Run a car to end of its life
Discussion
53 plate Clio dci, owned from new, 17yo, £20/yr ved, cheap insurance, 65mpg real world.
Reasonable performance, not quick by most standards, but happy at motorway speeds and enough torque to overtake.
Parts are reasonably cheap so easy to keep running.
Owes me nothing, but it keeps on going.
Reasonable performance, not quick by most standards, but happy at motorway speeds and enough torque to overtake.
Parts are reasonably cheap so easy to keep running.
Owes me nothing, but it keeps on going.
I had a 2.8 Z3, bought with 10k on the clock for £20,000, took it to a faultless 175,000 miles, exchanged it (got £4,000) for a 3.0 Z4 (cost £20,000) with 10k on the clock. Took that to faultless 225,000 miles, exchanged it (got £2,500) for a Z4M roadster (cost £17,000). That's now 15 years old and runs like new. I have a 1962 TR4 as well, I'm second owner, it also runs like its a couple of years old. Seems to me it all helps the planet.
Yep
Zanzibar Land Rover Discovery 200TDI 3dr
Bought new for £15k in 1991
Went in scrappage scheme part ex for a new Freelander 2 in 2009 with a rotted out boot floor amongst other issues.
Would probably have been fine to run on with a little work, but the value was much less than scrappage at the time.
Shame as nowadays early 3dr Discoveries with the blue Conran interior are worth a bit.
Zanzibar Land Rover Discovery 200TDI 3dr
Bought new for £15k in 1991
Went in scrappage scheme part ex for a new Freelander 2 in 2009 with a rotted out boot floor amongst other issues.
Would probably have been fine to run on with a little work, but the value was much less than scrappage at the time.
Shame as nowadays early 3dr Discoveries with the blue Conran interior are worth a bit.
I bought a 1987 Volvo 740 estate at auction in 1990 - 175k on the clock and a bit broken at the front paid £1500 for the car and £500 or so for the parts to get it back on road. Sold it in 2009 with 486k on clock starting to smoke a little under load on a cold morning but otherwise still going strong. Got £400 for it and saw it at a local garage - 5 years later having gained another 200k or so miles and a huge smash in the back up for sale for spares only. I replaced it with a 1998 V70 2.4T - which was nice - but far too expensive to run and far too fast for every day use and as Mrs had a VW Touran a second big car wasn't needed.....on a focus Mk1 1.6 zetec now (I know super exciting car....ok not really) but for £100 plus another £110 for a new clutch....and since then new exhaust and a front road spring - and a very deep clean (Think mobile ashtray here) it has potential to last a while - and came pre-dented too so I don't need to do that.....ideal for getting parts for MG Midget. Not sure Mrs is too please about the idea that I plan to get this one past 200k as it either means lots of road trip holidays or keeping it a long time as it has only done 84110 as of this morning!!
devnull said:
My previous car was a Mercedes C250 sport estate. Bought with 80k and traded it in (I.e let someone else deal with scrapping it) with 260k 7 years later. Truly loved that car, I’d have gotten it restored if I could.
Not sure if yours suffered the same fate but i'd a C320 petrol saloon that i took in against another car i was selling. Drove totally to perfection and had a full MB history but there was literally rust blistering out on every single panel. I'd have loved to have spent the money on it but could find no justification at all for it (not old enough to be a classic and wasnt even interesting spec). Sold it on to a guy with a few months MOT remaining. Saw it one day on the back of a low loader some months later, presumably going for scrap. 
Edited by Deep Thought on Thursday 4th March 13:59
If the ICE "ban" happens in 2030, I'm thinking about buying a brand new car and running it until it dies, all depends what is available around the time though. Also depends if restriction on producing ICE cars is also followed with even more restrictions on being able to drive ICE cars places I need to get to. I've currently, got a Mk.2 Focus RS with 70k on the clock, needs sprucing up sooner rather than later though, would like to keep that for as long as possible.
Pit Pony said:
If you look after a car, spend money on it, fix the faults, service it, repair it, and replace anything as it wears. Then it's only rust that kills them. Buy a welder. Use rust proofing.
