Who has run a car till it's died?
Discussion
As the title asks, Who has owned a car either from new and run it into the ground?
I've owned a stack of stuff over the years and on average change every 1 or 2 years. I don't think I've put more than 40K consecutively on one vehicle. The record within my family was an Isuzu Trooper, bought new and sold 4 years later with around 100K on it.
I'm just interested if taking a car all the way from the showroom right through it's useful life and then the scrapyard is common.
2nd hand experiences also welcome and mudane or leftfield choices will be interesting.
I've owned a stack of stuff over the years and on average change every 1 or 2 years. I don't think I've put more than 40K consecutively on one vehicle. The record within my family was an Isuzu Trooper, bought new and sold 4 years later with around 100K on it.
I'm just interested if taking a car all the way from the showroom right through it's useful life and then the scrapyard is common.
2nd hand experiences also welcome and mudane or leftfield choices will be interesting.
My mate had a mk3 polo, we were red-lining it up and down the bumpy road next to the scrappy for about half an hour, it ran out of juice before we could kill it!
Think i'm going to replace the oil with water in my CRV when i eventually cant get it through the mot, i wonder how well honda lumps run on thinners or white spirit..........
Think i'm going to replace the oil with water in my CRV when i eventually cant get it through the mot, i wonder how well honda lumps run on thinners or white spirit..........
The only car I've sent to the scrapyard was a black Escort Mk2 with 2.0 Pinto engine conversion. The car was bloody good fun to drive. Fast, snappy rear drive handling* and noisy. But it was a crap conversion and the whole drivetrain shunted when changing gear due to a dodgy gearbox mount. The valve stems leaked oil, the floor was rusty and it had about 5 layers of hammerite covering the inner front wings. It had thirteen owners, which didn't bode well.
I decided not to inflict it on anyone else and sold the Corbeau fishnet recliners, boot spoiler, Bilsteins and RS alloys before sending the rest of the car to it's final resting place.
I decided not to inflict it on anyone else and sold the Corbeau fishnet recliners, boot spoiler, Bilsteins and RS alloys before sending the rest of the car to it's final resting place.
- Take a bend fast enough in the dry and the live rear axle would move sideways creating a nice oversteering effect. Ah, the days of crude leaf spring suspension
Our family used to pass cars down the chain and as youngest of four I was the end of the chain, so I've sent a Morris Oxford and Morris Marina that were bought new (oh, the shame...) to the breakers. In latter years I've sent X1/9s, an MR2 (180K on the clock!) and Isuzu Trooper to the scrappers. The Trooper was used for was it was made for and had a brutal life, frequntly towing 2 tons through slippery stuff and its rear diff was starting to go - so as we had gained a baby we parted exed it for an MPV in 2004. Now I would never play with askmid but I believe it is still insured!
Yes, a Ford Escort and it was only corrosion that got that better of it. The extent was only discovered when on a ramp and the light was shinning through the chassis in parts! Overall running a car like that can save you alot of money because you know it so well, and can maintain it accordingly.
Not me but my Grandfather bought a brand new Mercedes CLK 200 (that's the non-kompressor, boggo version) in 1998 and ran it right to 2009 when it ultimately died - not sure of the actual cause of death, although it was engine-related and electrical failure, 'twas rusty too! I think he paid something like 36k for it(!) and 11 years later got around 300 from scrappy. It's not as if it had a starship mileage either - circa 120k IIRC!
Now he runs a proper Merc - W124!
Now he runs a proper Merc - W124!
I'm sure this was pretty common back in the days when a family car fell to bits and rusted to dust after half a decade and 50-odd thousand miles. A car could end up as a scrapper quite quickly.
As I understand it the average lifespan of a car now is around 13.5 years and I'd imagine over 150k miles which would be some going a coupe of decades ago. My E65 is now over 6 years old and still feels as fresh as it did when I got it 4 years and 65k miles ago. I probably won't keep it until it dies but if I get another few years out of it I'll be happy.
