Have you ever down-graded your car?
Discussion
Hi guys and apologies in advance for a long one.....
I'm in the process of saving up for a house deposit so by the end of the year I can go and put some money down to buy my own place.
Fact is, I've got a car with a 4.4 litre V8 which is far from cheap to run. I've spent a lot on it lately (like, a lot) but now it (hopefully!) doesn't need anything until 5 months time it's due a coolant change when I'll likely get the oil done at the same time too).
Now, if I were to buy something cheap like a £2k hatch back with a 3 or 4 cylinder petrol engine which does 40mpg as opposed to the 21mpg I'm getting I'd save a lot on fuel.....I spend about £250/month on fuel alone. Let alone cheaper servicing/repair bills, insurance and tax.
I can still save up at a fairly decent rate whilst having this car, but obviously much slower if I have something else. Ultimately, as much as I love the E65 (and I do love it) I would rather a big GT (something like a Mercedes CL or SL)
The way I see it I have 3 main options:
A) keep the 745i, service is as it deserves and just enjoy it, save up and once moved into my new place see where I stand financially and look at getting/saving for something else whilst keeping the 745i.
B) Sell the 745i in the next 6 months(probably incurring quite a loss because of what I've spend on it), buy a cheap hack which WILL be much cheaper to run (so whilst I'd lose a lot of money on the 745i, I'd still be "better off"), save faster, move into new place earlier and then get something like a CL if funds allow.
C) Keep the 745i UNTIL I move, sell it when I do to free up extra funds, buy a cheap run-around to allow me to save quicker for something like a CL.
My only worry is that going from a 745i to something like a VW Polo does concern me because I do like refinement, air con, space and a lovely smooth V8 and (for the commuting car) the automatic gearbox. Would I sell it and then totally regret it!?
They usually say the car you know is the cheaper car to run, but I can all but guarantee that's wrong in my case, even though it doesn't really want for anything at the moment.
Decisions, decisions!
Edit - My work commute is currently a 20 mile each-way trip but don't do a massive amount of driving outside of that.
I'm in the process of saving up for a house deposit so by the end of the year I can go and put some money down to buy my own place.
Fact is, I've got a car with a 4.4 litre V8 which is far from cheap to run. I've spent a lot on it lately (like, a lot) but now it (hopefully!) doesn't need anything until 5 months time it's due a coolant change when I'll likely get the oil done at the same time too).
Now, if I were to buy something cheap like a £2k hatch back with a 3 or 4 cylinder petrol engine which does 40mpg as opposed to the 21mpg I'm getting I'd save a lot on fuel.....I spend about £250/month on fuel alone. Let alone cheaper servicing/repair bills, insurance and tax.
I can still save up at a fairly decent rate whilst having this car, but obviously much slower if I have something else. Ultimately, as much as I love the E65 (and I do love it) I would rather a big GT (something like a Mercedes CL or SL)
The way I see it I have 3 main options:
A) keep the 745i, service is as it deserves and just enjoy it, save up and once moved into my new place see where I stand financially and look at getting/saving for something else whilst keeping the 745i.
B) Sell the 745i in the next 6 months(probably incurring quite a loss because of what I've spend on it), buy a cheap hack which WILL be much cheaper to run (so whilst I'd lose a lot of money on the 745i, I'd still be "better off"), save faster, move into new place earlier and then get something like a CL if funds allow.
C) Keep the 745i UNTIL I move, sell it when I do to free up extra funds, buy a cheap run-around to allow me to save quicker for something like a CL.
My only worry is that going from a 745i to something like a VW Polo does concern me because I do like refinement, air con, space and a lovely smooth V8 and (for the commuting car) the automatic gearbox. Would I sell it and then totally regret it!?
They usually say the car you know is the cheaper car to run, but I can all but guarantee that's wrong in my case, even though it doesn't really want for anything at the moment.
Decisions, decisions!
Edit - My work commute is currently a 20 mile each-way trip but don't do a massive amount of driving outside of that.
As soon as you sell that car you're also cashing in all of it's running costs and depreciation. It'll hurt. You won't get as much as you want and after you've bought, taxed and insured a replacement you won't have anywhere near as much cash left over as you thought you would. Then, to cap it all off, you'll have to get into a far inferior car every morning lamenting your decision- a cheap old used car which will have problems of it's own and will need putting right at some point. You'll resent spending money on it so it'll get worse and worse until it's practically worthless and fails an MOT catastrophically. Then you'll cash in all that neglect and have nothing left.
All In my opinion, of course.
All In my opinion, of course.
I've done it, though maybe not as major a downgrade as yourself. Went from a Jag X-Type Estate to a 10 year old Focus. It released a good bit of money that I needed for a house purchase, and the Focus only let me down once in 2 years.
It also made me realise that old cars can still be nice to drive, and you're not worried about leaving it supermarket car parks as the body work already has quite a few marks on it anyway!
It also made me realise that old cars can still be nice to drive, and you're not worried about leaving it supermarket car parks as the body work already has quite a few marks on it anyway!
Yep, a couple of times.
18 month old Saxo VTR (on finance; oops) for an utter turd of a Passat 1.8 Estate for financial reasons. Got rid sharpish and got a mk3 Gti 16v.
Then a year old Golf R32 for an Astra 1.9CDTi 150 estate; the Astra was new but I died a little when the Golf went. Sadly we moved from London with secure parking to Bristol with street parking - a very silly move. Forced to sell it but with the amount of worry the Golf caused, it just wasn't worth it.
It IS only a car after all.
18 month old Saxo VTR (on finance; oops) for an utter turd of a Passat 1.8 Estate for financial reasons. Got rid sharpish and got a mk3 Gti 16v.
