Considering new car time

IvanDobskey

IvanDobskey

IvanDobskey

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I currently have a 17 reg seat Leon that I've owned for nearly 7 years. It's been a great car but I'm mulling over trading it in while it's still worth something.

Been looking at the current shape honda civic hybrid. Around 23 reg for about 23k. Is there anything else in this bracket that would be a better purchase?

The Leon has 52k on the clock, so still has plenty of life in it. I could just hang on to it I guess.
 
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Do you do a high percentage of town miles to justify a hybrid, versus lots of A roads ? is leon already an automatic so you are ok to go cvt/auto ?

I looked at manual turbo'd petrol civics, lightweight/good mpg + space, but never particularly liked binnacle or poor rear visibility, not helped by tint.
is mazda3 big enough for you ? eg. it was a bit small for me and mazda 6 a bit large ....you'd have difficulty spending 23k on one though
e: could get the newer 2.5 engine with bags of torque for £23k

[ for me electric market is still missing a spacey saloon in hatch/estate format, otherwise 23K is in used ev area too.]
 
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IvanDobskey said:
I currently have a 17 reg seat Leon that I've owned for nearly 7 years. It's been a great car but I'm mulling over trading it in while it's still worth something.

Been looking at the current shape honda civic hybrid. Around 23 reg for about 23k. Is there anything else in this bracket that would be a better purchase?

The Leon has 52k on the clock, so still has plenty of life in it. I could just hang on to it I guess.
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What’s the use case and scenario, annual mileage etc?
 
IvanDobskey said:
I currently have a 17 reg seat Leon that I've owned for nearly 7 years. It's been a great car but I'm mulling over trading it in while it's still worth something.
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Likely to be a false economy. Is there anything wrong with it? If not, I'd just keep it, it will be (much) cheaper overall, unless you really want a change.
 
Thanks for the feedback :)

Currently I'm doing a commute of 35 miles each way to work after losing my cushy work from home job :( So any new car needs to be as frugal as the Leon which will happily do 55mpg.

There's nothing wrong with the Leon, it's in fine condition for its age, I'm just aware it's aging. I've owned it since two years old when it had 9800 miles on the clock.

I've also considered the Mazda 3, but that has quite a bit less power than the Leon and I'm worried I'd miss it.
 
If you can get a home charger installed, electric is a very feasible option - I’m just trading in my 22 model Polestar 2 which will be sold on for about £20k I reckon, with 50k miles on it.

Not everyone wants an EV though, and a large plugin hybrid could possibly make that daily range if the battery is large enough but I suspect most aren’t.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change cars for something different, especially when you spend so much time in it every day - god knows I’ve done it far too many times :D
 
Similar situation with a 16 reg astra and not sure whether to replace proactively or keep using. WFH so very low miles, and only 20k on the clock.

What I don't know is how long cars typically last. Is it going to fall apart due to being old? Or going to keep going for ages due to low mileage and well cared for?
 
Worth looking at an EV if you do want to change as 70 miles a day will quickly save you a chunk of cash if you've got somewhere to charge at home.

Otherwise i don't see the sense in upgrading to a very similar car from what you have, you've already done the big depreciation so i'd sweat the asset and keep it to get your moneys worth out of it.

I do 60 miles a day and that costs me just under a quid (96p i think) a day in electric costs for the commute, it was a lot more in my old petrol car!
 
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Whars the range on the hybrid? plan on getting a charger at home?

Mines is like 20m and has never been charged, so its just a big mass weight reducing mpg.
 
70 mile round trip commute = used/preowned EV imo. Thats sort of daily mileage is doable even with granny charging (granny charging = 8-9 miles replenished per hour of charging). And will cost pennies to run in comparison to a diesel (or any ice car tbh).
If you have a driveway with space for a proper charger then even better.

A 3 year old EV will have most of its depreciation done by then so you could potentially get a very nice model and specimen for that kind of money you've budgeted.
 
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I'm unlikely to have a charging point fitted anytime soon. So I won't be going full EV or plug-in hybrid.

Might just keep the Leon as it's been such a good car. I do like the latest civic though. New and shiny is hard to resist :p
 
throwaway4372 said:
Similar situation with a 16 reg astra and not sure whether to replace proactively or keep using. WFH so very low miles, and only 20k on the clock.

What I don't know is how long cars typically last. Is it going to fall apart due to being old? Or going to keep going for ages due to low mileage and well cared for?
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The average petrol car is 18 years old when its scrapped and diesel is 16 years old.

So as that's an average then a well looked after one should easily go a bit more with a bit of luck on your side.

Worth checking up for common issues with your model, like with a lot of newer cars if they have wet cambelts that's a ticking time bomb for example but if its a normal petrol engine as long as you keep changing the oil frequently there's no reason it shouldn't go on for a long time.
 
tamzzy said:
70 mile round trip commute = used/preowned EV imo. Thats sort of daily mileage is doable even with granny charging (granny charging = 8-9 miles replenished per hour of charging). And will cost pennies to run in comparison to a diesel (or any ice car tbh).
If you have a driveway with space for a proper charger then even better.

A 3 year old EV will have most of its depreciation done by then so you could potentially get a very nice model and specimen for that kind of money you've budgeted.
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Yeah im only using the granny 3 pin charger at the moment for my 60 mile commute and so far that's been fine, so much so i'm really doubting whether its worth splashing the cash to get a proper charger installed.

But again you need some parking right by your house which sounds like the OP doesn't have which i guess rules out an EV which is a real shame.
 
sovietspybob said:
Yeah im only using the granny 3 pin charger at the moment for my 60 mile commute and so far that's been fine, so much so i'm really doubting whether its worth splashing the cash to get a proper charger installed.
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I would get a charger installed if you have the funds to do so, purely for the convenience and flexibility if you ever need to do an unanticipated long trip etc
 
sovietspybob said:
Yeah im only using the granny 3 pin charger at the moment for my 60 mile commute and so far that's been fine, so much so i'm really doubting whether its worth splashing the cash to get a proper charger installed.

But again you need some parking right by your house which sounds like the OP doesn't have which i guess rules out an EV which is a real shame.
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I do have a driveway for 4 cars outside my house, so a charger would easily work for me. Just don't see the point of it yet, not until full EV's are an absolute must.
 
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