k miles on the clock. The buggers were starting to rot) and as such my dad was pretty much paying up a car all his working life. That being the case is there much of a difference between his generation (he was far from unique) and those in our generation who prefer to private lease, contract hire or PCP our cars?
Once the car was paid for it was pretty much done (think 1975 Maxi in 1978 with 45k miles on the clock. The buggers were starting to rot) and as such my dad was pretty much paying up a car all his working life. That being the case is there much of a difference between his generation (he was far from unique) and those in our generation who prefer to private lease, contract hire or PCP our cars?
Not sure I see that much difference between what he was doing (which was Hire Purchase I expect) and the PCP/Lease route - the only difference is that with these you've essentially agreed to sell the car back to the finance company at an agreed price - sometimes good, most times bad I suspect!
Actually these schemes can be much more expensive than Hire Purchase in total. That's because you pay interest on the amount deferred (the 'balloon') over the full term - not sure everyone who finances a car this way spots that...
Its easy to spot as the total cost of a Hire Purchase agreement will be much less than the total cost of owning a car on a lease deal if the term and interest rate are the same.
I must admit that, unless I get a very competitive rate from the dealer (0% at the moment) I usually use a bank loan or cash - usually cheaper overall and there is nothing outstanding against the car when you sell/p-ex.
Actually these schemes can be much more expensive than Hire Purchase in total. That's because you pay interest on the amount deferred (the 'balloon') over the full term - not sure everyone who finances a car this way spots that...
Its easy to spot as the total cost of a Hire Purchase agreement will be much less than the total cost of owning a car on a lease deal if the term and interest rate are the same.
I must admit that, unless I get a very competitive rate from the dealer (0% at the moment) I usually use a bank loan or cash - usually cheaper overall and there is nothing outstanding against the car when you sell/p-ex.
Approaches have always varied - my Dad was a company director from the late 70s on - it was a small firm with three directors. They had company cars, but even so they bought second hand until they started leasing in the late 70s - My Dad had a series of 200 series Volvo estates on 2 year leases. Other than this he never had a new car in his life - he would certainly never have bought one with his own money.
I could probably afford a new car every 2/3 years via loans/lease/pcp etc if I downsized my house to some box on a new estate, but I prefer to run a ratty older car that's fully paid for and have a big drive and garage for my classic sheds.
All about choices, innit?
I could probably afford a new car every 2/3 years via loans/lease/pcp etc if I downsized my house to some box on a new estate, but I prefer to run a ratty older car that's fully paid for and have a big drive and garage for my classic sheds.
All about choices, innit?
Chalk and cheese.
My Dad never spent more than £300 on a car! Always what we'd call sheds: Bedford Dormobile, Humber Super Snipe, Hillman Avenger, Volvo 144. All were end-of-life for the sellers but my Dad knew how to fix them. He could do head gaskets in his sleep, and we'd swap over a donor engine and gearbox in a weekend (when I say "we", I mean that I'd do my 10yo puny best to hold the other end of something heavy as it swung perilously close to Dad's head.)
He passed away before I ever got anything 'posh' - but I sensed a grudging approval when I gave him a lift in my Mercedes 190E. (He really didn't approve of electric windows.) But he never understood why I didn't do the car maintenance myself (tried to explain that I would earn more by doing my job than the hourly rate of the mechanic).
One thing that I did inherit: I always buy with cash, never with a loan.
My Dad never spent more than £300 on a car! Always what we'd call sheds: Bedford Dormobile, Humber Super Snipe, Hillman Avenger, Volvo 144. All were end-of-life for the sellers but my Dad knew how to fix them. He could do head gaskets in his sleep, and we'd swap over a donor engine and gearbox in a weekend (when I say "we", I mean that I'd do my 10yo puny best to hold the other end of something heavy as it swung perilously close to Dad's head.)
He passed away before I ever got anything 'posh' - but I sensed a grudging approval when I gave him a lift in my Mercedes 190E. (He really didn't approve of electric windows.) But he never understood why I didn't do the car maintenance myself (tried to explain that I would earn more by doing my job than the hourly rate of the mechanic).
One thing that I did inherit: I always buy with cash, never with a loan.
John145 said:
You can get a ~8 year old diesel for ~£2k, run it into the ground and repeat. Well that's my approach for the mile crunching commute (600 miles a week). Back in my dad's day I doubt he could get a car that would be comfortably reliable at 8 year old.
^^^ Good point, in the 70's most stuff had rotted away by 8 years old.my parents have said forever that cars rotted away before engines failed really- yr well into the 90's before the bodies of cars started to get good........
i suspect my parents were like many- saved up to buy a car------- being on finance, credit cards just not being a thing that ever existed in their lifes. I don't recall them using credit cards, certainly my mother only got one in her 70's........ I suspect just to earn points on with purchases.