Then a year old Golf R32 for an Astra 1.9CDTi 150 estate; the Astra was new but I died a little when the Golf went. Sadly we moved from London with secure parking to Bristol with street parking - a very silly move. Forced to sell it but with the amount of worry the Golf caused, it just wasn't worth it.
It IS only a car after all.
I've kind of down-graded, in terms of my previous daily driver was a 335d, then had four years of public transport, and now running a Golf 1.2. TBH it suits me just fine, as I don't particularly worry about where I park it, and it draws zero attention from other road users. It's got just about all the performance I need for commuting purposes, and certainly all the "luxuries", but then I'm not too picky in this regard anyway
However, I've also got some things in the garage for the weekend, and I think this is the difference. Is there any possibility you could also pick up something fun too for high days & holidays, but that you don't need to be dependent on from day to day, then go for the cheapest possible option as a daily?
However, I've also got some things in the garage for the weekend, and I think this is the difference. Is there any possibility you could also pick up something fun too for high days & holidays, but that you don't need to be dependent on from day to day, then go for the cheapest possible option as a daily?
Yes. Sold my Celica for c.£7k and bought a 318 Compact for c.£2k. Freed-up a useful amount of cash for a house move and left me with a car that was fairly similar in terms of practicality and performance. No regrets.
If you're trading-down to a smaller car for the sake of economy but are worried about the loss of refinement, why not consider something like e.g. (off the top of my head) a Skoda Superb? Ok, arguably not on a par with a a 745 in some respects but would certainly tick a lot of the boxes whilst also achieving the goal of lower running costs and lower cost of entry. Or similar alternatives e.g. Passat/Mondeo etc.
If you're trading-down to a smaller car for the sake of economy but are worried about the loss of refinement, why not consider something like e.g. (off the top of my head) a Skoda Superb? Ok, arguably not on a par with a a 745 in some respects but would certainly tick a lot of the boxes whilst also achieving the goal of lower running costs and lower cost of entry. Or similar alternatives e.g. Passat/Mondeo etc.
In the process of doing exactly this at the minute, due to seperating with my fiancée of 9 years,
Last April I bought an E90 M3, sold it in November and took an E46 M3 in part ex against it
Just about to get an arch touched up on the E46, detail it and it's being sold on too.
It's replacement, a £500 Vauxhall Vectra.
TBH I couldn't care what I drive at the minute, as long as it starts every morning and gets me to work I'm happy
Last April I bought an E90 M3, sold it in November and took an E46 M3 in part ex against it
Just about to get an arch touched up on the E46, detail it and it's being sold on too.
It's replacement, a £500 Vauxhall Vectra.
TBH I couldn't care what I drive at the minute, as long as it starts every morning and gets me to work I'm happy
Not in the same league but I went from a 2 Litre 16V Calibra to a 1.1 Punto when I was younger. A combination of killing the engine and getting a load of points on my license meant I had little choice. After a Swift GTi and the Calibra, going to a base spec 1.1 hatchback for 4 years was hard. Saying that, the car was mental cheap to run and kept me out of trouble until my license cleaned up. My ex had our son whislt I owned that car and she stipulated that we needed a bigger more practical car. I agreed and said she could choose the car if I chose the engine and spec. We ended up with a 2.5 GhiX Mondeo. Not the most desireble machine but it was a massive upgrade for me as a young man after the Fiat.
RizzoTheRat said:
How much is your 745 actually going to sell for, ie how much money does selling it and buying a £2k snotter actually free up, compared to keeping it for occasional use and getting a £2k snotter to keep the running costs down?
Circa £5k for the 745i so would free up £3k plus saving the extra money on fuel and servicing costs. 
) to a 2004 Volve S60 D5.... 
I had an E90 3 series as a company car doing circa 35k/year. I changed companies and 'downgraded' my car to an Audi A1 and do 20 miles each way for work. On the longer journeys it's not as nice a place to be, it's not as quick, the engine isn't as refined etc but the trade off is it costs a whole lot less in BIK.
I always downgrade. My car history is just a succession of nice cars that get too expensive to run, followed by cheap runarounds that normally catch fire or breakdown in spectacular fashion. Having repeated this process several times over, my advice would be to keep the E65 unless it's costing you an arm and a leg in maintenance.
Edited by mike-r on Monday 24th March 12:57
I went from a £20k S2 Exige to a £3k EP3 Type R, obviously not as good but still offered driving thrills. Having that extra money in my account for a while before I put it on a house deposit felt good, and cushioned the blow of selling the Exige, and after a while I didn't miss the Lotus.
Plenty of good cheap cars around, just make sure you get one that is right for what you want, and that you see and remind yourself of the benefit of the savings it provides.
Plenty of good cheap cars around, just make sure you get one that is right for what you want, and that you see and remind yourself of the benefit of the savings it provides.
Similar situation here
I have my 335D M sport up for sale currently as surplus to requirements. Chirst knows I love this car, but we have an A4 family car and I need something cheaper to run for work. I've put about 35K miles on the beemer in 2 years and I've had a little fun whilst being paid to go from place to place with work. I want to free up cash now as the outgoings on the 2 cars per month is just silly now.
Considering a few options but thinking Civic or Golf diesel etc. maybe a C220Cdi?
I have my 335D M sport up for sale currently as surplus to requirements. Chirst knows I love this car, but we have an A4 family car and I need something cheaper to run for work. I've put about 35K miles on the beemer in 2 years and I've had a little fun whilst being paid to go from place to place with work. I want to free up cash now as the outgoings on the 2 cars per month is just silly now.
Considering a few options but thinking Civic or Golf diesel etc. maybe a C220Cdi?
tter you'll die a little inside.
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