Car downgrade

Dave85 · 12 Dec 2025 at 17:10

Honestly it's quite liberating. I went from M3. Evo etc to a Tucson and a old Subaru outback. Its quite nice just fixing them cheap and not giving a toss about them in car parks etc. I now have a Lexus UX300e for my daily pottering about and a 09 Rav4 Tractor diesel that honestly on a long drive I find the driving comfier in so thinking of getting rid of the lexus as well. For me it was getting older and realising I just dont care what anyone thinks about me anymore compared to my youth. That and realising you have crap / quirky taste in cars. Not paying 2 large payment every month is very liberating as well.

adam cool dude · 12 Dec 2025 at 19:40

The problem is once you do it you cannot buy anything else again because everything feels a waste of money.

We bought our 2004 Saab 9-5 ten years ago for £1900. It is most likely still worth it now but it just keeps plodding on. 180k now. I do all the work on it myself. Costs me peanuts to run. £170 a year on insurance. Will even do mid 30's on a run. Tyres are 225/45/17 so super cheap too. Less than £300 for a full set of premium brands.

As plenty of people say. Don't care about where it is parked. Chuck the dog in the back. We do have nice cars but it just does the job no probs.

Negative is you do need to be handy with the spanners to keep them going but I am OCD with the mechanics of my cars. This year the ABS packed in so needed to get the module replaced. I also put a new set of lower arms on it. Oil change and service. £300 tops for another year of motoring.

tamzzy · 12 Dec 2025 at 19:45

how long is a piece of string?

if you're a gucci belt-wearing, £million-earning 0.1%-er then £12k/yr isn't any bother at all
on the other hand if you're earning £50k gross, £12k/yr for 2 cars is a bit of a different matter

also you would need to consider all your other household outgoings + discretionary spending vs your wages

EvilRob · 12 Dec 2025 at 21:58

Yeah, there's no one size fits all answer here. Personally, I think spending more than 5% net income not including fuel would be excessive.

Drangueos · 12 Dec 2025 at 22:09

I went from a Porsche Cayenne to a VW UP! (the "Take UP" the poverty spec, doesn't even have central lock or electric windows), was one of the best things I ever did.
I will buy a better car eventually, but will keep the UP.

As a city car is the best thing.
What I like about the UP, is that I don't have any love for it, I don't care if someone scratches, crashes, bangs or anything.

Nabinium · 13 Dec 2025 at 00:21

Drangueos said:
What I like about the UP, is that I don't have any love for it

Poor Up

grudas · 13 Dec 2025 at 00:44

absolutely, I rarely daily drive cars worth more than £10k and they’re all absolutely fine. Buy something reliable and good condition and it’ll last for ever with good maintenance. Lexus, Toyota, Honda all have been extremely reliable

sx_turbo · 13 Dec 2025 at 05:54

The cost of newer cars and the cost of purchasing new cars is why we've still got our almost 20 year old A4 Avant 11 years after buying it.

I'd like to get something newer and bigger, but it's a struggle to justify the cost.

A couple of years ago I decided to replace the nissan Almera I had to run back and forth to work in.with something more akin to my tastes and bought a Kia ceed GT to replace it, and tbh apart from the power I miss my old nissan in every other way, for the reasons drangues likes his up, I didn't love it but I did grow fond of it.

The Kia has also been far from reliable and has cost a lot more than the nissan, and the nissan I done all the work myself if it needed it, i do bits on the Kia but it's crap to work on.

bimbleuk · 13 Dec 2025 at 06:38

I keep thinking about selling my '19 Tesla Model 3 for a smaller EV like a Renault 5 or BYD Surf but then I'd have to put up with the disappointing software. The cars reliable and cheap to run plus only does 20-30 miles per week now so I'm keeping it. Only reason to get another ignoring costs would be to keep getting the software upgrades. Current car now limited due to being on the "old" HW3 platform and pre-RYZEN entertainment chip.

I used to buy £1000 cars and run them for 6-7 years pre-covid.

Drangueos · 13 Dec 2025 at 07:29

Nabinium said:
Poor Up

Don't get me wrong, mechanically it is well cared, I change oil and filter every 5k miles, I replace brake fluid every 2 or 3 years.
When I bought it was a Cat N and the repair was not great, but it had full service history.

AndyCr15 · 13 Dec 2025 at 07:46

From -

To -

I think if I told 20-year-old me that I would sell a Mustang and buy a Skoda, I wouldn't have believed me.

