Are you hanging onto your car longer than usual?

Are you hanging onto your car longer than usual?

Author
Discussion

Peanut130

187 posts

89 months

Thursday 28th November
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had my 2000 toyota Bb 13 years. it only has 266,000 on it so just about run in , no plans to change anytime soon

brillomaster

1,406 posts

178 months

Thursday 28th November
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hmmmm well my current daily driver has my highest ever mileage on at 170k... while for me, i could get something newer (but by no means new) and save a bit of cash (particularly on road tax) my current car is still perfectly fine, so will probably keep running it for a few more years - which'll make it the longest i've owned a car...

then after that, i'll likely get a small diesel of about 2016 vintage - new enough to (currently) be ULEZ compliant, but before the flat rate road tax of 2017, so absolutely peanuts to run - expecting 50-60mpg, £35 a year to tax.

and once i've got that, i plan to keep it for a very very long time, as any car newer will be more to tax, less economical as it'll likely be a petrol, or even, (shudder) electric. also cars newer than 2017 will likely be full nanny state, with a load of driver aids and haptic buttons i don't want that would infuriate me every time i got behind the wheel.

Sporky

7,380 posts

72 months

Thursday 28th November
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I used to have to have a car under 4 years old (work paid me a car allowance) but they dropped that, so the family car is 7, owned from new.

Partly I can't be arsed paying current prices, mostly it does everything I need it to well, and a bit nothing else appeals.

Edited by Sporky on Thursday 28th November 17:03

Pablo16v

2,240 posts

205 months

Thursday 28th November
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Sporky said:
I used to have to have a car under 4 years old (work paid me a car allowance) but they dropped that, so the family car is 7, owned ftom new.

Partly I can't be arsed paying current prices, mostly it foes everything I need it to well, and a bit nothing else appeals.
That's very similar to me actually, having leased 3 new cars over the past 10 years due to fairly stringent car allowance rules (<5 years old), but I'm now in a job without an allowance and I have an 8 year old 7 seater family wagon, and a 12 year old 5 series. I plan to keep both for a few years yet, hopefully, and if I do buy another car it will be a third fun one.

Bone Rat

371 posts

171 months

Thursday 28th November
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Richard-390a0 said:
Yep I'm similar, nothing much newer appeals & what is being added to cars now doesn't interest me / improve the vehicle IMHO. ABS, PAS, E/W, A/C, Sat Nav, Fuel Injection, Airbags, Xenons etc etc are all improvements I have & think are great to have. I have no interest in giant touchpads, self parking, laser lights etc. The same with smart phones really there's just no giant leaps forwards to benefit in paying to update to the latest product.
Totally agree, the first list of technology improved the reliability and usability of the car, I wouldn't want to return to contact breakers, carbs and chokes etc for a daily car. Interesting in a hobby car but not at 5am!

However the newer developments especially touchpads and automation are an actual disincentive now. Complexity for complexity sake and sod the ergonomics.

Nomme de Plum

6,216 posts

24 months

Thursday 28th November
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blueg33 said:
My Alfa is now just over 50k miles and 4 years old. Toying with selling it as my commute is much longer now and electric would be cheaper to fill up. I was expecting to keep it for just 2 years from new
An EV would be significantly less expensive to run less than 3ppm fuel equivalent and smaller maintenance bills. If you are a business BIK as well.

I can't see me changing my i3S for at least another 4 or 5 years.

BlindedByTheLights

1,485 posts

105 months

Thursday 28th November
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Running my 7 year old 3.0 diesel. Wouldn’t mind a new car but prices are ridiculous so holding on to mine.

Rebew

194 posts

100 months

Thursday 28th November
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My 14 year old Mk6 Golf is still going strong at 125k miles. The cabin is a nicer place to be than my friends Mk8 Golf and feels a lot less plasticky than some of the other new cars I have been in.

When I first started driving a 14 year old car would have been a knackered old banger but I think that progress has plateaued now so you don't really get the bang for your buck when upgrading to a brand new car.


bloomen

7,485 posts

167 months

Thursday 28th November
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My own banger has now been cured of all its most cliched ills so should be good for a few more years beyond regular decay.

I do like the idea of EVs, but wouldn't put a large amount of money into one as I expect at some point there'll be a sea change in the technology that renders older ones a bit of a joke.

Even if I fundamentally liked a very recent design, I'm not going to voluntarily end up with bonging, crappy driver aids attempting to kill me, headlamp bulbs that require the front end removing to replace, remote bricking, non physical controls etc.

I will stay retro as long as driving is legal.

