The Rising Cost Of Motoring
Discussion
lord trumpton said:
I can't be arsed with cars lately
Roads are s
t, drivers on the st roads are st and traffic is st.
I must admit, over the last two years (post covid, I was a key worker so had the roads to myself every time I went to work) with the gridlock coming back I’m losing the love for cars. Wife bought a lovely 911 turbo about 8 months ago. If it’s done 1500 miles I would be amazed. Roads are s
t, drivers on the st roads are st and traffic is st.We just picked up an xc60 T8 last week. I know which one we are more likely to take and it wouldn’t be the fun car.
Like you say with crap roads, crap drivers, endless enforcement of any minor infraction, gridlock everywhere.
We are definitely not doing as much mileage. We certainly don’t just go for a drive for the pleasure/fun/entertainment anymore.
Would we downsize from 3 (2x daily, 1 fun) I’m not sure the actual savings wouldn’t be that great. Although the fun car is £45-50k owned outright. It’s very tempting to just flog it and pay the mortgage down.
It isn't cost that puts me off my car addiction, it's living in the South East with too many clueless drivers and speed cameras!
Then last year I did a few driving trips to the NC500, Lake District and Dumfries/Galloway.
A long drive to get there, but so many sweeping open roads with little traffic made it so worthwhile I've been back to Scotland again this year, with more outings planned.
Then last year I did a few driving trips to the NC500, Lake District and Dumfries/Galloway.
A long drive to get there, but so many sweeping open roads with little traffic made it so worthwhile I've been back to Scotland again this year, with more outings planned.
Mr Tidy said:
It isn't cost that puts me off my car addiction, it's living in the South East with too many clueless drivers and speed cameras!
Totally agree, driving in Europe, nice roads is great fun still, but daily commuting/driving around any UK city is as interesting/enjoyable as watching paint dry. I’ve totally lost all interest in cars these days.I'm reducing the number of cars I have, but that's not really to do with cost, we want to downsize our house and finding a smaller house is proving difficult with the required parking, also I don't really use them enough and feel it would be better if someone else could use and enjoy them more than I do.
not a cheap EV in sight either!We’ve just added a 3rd car so no downsizing. This one’s electric and will be used for probably 95% of our journeys and 85-90% of our mileage. All the boring stuff.
This demotes the 1st car to either long journeys where range is an issue or when we are both out on the road, whilst also making me appreciate more my weekend fun car.
This demotes the 1st car to either long journeys where range is an issue or when we are both out on the road, whilst also making me appreciate more my weekend fun car.
not sure i buy the rising cost of motoring, car tax goes up with inflation which isnt so bad, and petrol prices have dropped back down considerably from what they were a couple of years ago. and my insurance on the fun car was £150 cheaper this year.
still happily running a daily driver (diesel automatic) and a weekend/track car (petrol manual) can't see me changing from that any time soon.
still happily running a daily driver (diesel automatic) and a weekend/track car (petrol manual) can't see me changing from that any time soon.
I think in general my cost of living has gone up massively, mostly my, well our, fault. Kids, requirement for larger family car, my requirement for a daft fun car... It's all just expenditure which isn't ideal right now. But that's life, and I'll continue with both cars, particularly as one is nearly paid off.
Money is precious, so I've taken to cycling 1-2 days a week for the commute. 22 miles there and back, good exercise and I'm finding that I actually enjoy it, all while keeping wear and tear down on the car. As we're coming into Spring I'm looking forward to it even more. Fun times.
Money is precious, so I've taken to cycling 1-2 days a week for the commute. 22 miles there and back, good exercise and I'm finding that I actually enjoy it, all while keeping wear and tear down on the car. As we're coming into Spring I'm looking forward to it even more. Fun times.
Cost of motoring hasn't increased for me, in fact it has reduced in all honesty as I run daily worthless sheds these days, no loans, no lease, no anything - they owe me nothing, and if you add business mileage on top, they can break-even or bring a profit
Things like, insurance, fuel, tax - kind of fluctuates I think like we all know, but the cars themselves seldom cost me any more these days - tyres are cheap if you don't care on brand, and you have so much choice too compared to years ago as an example, and using eBay sellers for parts seems a very cheap way to run a car - all relative though.