I also think cars were bought a lot more locally in days gone by and the selection of vehicles available was significantly less than now.
i suspect my parents were like many- saved up to buy a car------- being on finance, credit cards just not being a thing that ever existed in their lifes. I don't recall them using credit cards, certainly my mother only got one in her 70's........ I suspect just to earn points on with purchases.
I also think cars were bought a lot more locally in days gone by and the selection of vehicles available was significantly less than now.
My dad was a self-employed mechanic in the late 70s and used to do a lot of welding on cars less than 5 years old. Occasionally on some that were due their first MOT.
He'd also buy cars that owners had lost patience with for a song, run them for a few months and then punt them along to a different clients.
I used to come home and love to see a different motor on the driveway. I recall being beside myself with excitement when I spotted a brown Datsun 120Y. It was my favourite car at the time bar the Opel Monza (which a neighbour had, after winning the lottery and deciding to carry on living in his Telford council house).
Happy days...jumpers for goalposts. Hmmmm.
He'd also buy cars that owners had lost patience with for a song, run them for a few months and then punt them along to a different clients.
I used to come home and love to see a different motor on the driveway. I recall being beside myself with excitement when I spotted a brown Datsun 120Y. It was my favourite car at the time bar the Opel Monza (which a neighbour had, after winning the lottery and deciding to carry on living in his Telford council house).
Happy days...jumpers for goalposts. Hmmmm.
2manycars said:
RizzoTheRat said:
My fathers car history as I can remember it:
1979 Series III
1983 110
1991 Defender 90
2000 Freelander
2008 Freelander II
2011 Freelander II
All bought new, no consistency on how long he kept them, but I am spotting a trend.
You father is obviously a 1979 Series III
1983 110
1991 Defender 90
2000 Freelander
2008 Freelander II
2011 Freelander II
All bought new, no consistency on how long he kept them, but I am spotting a trend.
My dad was lucky enough to have had company cars from the late 70s until he started his own business in 1999. From having a new car worth circa £35k every 3 years to having to buy his own was a bit of a shock especially when it came to calculating depreciation & running costs on 30k a year!
We do however have a similar decision making process when it comes to selecting cars. Back in the day when I was only a kid I'd sit there with my dad and a copy of What Car magazine. We would shortlist the cars by price, then practicality then speed until we could find the 3 or 5 cars capable of fitting 5 people, some golf clubs in the boot and hit 60 in under 8sec. My only difference is it's not golf clubs it's a mountain bike and these days sub 7seconds is where i want to be.
My Dad had the same car, a mk1 Capri from 1974 until 1989, he then replaced it with a Golf GTI which he had for 14 years, a relatively brief couple of years in a Rover Coupe 216 and he has had his MG ZT ever since, must be about ten years now.
So, four cars in 40 years, all bought for cash, the only garage intervention I can remember was a recently cambelt and some other bits on the ZT as it was a pretty specialised job, otherwise, every other job he has done himself.
So, four cars in 40 years, all bought for cash, the only garage intervention I can remember was a recently cambelt and some other bits on the ZT as it was a pretty specialised job, otherwise, every other job he has done himself.
My Dads Car History after his Vespa scooters
Reliant 3 Wheeler Van ('Alright Dave") When I was born in 1965)
Hillman Husky (Imp Van)
Ford Cortina Mk1 Estate
Ford Zephyr Mk 4
Jaguar XJ6 2.8
Daimler Double Six (Ser 3)
(As a kid I remember sitting in the back of the Cortina load area, watching the road through the big hole in the floor, I would have been about 5, I thought it was great) A bit different to way we transport our children these days !
He had a few dodgy vans for his gardening business, Ford Thames Trader, then one of each Mk of Transits, the odd Sherpa, and a VWLT
All bought on their last legs for a few hundred quid cash, bolted back together by a neighbour. He had no interest in cars ! but the £900 Daimler V12 he bought, off a mate because it was cheap, was the thing that switched me on to cars big time.
When the Daimler died, (to £150 for it) they stuck with Mums Corsa.
Reliant 3 Wheeler Van ('Alright Dave") When I was born in 1965)
Hillman Husky (Imp Van)
Ford Cortina Mk1 Estate
Ford Zephyr Mk 4
Jaguar XJ6 2.8
Daimler Double Six (Ser 3)
(As a kid I remember sitting in the back of the Cortina load area, watching the road through the big hole in the floor, I would have been about 5, I thought it was great) A bit different to way we transport our children these days !
He had a few dodgy vans for his gardening business, Ford Thames Trader, then one of each Mk of Transits, the odd Sherpa, and a VWLT
All bought on their last legs for a few hundred quid cash, bolted back together by a neighbour. He had no interest in cars ! but the £900 Daimler V12 he bought, off a mate because it was cheap, was the thing that switched me on to cars big time.
When the Daimler died, (to £150 for it) they stuck with Mums Corsa.