Speed addicted

5,718 posts

235 months

Thursday 28th November
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I’ve had my pickup for 4 years now and it’s coming up on 10 years old.
I usually change cars at around 2 years but a combination of high prices, not being able to find a suitable replacement that I like and the trucks reliability have made me keep it.
I’ve also become fond of not having a car payment.

Edited by Speed addicted on Thursday 28th November 17:36

Stick Legs

6,072 posts

173 months

Thursday 28th November
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Having bought my 2015 Range Rover 4 years ago I am intending to keep it until it dies. The combination of immense comfort, DIY maintenance, a superb V8 diesel giving effortless power & tolerable economy is hard to fault.
Add to this is pre-AdBlue & pre-StopStart makes it quite a nice thing to own.

Currently coming up to the magical 100k mark, which usually sees me get itchy feet but a combination of:

There isn't anything I want other than the newer Range Rover.

The tech on new cars irritates me and I really dislike my Wife's Mercedes EQC with it's intrusive beeping and bonging. Most annoying is it going 'BEEP BEEP BEEP' & turning the radio off if it thinks you haven't seen something, which happens a lot on country roads where there's no white line but 2 cars can pass.

The newer Range Rover doesn't have a diesel V8 the natural model for me would be the D350 but question marks remain over the Ingenium engine.

It's not costing me anything to keep it & find out.

Normally a car would have been changed by now but a combination of the above factors, no monthly out going and little more depreciation to happen from where it is now will see it remain for the forseeable future.

Gulf7

335 posts

66 months

Thursday 28th November
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yakka said:
Are you hanging onto your car longer than usual?
Sort of. Buy buying a new one. Hear me out...

My Mk7 Fiesta ST-2 was probably the best all-round car I've ever owned, but it was 8 years old, and Ford stopped production of the Fiesta last July. So to prolong my Fiesta ST ownership as long as possible I took the opportunity to buy a nearly new Mk8.5 Fiesta ST-3 while I still could. This one was built on July 4th, 2023 - 3 days before the end of production.



200bhp, 320Nm and a limited slip diff. Last of the proper STs. Since the end of Fiesta production, Ford now thinks an ST is an automatic SUV with a 1L engine nono

Stick Legs

6,072 posts

173 months

Thursday 28th November
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Keep that. Instant classic written all over it. beer

Dbag101

245 posts

2 months

Thursday 28th November
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Very much so. I used to change cars every 3 years or so. I’ve had my current car for 15 years, in April next year. I got massively disillusioned with the offerings from mainstream manufacturers, and horror stories about the flakey tech, being used of late. I keep my car properly serviced, replace bits as they wear out, and have a great indi engineering / servicing company, about a mile from where I live. My 2007 car, has the grand total, of 48000 miles on it, and it’s still feeling, and driving just fine. If it does give up the ghost, I’m not sure I can be arsed with another car to be fair.

Honourable Dead Snark

560 posts

27 months

Thursday 28th November
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No, I’ll be changing mines in a few months. Would change it now if I could but I want to build a bit more of a budget and it’s not a great time to sell a small sports coupe

Puzzles

2,476 posts

119 months

Thursday 28th November
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Not really, although I normally buy cars new and keep them for 10-12 years to get my money’s worth

BlackTank

147 posts

151 months

Thursday 28th November
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We're going to update the family car like we ususally do, probably going for the new Sante Fe. For the fun cars, I'm keeping both for now but always looking to add another.

wyson

2,775 posts

112 months

Thursday 28th November
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I’m going the opposite way, going to keep getting cheap lease deals and ditching cars quickly until all the dust settles. Markets have been bonkers since Covid and the ZEV mandate. Manufacturers have started offering big discounts on list prices, after raising them like crazy when supply was short. I’m also expecting to see very cheap EV deals in Dec as manufacturers try to hit their ZEV targets.

There is so much volatility, it’s worth fixing the risk.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 28th November 18:57

Getragdogleg

9,116 posts

191 months

Thursday 28th November
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Not buying another new car now. Hate the compulsory safety systems being foisted upon us and detest the amount of information the car is now gathering and sending back to the manufacturer to be monetized, I Hate the idea of subscribing to features and the built in obselecence that reduces the overall lifespan.

Touch screens and relentless bongs and beeps just finishes off my hatred for new cars.


Glosphil

4,514 posts

242 months

Thursday 28th November
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I usually buy cars that are 1 - 2 years old & keep them for 5 - 7 years. My current car is 5-1/2 years old.

My wife's last car was 11 years old when we sold it & her current car, bought when 3 years old, is now 5 years old.

I'm trying to work out how prices of used petrol cars will rise between now & 2030 to decide when to change our cars, perhaps for th last time (we are in our late 70s) .