When do you change your car?

[ahenners]

The recent thread about car ownership and whether "you own your car" got me thinking... Since most "own" their cars on here, and being free from lease/finance durations, when do you generally change your car for something else and what are the reasons for doing so?

Do you generally have a set period of ownership in mind from the start I.e. number of miles or years?
Or do you just keep until it throws a massive bill or becomes unreliable then get rid? Or is it because you wake up one day and fancy something different? Let us know.

 

[shauncr91]

When I get bored.

 

[Rilot]

Usually when I fancy a change. There's been a few times when I've been forced to change due to a change in requirements such as when I needed to start taking my son to nursery and so couldn't have a 2-seater.

 

[Kaeo]

When I get bored.

Basically this.

 

[HoneyBadger]

We keep our cars until they start to get unreliable.

 

[johnny6]

20 years ago it was when I got bored. When I was in the company car scheme it was every 5-6 months. Right now it’s when it dies or costs me too much to fix.

 

[weight]

This is funny because it was true, but still ...

 

[rodenal]

Whenever I get bored and can justify it to myself. Alternatively if either I've managed to buy a car I hate using (Octy VRS) or for some reason it no longer suits I'll change car.

If circumstances changed financially the cars would be one of the first things to be sacrificed to free up some cash /reduce outgoings too

 

[DarrenM343]

Used to be when fancied a change. Never really get bored of cars tho unless fancying a change is classed as such? . Now it's more likely when it's getting older and likely to start needing repairs.
Had current main car for over 6 years now which is the longest I've owned any car and it's an SUV too (BMW X1). Owned plenty of fast cars in the past and despite the bad opinion many have of SUV's it's been a great all rounder hence why I have kept it so long. Also has proper hydraulic steering too . Right now I am tempted to change it, because I may not need so much space in car overall, it needs a service in 2-3k miles (less hassle if don't have to do it ) and I hear a "donk" sometimes at slower speeds changing down hears gears so might need a repair. Still only done 53k miles which is low for me. I've driven that many miles in one year sometimes in the past!
Will probably hold onto it for a while longer. Both parents are elderly and it's nice to have a four door with decent access to help out if needed. Next car would probably be sporty 2 seater again or two door only so will be a bit selfish really. Not sure I could bring parents to my home trying to get one in the back of a two door when both have arthritis.

Really like having two cars now. My other one is just an old Yaris but great for driving around town without caring about it. Only done 30k miles but worth probably no more than £1200-1400. This one I will ditch if repair bills get expersive but it's spent most of its life in my parents garage so despite its age is in a great condition. Handy for parking near a client that have bad parking too.

 

[Phemo]

I tend to try to keep my cars for around 3 years or more if possible but it depends on if/when they start to cost money, circumstances change or they die. I try to aim for 3 years because after that point, the car allowance I get paid for my job has paid the car off for me, minus servicing and repairs of course.

I only owned my previous car for 10 months. I just didn't particularly enjoy the way it drove and for a diesel the fuel economy was tragic so I may as well have just had a petrol. The car before that I owned for 3 and a half years and I only ditched it because the gearbox went and the engine had a rattly cam chain so was only a matter of time before it died or threw up a large bill. I still have the car I owned before that one as a spare runabout and it comes in handy, but that was my main daily driver for a little over 3 years too - still runs fine but I only changed that one because it was too small and I needed something bigger.

I've only owned my current car for less than a month so far but also aiming to keep it for 3 years or more if it's still going without any major issues after that point.

 

[lordrobs]

I don't change very often, reasons in my 19 years of driving have been;

1st car - Rusted away, was told it would't make another MOT
2nd car - I could afford to run something with more performance and it was getting a bit tired
3rd car - It started drinking oil so I panicked and put it through the local auction

I now have a company car so my MX5 is just a toy that does about 1500 miles a year. I'll keep that for as long as it suits my lifestyle and I have a use for it.

If I had to go back to running my own car I'd probably buy at 2 to 5 years old and shift it at about 10 years old or so.

 

[IAmATeaf]

When faults arise that are going to cost a fortune to fix or my local Indy can’t fix. That’s what always flips me over the edge and was the reason why I got rid of my Accord. For my wife’s car, her old civic had to go as there was an impending large bill looming.

 

[Heisenberg]

Every 6 months

 

[tamzzy]

i've only owned/driven 2 cars.
my first car i part ex-ed it for my current car when the auto-box started slipping in third gear - was an 11 year old 3 series which would have cost more to fix than it was worth.
i saw it back on sale on auto trader within a month...
...and when i checked dvla a few months later after that, the reg was invalid

 

[Terminal_Boy]

Discounting my 2 PCP’d cars, the following trigger my changing vehicles:

- Change of vehicle requirements

- Change in personal circumstances

- Increasing unreliability/vehicle becoming uneconomical to repair

 

[Randomface74]

1st car - megane - first car, bought it because it was cheap (about 12 yrs old), junked it when the welding bill was more than the value (about 5 years later).
2nd car - astra H (lowest spec), bought it at 1 year old to avoid initial depreciation, had it for about 5 years, replaced (part-ex) when it started feeling like something wasn't right.
3rd car - astra K (highest spec), bought it at 1 year old to avoid initial depreciation, still have it (2 years so far), no plans to sell it at any particular time, I really like this car so I'll run it until there's an issue.

so I guess it's roughly:
buy: 1 year old
sell: 5 years later

 

[Vita]

I change yearly but I’ve changed my thought process and plan to run the next car I purchase, until it becomes uneconomical to repair against buying a newer car.

 

[Scania]

Not planning on changing mine for a very long time if I can help it, depending on the potential arrival of an inheritance, I might be getting a house with a garage for the e38 then either a late low mileage f10 or early higher mileage G30 520d for the day to day but that’s very up in the air at the moment.

If I was to change my e38 it would be for another, ideally a swb sport V12 which are like hens teeth never mind good ones.

 

[smilertoo]

i'm still on my first car, might update it sometime.