Not sure where you lived but because most people had more children (I was one of four) and mortgages were quite expensive, not many people we knew had new cars, most were second hand.
We lived on a private estate 'oop North and we had a Zephyr followed by a 5 year old Cortina GT. Next door was a footballer and he had a used Viva HB. next to that, a guy with a Viva HA and next tot hat a guy with a Zephyr 6.
One of my mate's had a father who had a new Capri and another mate, whose father was a pub landlord, had a used jag Mk II 3.8 which he traded for a new Celica Mk 1 in 1973.
There were new cars but they were certainly far and fewer between than they are now.
Only when my father went into the pub trade and the brewery paid all his bills, in the late 70s/early 80s, did he have a succession of new cars - either Toyota or a Princess 2200 HLS
We lived on a private estate 'oop North and we had a Zephyr followed by a 5 year old Cortina GT. Next door was a footballer and he had a used Viva HB. next to that, a guy with a Viva HA and next tot hat a guy with a Zephyr 6.
One of my mate's had a father who had a new Capri and another mate, whose father was a pub landlord, had a used jag Mk II 3.8 which he traded for a new Celica Mk 1 in 1973.
There were new cars but they were certainly far and fewer between than they are now.
Only when my father went into the pub trade and the brewery paid all his bills, in the late 70s/early 80s, did he have a succession of new cars - either Toyota or a Princess 2200 HLS
Because my grandad always had end of life cars (Austin 7, Morris 8, Morris 1000), my dad resolved not to buy a car until he could afford a new one, so he was 37 (1962) before we had one - before that he used to hire a Ford Pop for a week when we went on holiday.
He hadd, all from new a 62 Minor, then a 65 Anglia, 68 Escort, 70 Escort, 73 Escort then a series of Mk11s - 5 that I can recall and a series of Mk1 and Mk11 Metros.
I've never had a new car about 20 bought for cash and 2 with loans that I paid off in a few months.
He hadd, all from new a 62 Minor, then a 65 Anglia, 68 Escort, 70 Escort, 73 Escort then a series of Mk11s - 5 that I can recall and a series of Mk1 and Mk11 Metros.
I've never had a new car about 20 bought for cash and 2 with loans that I paid off in a few months.
Tannedbaldhead said:
By the 1970s my Dad was able to buy a new car every three years. Nothing too fancy, he worked his way through a Mini 850, a Mini Clubman, Two Maxis, An Audi 100 5E, An Ambassador, An Astra, A Carlton, A Granada, A Nissan Primera then 11 years ago a Zafira which will probably see him to the grave. He financed these cars by placing a 33% deposit and paying the balance over 3 years.
Once the car was paid for it was pretty much done (think 1975 Maxi in 1978 with 45k miles on the clock. The buggers were starting to rot) and as such my dad was pretty much paying up a car all his working life. That being the case is there much of a difference between his generation (he was far from unique) and those in our generation who prefer to private lease, contract hire or PCP our cars?
My dad did similar except he never bought new cars. Always a few years old to start with an always with a loan from the bank over 3 years. He kept the car after the loan was paid off until the garage told him it was uneconomical to repair it. Then he used a bank loan to buy another. He did this until recently when he found he had enough cash to buy the car without a loan so did. Still a 4 year old car though and nothing fancy at all. He's never had a flash car and has no desire to own one.Once the car was paid for it was pretty much done (think 1975 Maxi in 1978 with 45k miles on the clock. The buggers were starting to rot) and as such my dad was pretty much paying up a car all his working life. That being the case is there much of a difference between his generation (he was far from unique) and those in our generation who prefer to private lease, contract hire or PCP our cars?
He sees cars as a means of getting from A to B.
Cars didn't last as long back then, so I think a lot of people used to change them every few years.
These days cars last a lot longer, so you only change if you see a new car, want it, and don't care how much money you lose. Luckily I'm not into newer cars (I can never tell a Vauxhall from a Kia these days) and the older ones don't lose value. If now was 35yrs ago I expect I'd be buying cars on finance every few years as I'd be sick of welding them up all the time!
These days cars last a lot longer, so you only change if you see a new car, want it, and don't care how much money you lose. Luckily I'm not into newer cars (I can never tell a Vauxhall from a Kia these days) and the older ones don't lose value. If now was 35yrs ago I expect I'd be buying cars on finance every few years as I'd be sick of welding them up all the time!
My daddy was like most on here. 70s, 80s company cars replaced every 2 year's by the company. He bought mummys cars. All nearly bottom of the range cars with cash, cassette player and mud flaps were a must.
89 he went self employed. His dream was to own a 911, he never did it. It was a gamble he would never have taken.
I'm very different. I'll do what I have to get into the car I want, he was as big a petrolhead as me, just more cautious.
89 he went self employed. His dream was to own a 911, he never did it. It was a gamble he would never have taken.
I'm very different. I'll do what I have to get into the car I want, he was as big a petrolhead as me, just more cautious.
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