Spec me a car, fed up of fixing 10 year old ones.

[DomBruv]

I'm fed up of spending 4k on a car then having to spend a ton of money fixing it.

I'm thinking maybe it's better me selling my car for 3.5k and putting a £1500 deposit down on something then say pay £150-250 a month for it. this would work out cheaper in the long run as the costs of running it would come down?

I just need a car that isn't going to break down and will carry an MTB around.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I am sure there are plenty of old cars that you don't need to pay like £2000 a year in maintenance to run.

 

[iamdjdz]

You could probably get a 2015/16 Mazda 6 for that, they're generally very reliable and have space for a mountain bike.

 

[Nasher]

Get something Japanese if you want it to last.

 

[brightside229]

you are doing something wrong.... bought a £200 scenic 18months ago and it has cost a grand total of £40 in repairs

 

[iaind]

Yeah lots of reasons to get a newer car but its completely possible for a 4k car to be really reliable, this certainly isnt going to save you any money. I sold a 2011 Mazda3 2.2D to a colleague for 3600 quid 18 months ago, he's probably put 20k miles on it and it's only had servicing and tyres

 

[bazzabear]

It's tempting man-maths, but getting a newer more expensive car is 99% not going to save you money.

If you want a newer more expensive car, then buy it for that reason, not for a daydream of a car that cost a lot more to buy and depreciates more heavily somehow costing you less.

 

[rhysduck]

Fiesta or Fabia + roofbars. job done )

 

[Cookeh]

My £1.5k Corolla cost me £350 in 2 years - including 4 new tyres. My partner bought a £2k Corolla because she liked how reliable mine was. So far its cost her £250 in 2 years - including 4 new tyres. My sisters £3k Pug 107 cost her £500 in 6 years. I mean grief, my £1.5k 25 year old Volvo that had been sitting for 7 months hasn't even cost me more than £190 a month for the 18months I've had it - and that includes a whole lot of cosmetic stuff I've done voluntarily.

I would suggest that the problem is not with the age of the car but with the cars you choose and how well you check over them before buying.

 

[wingman]

I would suggest that the problem is not with the age of the car but with the cars you choose and how well you check over them before buying.

Essentially, this.

OP, what cars have you been running that have required considerable financial upkeep?

 

[vanpeebles]

Audi or VW

 

[wingman]

Audi or VW

*checks OP's username*

Or a BMW?

 

[cheesyboy]

Yeah, old cars are usually cheaper, despite what you think. That depreciation/leasing cost is heavy.

My polo, bought for £2.5k 7.5 years ago has cost me £1500 in the last 18 months, but only cost ~£1,000 in the 6 years prior to that. Excluding tyres. It's all been wear and tear niggly stuff recently and will get rid if it doesn't settle down, but hoping I'm through the worst now. Any replacement I'm likely to be losing £1k/year on depreciation and might still face repair costs.

 

[Avalon]

Perhaps choose more suitable cars and/or pay to have them professionally checked before purchase if you aren't able to?

My RAV rolled off the line in Japan almost 14 years/120K ago, excluding consumables and routine servicing, it's cost under £500 in parts/repairs over 14 years. Yes, it's slow, boring and uneconomical, but it's comfortable, has loads of room for family + dog and it's obscenely reliable. This year I had a few minor jobs to do, but decided to do a full brake overhaul, suspension upgrade and replace the diff (easier to swap out and rebuild). My logic was, even if I sold the car and put the anticipated parts spend to the total, while I could find something more fun or nicer to drive, I would be hard pushed to buy a more reliable tool to do the job it does. Either way, i'd rather roll the dice on a decent parts spend than be guaranteed to loose the same in depreciation on a newer car.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

150-250 a month???

What on earth death traps have you been buying haha

what car atm?

 

[Lopéz]

I'm fed up of spending 4k on a car then having to spend a ton of money fixing it.

I'm thinking maybe it's better me selling my car for 3.5k and putting a £1500 deposit down on something then say pay £150-250 a month for it. this would work out cheaper in the long run as the costs of running it would come down?

I just need a car that isn't going to break down and will carry an MTB around.

£250 a month in repairs?!

 

[-westy-]

£250 a month in repairs?!

I think the OP wants to put a deposit of £1500 down and finance the rest at around £150-250 a month.

 

[Dominic-Toretto]

Buy something Japanese op....

 

[Relentless81]

I drive a ten year old Honda Civic, only issue I've had with it was to replace the air con rad but thats because it had a hole in it

I keep getting tempted to change it but only because a newer car with more safety features, space and toys but I havent done it yet just because there is no desperate need to

 

[Skillmister]

Yeah lots of reasons to get a newer car but its completely possible for a 4k car to be really reliable, this certainly isnt going to save you any money. I sold a 2011 Mazda3 2.2D to a colleague for 3600 quid 18 months ago, he's probably put 20k miles on it and it's only had servicing and tyres

35k in my 2008 mazda 6 2l petrol so far and all its needed are services, tyres, pads and bulbs

Cost me 2k off a polish guy on Facebook when the going rate was 2.5k so it's not really lost much value in nearly 2 years either