Things like, insurance, fuel, tax - kind of fluctuates I think like we all know, but the cars themselves seldom cost me any more these days - tyres are cheap if you don't care on brand, and you have so much choice too compared to years ago as an example, and using eBay sellers for parts seems a very cheap way to run a car - all relative though.
Practically we couldn’t give up - moving things eg dog, boxes of paperwork, tools etc on public transport (if we had anything approaching working public transport here) is a no go and one of those pedal bike trailer things Andy Burnham seems to be quite keen on for tradesmen wouldn’t work for us with the hills around here either.
Four cars, possibly might go down to three. Of the four one is electric which I tend to use a lot for short journeys not because of cost, just because it’s small-ish, cheap to run, thrash from cold, nippy, pre-heatable.
The cost is what it is. I should be sensible and we should just have two cars as it’d save on insurance, tax, depreciation, servicing, but I like cars - simple as that - and they all have a use case. Sort of.
N=C+1 where N is ideal number of cars, and C is the current level of cars.
Unfortunately S (where S=Space for cars) also has an effect on the equation.
Four cars, possibly might go down to three. Of the four one is electric which I tend to use a lot for short journeys not because of cost, just because it’s small-ish, cheap to run, thrash from cold, nippy, pre-heatable.
The cost is what it is. I should be sensible and we should just have two cars as it’d save on insurance, tax, depreciation, servicing, but I like cars - simple as that - and they all have a use case. Sort of.
N=C+1 where N is ideal number of cars, and C is the current level of cars.
Unfortunately S (where S=Space for cars) also has an effect on the equation.
It's a tricky one as I now have 2 cars and the bike. Took it on after Dad died. Only a Swift so £100 insurance but £220 tax on a 1.5 and isn't good on fuel either. But I'll run it until it dies as it holds sentimental value and is useful as my other car is a GR86. I love it but roads are getting worse every day, be it poor surface, st drivers, 20mph limits where there shouldn't be. Insurance I'm expecting to be a big hit this year too. It's several groups higher than a Supra and a few owners have binned them. A headlight is £3k! Any mods I want to do are silly money even if bought here, since Japan import costs are nuts. You save a little importing yourself but not a great deal. I often think why bother and leave it alone. Even keeping the car in good condition is a battle against entropy nobody is winning. It's all designed to grind us down and give them up. I've thought about it more than once and just get a shed estate that can do all I want. The only reason I haven't is for the brief moments the road conditions allow, it's epic and it's worth it. But these moments now are so far and few between.
With the bike coming up to 6yrs old always needs something. Had its big service, brakes and a few other things. Due a new battery soon and I had to buy all new gear because I've lost weight. I nearly didn't and thought about selling it and stopping biking but it's good fun and commuting on it once weather improves is a fantastic head cleanser and sets you up for the day.
t drivers, 20mph limits where there shouldn't be. Insurance I'm expecting to be a big hit this year too. It's several groups higher than a Supra and a few owners have binned them. A headlight is £3k! Any mods I want to do are silly money even if bought here, since Japan import costs are nuts. You save a little importing yourself but not a great deal. I often think why bother and leave it alone. Even keeping the car in good condition is a battle against entropy nobody is winning. It's all designed to grind us down and give them up. I've thought about it more than once and just get a shed estate that can do all I want. The only reason I haven't is for the brief moments the road conditions allow, it's epic and it's worth it. But these moments now are so far and few between.With the bike coming up to 6yrs old always needs something. Had its big service, brakes and a few other things. Due a new battery soon and I had to buy all new gear because I've lost weight. I nearly didn't and thought about selling it and stopping biking but it's good fun and commuting on it once weather improves is a fantastic head cleanser and sets you up for the day.
No, we upsized to a fourth last year. Roads are great and quiet, plenty of space for parking and insurance is pretty cheap. Having four means you can selectively SORN through winter to make road tax cheaper and working from home means that all the miles are for pleasure rather than work. A fifth would be nice (Caterham/Westfield) but would need more garage space, so I guess you can't have it all!
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