As I understand it the average lifespan of a car now is around 13.5 years and I'd imagine over 150k miles which would be some going a coupe of decades ago. My E65 is now over 6 years old and still feels as fresh as it did when I got it 4 years and 65k miles ago. I probably won't keep it until it dies but if I get another few years out of it I'll be happy.
corvus said:
The only car I've sent to the scrapyard was a black Escort Mk2 with 2.0 Pinto engine conversion. The car was bloody good fun to drive. Fast, snappy rear drive handling* and noisy. But it was a crap conversion and the whole drivetrain shunted when changing gear due to a dodgy gearbox mount. The valve stems leaked oil, the floor was rusty and it had about 5 layers of hammerite covering the inner front wings. It had thirteen owners, which didn't bode well.
I decided not to inflict it on anyone else and sold the Corbeau fishnet recliners, boot spoiler, Bilsteins and RS alloys before sending the rest of the car to it's final resting place.
Is that you Dave?I decided not to inflict it on anyone else and sold the Corbeau fishnet recliners, boot spoiler, Bilsteins and RS alloys before sending the rest of the car to it's final resting place.
- Take a bend fast enough in the dry and the live rear axle would move sideways creating a nice oversteering effect. Ah, the days of crude leaf spring suspension
A couple. I scrapped a VW passat on near 200k miles because the head gasket had gone and it wasn't economical to repair, also an Omega at 150k odd after it lunched it's engine. Shame about those two, I quite liked them both, and both I'd had for 100k miles or so. Neither were worth fixing though considering they were getting generally quite tired. Both needed bushes replacing and both were going to need tyres and brakes in the next couple of months.
I've also seen the end of life of a couple of Volvo 340s which have been in the family since new. Both were brilliant in their own way - very dependable - but I wasn't particularly sad to leave either of them with the scrap merchant.
As for the VW passat above which leaks water into it's footwell, have you cleaned all of the leaves and crap out of the plenums and checked the drain holes are clear? If not you'll drown the ECU which lives in the passenger footwell...
I've also seen the end of life of a couple of Volvo 340s which have been in the family since new. Both were brilliant in their own way - very dependable - but I wasn't particularly sad to leave either of them with the scrap merchant.
As for the VW passat above which leaks water into it's footwell, have you cleaned all of the leaves and crap out of the plenums and checked the drain holes are clear? If not you'll drown the ECU which lives in the passenger footwell...
k right off.
I've done two.
The first was an old 100 mini which I used (with a then friend, both at the tender age of 13) to bomb around the local forestry in.
The inevitable happened when the car took so many knocks that we grounded it out and it promptly caught fire thanks to split sump and petrol tank. That gave quite a nice pop when it blew.
The second was (legally) run into the ground when I couldn't afford to fix the coolant system which continued to pressurise.
It was a Renault powered Volvo 345DL which was an absolute tank. So, when the engine compression was falling through the floor, it took and absolute age to get anywhere near 30mph.
The folly of youth.
The first was an old 100 mini which I used (with a then friend, both at the tender age of 13) to bomb around the local forestry in.
The inevitable happened when the car took so many knocks that we grounded it out and it promptly caught fire thanks to split sump and petrol tank. That gave quite a nice pop when it blew.
The second was (legally) run into the ground when I couldn't afford to fix the coolant system which continued to pressurise.
It was a Renault powered Volvo 345DL which was an absolute tank. So, when the engine compression was falling through the floor, it took and absolute age to get anywhere near 30mph.
The folly of youth.
My first 2 Minis were bought for peanuts and I ragged them as only an 18/19 year old can.
They both lasted about 2 years and 25k miles each until rust and the constant thrashing got the better of them.
Bought a Fiat Uno through a 4 year loan from work so had to keep it that long.
I put about 50k on it and it eventually expired 2 weeks after I had paid off the loan from a combination of knackered clutch and bust heater exchange unit. Got 50 scrap.
They both lasted about 2 years and 25k miles each until rust and the constant thrashing got the better of them.
Bought a Fiat Uno through a 4 year loan from work so had to keep it that long.
I put about 50k on it and it eventually expired 2 weeks after I had paid off the loan from a combination of knackered clutch and bust heater exchange unit. Got 50 scrap.
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