Good to see you keeping your Omega going, but buying (and acquiring the skills to use) a welder is not an option for a large majority of the Great British public!Alex_225 said:
I suppose if you're looking at the end of a cars life being when it throws up a bill that costs significantly more than it's worth or maybe even equal to what it's worth but maybe it depends on the cost of the car.
So you take that Micra that's mentioned further up, maybe an 'expensive' bill is relative to that car so an owner would gladly pay a few hundred quid here and there to keep it going. Where as maybe you take something more complex like a high end BMW or Merc where on a £1,500 car you might get a £2k bill and that finishes it off.
All true. And the Micra is less likely to throw up an expensive bill in the first place, as there's no air suspension or flaky V8 or anything like that So you take that Micra that's mentioned further up, maybe an 'expensive' bill is relative to that car so an owner would gladly pay a few hundred quid here and there to keep it going. Where as maybe you take something more complex like a high end BMW or Merc where on a £1,500 car you might get a £2k bill and that finishes it off.
I have a 1995 Landrover 110, bought it in 2011 with 95k on the clock, currently has 154k on the clock and it will get the triggers broom treatment for as long as I require it.
Its an appreciating asset / its replacement cost is so high that you can afford to replace almost all the components and still be better off.
Its an appreciating asset / its replacement cost is so high that you can afford to replace almost all the components and still be better off.
JD82 said:
What family car would be suitable to buy NOW new, and then keep say 10-15 years? I love the idea of doing that, but fear the speed of EV progress makes it somehow a bit pointless now... Or just get an efficient petrol estate (or SUV?), knowing we'll still be able to buy petrol in 2030+
Dacia loganBought a new Focus 2.0 diesel estate back in 2007 for £14k.
It's now done 190,000 miles.
It has needed 2 sets of front bottom arms, one set of front struts and springs, one alternator, one battery, one exhaust, one clutch, one timing belt, one bonnet release cable, one gear linkage, one heater relay, two CV boots, two front wheel bearings, two reconditioned rear calipers. lots of pads, three sets of discs and eighteen oil changes.
I think that's it.
It's starting to look a little scruffy and chuffs a bit of smog out on a cold start, but everything works, the air-con still blows cold and it will still pull an indicated 125mph on the Autobahn.
It's worth about ten Rupees, but still does everything that it did fourteen years ago.
The Ford website suggests that a new one with the same spec has a RRP of £29,000
Here it is with TVR chassis a few years ago.
It's now done 190,000 miles.
It has needed 2 sets of front bottom arms, one set of front struts and springs, one alternator, one battery, one exhaust, one clutch, one timing belt, one bonnet release cable, one gear linkage, one heater relay, two CV boots, two front wheel bearings, two reconditioned rear calipers. lots of pads, three sets of discs and eighteen oil changes.
I think that's it.
It's starting to look a little scruffy and chuffs a bit of smog out on a cold start, but everything works, the air-con still blows cold and it will still pull an indicated 125mph on the Autobahn.
It's worth about ten Rupees, but still does everything that it did fourteen years ago.
The Ford website suggests that a new one with the same spec has a RRP of £29,000
Here it is with TVR chassis a few years ago.
A500leroy said:
JD82 said:
What family car would be suitable to buy NOW new, and then keep say 10-15 years? I love the idea of doing that, but fear the speed of EV progress makes it somehow a bit pointless now... Or just get an efficient petrol estate (or SUV?), knowing we'll still be able to buy petrol in 2030+
Dacia loganucb said:
In that case I routinely keep cars until they are end of life from nearly new.
Seat Córdoba 1.9tdi bought 1 year old, 6k miles. Sold at 165k miles as you couldn’t turn the heater on without coolant evaporating into the car. Garages all said that it looked like a bodged repair with a non standard part even though the previous keeper was Seat UK.
V50 D5 bought at 3 years old, 27k miles, sold privately at 180k miles and 11 years old. I was getting trade in offers of £300 for it and it needed a new battery harness.