The (almost) funny thing, I made the change because I thought I would be made redundant. It turns out, I piveted and am making about 50% more now, but tbh, it's a nice reliable car, which takes my bike in the back, nice and easy.

Howling · 13 Dec 2025 at 12:39

adencool said:
Has anyone ever thought about a car downgrade?

Yep. Then I sober up

But in seriousness, I've definitely thought about it - and I've even run the numbers for costs over the next 3 years. I still have about a year left before my Mustang is fully paid (personal loan, not PCP/HP so it's not actually tied to the car - got a better rate, weirdly). Turns out if I sold it and cleared the loan, bought a 5-10k 'runaround' - in 3 years time (assuming the Mustang held decent value, which historically they are very good at) then I only end up £5-6k better off after 3 years - which isn't nothing but £2k/year difference between a Mustang and a low end BMW or something is a value trade I'm willing to take.

End of the day it's not a question of "should I downgrade" but "is the Value i get worth it to me?"

tom_nieto · 13 Dec 2025 at 15:20

I reckon our 2012 Kia Sportage has cost us £200 a month not including fuel (it’s basically worthless now having bought it for £10k). It would be mighty tempting to be paying £300 a month for a lease EV just to get Apple car play.

Upgrade or downgrade is all relative and I share the views expressed by others about having a runaround that I couldn’t really care less about in terms of car park dings and the kids sticking sweets to the seats. The Kia serves this purpose admirably and has been frustratingly reliable.

I have been fortunate to keep my 911 (which is approaching 20 years old), but having a ratty runaround makes the 911 so much more special to drive. Should I sell it? Probably! Would I ever be in a position to get another? Probably not! I’m therefore going to keep it as long as possible.

Nasher · 14 Dec 2025 at 09:23

Tinders said:
5 years ago a downgrade was a much better option, now its much tricker, since covid used cars a way dearer than they used to be, even old bangers are now close to 1k. My old man paid 2k for a 2012 C class C220 CDI estate, base spec manual, cheap car it seemed at the time. But its been a bit of lemon, turbo and egr went. and then we found out the DPF had been gutted.

Imo, sticking to petrol will be best, Honda etc and you should still get an ok car. bigger the better, were on the hunt for a Yaris, and even 2013 ones are north of 4k, for a poxy yaris ffs

The even older ones are still about 4k for a sub 50k miles one. They are the peak of cheap motoring, super durable (just avoid the 1.33 as it's an oil burner). Don't seem to rust much either.

The old Auris is worth a look as well for a large hatchback. Overlooked by most, but they are tanks. Plus they have a nice ride which deals with UK potholes. Usually around the same price as a Yaris.

I sold my Elise because I just wasn't getting to use it enough. It sat on the driveway most of the time and then spawned a big bill every year. It was an amazing car to drive, but it was to much of a black hole.

sx_turbo said:
The Kia has also been far from reliable and has cost a lot more than the nissan, and the nissan I done all the work myself if it needed it, i do bits on the Kia but it's crap to work on.

I had the same experience with a Kia. They aren't as well made as people like to think, nothing like Honda/Toyota levels where you buy a 20 year old one and everything just works.

Not sure if they changed it, but Kia didn't galvanize their subframes either, so they rusted through in no time. Mine didn't even make it to 80k miles (13 years old) before being scrapped. Subframe cracked and the steering rack was shot. Other more minor issues as well like the AC was knackered. Wasn't worth fixing.

moppy89 · 14 Dec 2025 at 18:42

AndyCr15 said:
From -

To -

I think if I told 20-year-old me that I would sell a Mustang and buy a Skoda, I wouldn't have believed me.

We sold a Superb Estate to Cazoo for £1500 more than we paid for it after 2 years of owning it during the COVID times. Wife has access to very cheap Jaguar Land Rover cars through work and we've had a F Pace, Velar, Discovery Sport and Discovery since.

I would have zero qualms about going back to a Superb Estate and wouldn't even consider it a downgrade, absolutely phenomenal car, practical, comfortable and absolutely TONNES of boot space

AndyCr15 · 14 Dec 2025 at 18:59

moppy89 said:
I would have zero qualms about going back to a Superb Estate and wouldn't even consider it a downgrade, absolutely phenomenal car, practical, comfortable and absolutely TONNES of boot space

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I think it's a great car. I went for it for the boot space and space in general. I find it amazing that I can sit in the back seat and have literally 6 inches or so, space left in front of my knees (I'm 6'2)

The joke is more about their reputation and being the butt of jokes when I was a kid, hence 'kid me' not believing I would go from Mustang to Skoda :cry: