At what point do you cut your losses and run ?

MassiveJim

MassiveJim

MassiveJim

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Joined
22 Feb 2014
Posts
2,956
I have owned my ST220 for 2 1/2 years and until 6 months ago it was relatively low maintenance.

however, in the last 6 months
have paid £860 for flywheel, clutch and slave cylinder to be changed.

it recently developed a bad misfire, after replacing the plugs and leads this seems to be ok now (genuine leads were £130 as 3rd party ones were a poor fit :()

now there is an engine management light on (although I think this is related to the LPG system I have fitted which is due a service) (the error code indicates bank1 is running lean)

Then there is a rattle at the back end, it isn't causing any problems other than annoying me but from the knowledge I have of this car it is probably the rear sub-frame bushes.
The drivers seat has developed a bit of movement as well accompanied by a bit of a squeak occasionally.
The car has become a bit of a workhorse now as I changed jobs and am doing roughly 25k a year.

Have done some maths and if I took a loan out for around £11k and bought a 3 year old modern diesel I would be roughly £20 a month worse off but with less headache (in theory)
I don't have any money to put towards another car other than this mondeo which isn't going to be worth a great deal as alloys are ruined (common with diamond cut finished wheels :( ) the bodywork isn't in best of condition either.
The car drives fine at present and I don't know which school of thought I should follow at this moment in time. Given that I have just shelled out over £1k in repairs I am sort of thinking I want to get my money's worth before I shift the car on, but then I am also thinking when will it end ?

I would miss the power as well if I decided to upgrade now as I would be dropping to circa 120bhp I would imagine with a diesel that is economic enough to make the change viable.

So over to you OCUK, keep it or get rid ?
 
25k miles a year = more regular maintenance/repair costs?

£0.46 x 25,000 = £11,500.

At 30mpg and £1.30 a litre, that's around £5,000 in petrol. After insurance etc. should have money left for repairs.

I can't see that changing with a different car.
 
Personally I don't rate Ford cars.
They are great when new, however I estimate they only have a useful life of around 8 years before they either rust or throw up big bills.
That's not a long time as a private buyer.
It shouldn't however deter company buyers as they change frequently before any problems should arise.
 
[TW]Fox;26858205 said:
What happens when your 3 year old modern diesel needs repairs or maintenance?
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I have based my calculations on £600 a year maintenance for the mondeo (given that the biggest bill it can throw up has been thrown up) and £200 a year for a 3 year old car.

Is this too optimistic ?


Also don't forget it runs on LPG so I pay 65 to 70 p per litre.
and I get around 24mpg, 30mpg just LOL, too many people have been listening to Howard ;)

EDIT - oh mileage is not business mileage so to speak it is my daily commute at 100mile per day +non-work related milage:(
 
[TW]Fox;26858329 said:
So? Not sure what your point is. He says he does 25k a year.
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The point is that the first reply had figures for reclaiming business milage

Op you need to allow for maintenance of the new car too. You probably don't take the mondy to ford, if you pick up something vw/Audi/BMW/Honda for example you'll need a few hundred per year routine servicing alone. Other things absolutely will break too
 
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rodenal said:
The point is that the first reply had figures for reclaiming business milage

Op you need to allow for maintenance of the new car too. You probably don't take the mondy to ford, if you pick up something vw/Audi/BMW/Honda for example you'll need a few hundred per year routine servicing alone. Other things absolutely will break too
Click to expand...

1stly I think you misunderstood first response as business mileage is 45ppm for the first 10k, then (I think) 25ppm after that. Irrelevant anyway as it isn't covered :p


The cars I would be looking at would be either
VW Passat estate
Skoda octavia estate
skoda superb estate

servicing has been accounted for but I don't intend to keep main dealer service history, given that in the space of 4 years I will be banging 100k on the car main dealer service history will make little difference to the selling price, so it will be serviced by my local side street garage that I know and trust. (been going there for over 10 years now)
 
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MassiveJim said:
1stly I think you misunderstood first response as business mileage is 45ppm for the first 10k, then (I think) 25ppm after that. Irrelevant anyway as it isn't covered :p


The cars I would be looking at would be either
VW Passat estate
Skoda octavia estate
skoda superb estate

servicing has been accounted for but I don't intend to keep main dealer service history, given that in the space of 4 years I will be banging 100k on the car main dealer service history will make little difference to the selling price, so it will be serviced by my local side street garage that I know and trust. (been going there for over 10 years now)
Click to expand...

You haven't allowed for any likely other maintenance though? A modern diesel will have a relatively high chance of wanting a clutch within the first 6 or so years of its life, there's 800 quid right away for a clutch/fly, it'll need odds and sods elsewhere too without any major breakages. Can't allow several hundred a year for one car and nothing the other

The fabia is not a car to cover 25k per annum in. Octavia or ideally the superb estates from Skoda

Edit...ninja'd
 
rodenal said:
You haven't allowed for any likely other maintenance though? A modern diesel will have a relatively high chance of wanting a clutch within the first 6 or so years of its life, there's 800 quid right away for a clutch/fly, it'll need odds and sods elsewhere too without any major breakages. Can't allow several hundred a year for one car and nothing the other

The fabia is not a car to cover 25k per annum in. Octavia or ideally the superb estates from Skoda

Edit...ninja'd
Click to expand...

MassiveJim said:
I have based my calculations on £600 a year maintenance for the mondeo (given that the biggest bill it can throw up has been thrown up) and £200 a year for a 3 year old car.

Is this too optimistic ?
Click to expand...
 
I would imagine it has come from the OP thinking that a newer car will have less, on average, go wrong with it. So he is equating that to approximately 1/3rd of his ST's "fixing" budget. (Assuming parts for the lower powered, "boring" diesel don't carry a "sporty" price tag like the ST might).

Normal servicing looks to be considered the same.

I can't imagine why anyone would thing a newer car will shred it's clutch in 6 years? Would an older car last longer? Presumably the OP will be pretty gentle on such parts on account of his higher mileage. Must be mostly motorway.

Skoda Superb Estate would be my weapon of choice for your needs OP. A lot of car for not a lot of money. And should cope with the mileage well. As you say, banging 100k onto the car over 4 years will drastically reduce it's value, so I guess your plan is to run it into the ground? If not, the difference in value on a 7 year old Passat or Superb with 150k will be minimal. The purchase cost of a 3 year old example with 30-50k on it might be significant though.
 
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