Current 530d bought after the v50 again 3 years old. Now on 45k miles as not doing so many with lockdown but still on about 10k a year. Won’t be changing it until it stops.
That's funny, we just sold our MK1 Leon we had from new (2006) with ~200k on the clock. It too featured evaporating coolant into the interior at one stage of its life. It got a replacement (but expensive) heater matrix done by Seat themselves. Never happened again.Seat Córdoba 1.9tdi bought 1 year old, 6k miles. Sold at 165k miles as you couldn’t turn the heater on without coolant evaporating into the car. Garages all said that it looked like a bodged repair with a non standard part even though the previous keeper was Seat UK.
V50 D5 bought at 3 years old, 27k miles, sold privately at 180k miles and 11 years old. I was getting trade in offers of £300 for it and it needed a new battery harness.
Current 530d bought after the v50 again 3 years old. Now on 45k miles as not doing so many with lockdown but still on about 10k a year. Won’t be changing it until it stops.
Currently running a 2008 Ibiza 1.9TDI on 171k, has rotting wings but soon they will be replaced. Engine is so strong in it (Original clutch, turbo). It feels like it could go on for ever. It's the rest of the car that is starting to show its age that will probably send it to its death.
Running this along side a 2016 330e.
I suspect doing that today is a bit more difficult, with new cars now being so much more complex than they used to be. There's more to go wrong that could potentially make them uneconomical to repair fairly quickly. With that being said, i wouldn't mind getting something like an M140i and running that until it gave up the ghost, as the engine are gearbox in those things seem pretty damn unbreakable.
My wife, before I met her, bought a demonstrator Honda Jazz from the showroom floor, back in 2010. 10 plus years later, a few minor bumps, quite a few slightly wobbly panels and poor bumper fit, but otherwise it soldiers on fine. Now thanks to the pandemic, I'm using it more and more, partly as my Fiesta has gone (bought new, ran for 5 years, worth more and does the same job). Took it past 123k the other week. A/C clutch needs replacing (condenser went a while back), otherwise it gets consumables and a service every year. Given the state of it, it's worth more to us to run it until it dies, or can't be economically fixed, so we're aiming to keep it to the end of its life. Which, being a Honda, might well be some time yet! It's gutless and noisy but very practical and I never worry about it, it has it's place. I wish for something (much) better/bigger/up to date (no DAB, no Bluetooth, no cruise) but for the moment it costs naff all to run and does a job without complaint. The hardest thing will be finding a replacement. Hopefully the next one draws from the Honda e.
Edited by RenesisEvo on Thursday 4th March 16:25
1998 audi cabriolet,2003 mx5,2002 avensis and a 11 yr old berlingo. about 13 grand the lot. If one breaks down just use another.I intend to run the audi and mazda for another 10 years anyway. I simply could not afford a new electric car. It makes sense to fix them rather than replace them in my opinion.
Hi I ran two Alfa Romeo 155’s into the ground and then two Audi 6 diesels. Doing pretty high miles - c25k pa. got 230k out of the first A6 which then was used as a minivan in London (I got some of its tickets 😀) and my second A6 upto 210k before I sold it on eBay and it got shipped to Latvia I believe. For the most part I had main dealer servicing and had very few problems at all. I would say it was very cost efficient motoring in what were large well made comfy cars. Btw I bought both at 2-3 years with c60k on so motorway cars from the start.
It’s worth adding that Alfa’s were really all in once you got to 100k it was off to the Italian motoring rest home for them but great to drive 😎
It’s worth adding that Alfa’s were really all in once you got to 100k it was off to the Italian motoring rest home for them but great to drive 😎
Bought a low mileage MK3 Octavia VRS which is now approaching 8 years and 80k. Would probably be nudging 100k if I hadn't worked exclusively from home since covid. Still looks and drives great and it's still only needed routine servicing. I often look at newer stuff but it still does everything I need and costs very little to maintain. It's probably the first car I genuinely plan to run to the end of its life or it becomes uneconomical to do so.
Edited by ahenners on Thursday 4th March 18:54
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