.... frequently seem to worry so much about the cost of petrol/diesel or an extra few mpg?
I haven't done all the maths but compared to the amount lost through depreciation I'd have thought a few pence on a gallon or and extra +/- 3 mpg isn't worth worrying about.
Please note Mods. this post is a little TIC.
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Could it be company car, but own paid for fuel?
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Depends, the fuel consumption gap is nominally bigger than 3mpg I tend to find a difference of nearer 10-15mpg on the Audi A3s and A4s when driven the same way.
I choose to drive diesel because I prefer the huge low down relaxed torque characteristics to rev-rev petrol type power. Big V8 petrol though is a different matter but then those have diesel like torque curves.
Chris
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I prefer to balance the nasty thought of how many miles I drive a year with the pleasure of receiving a 4-figure yax code from the Inland Revenue...
That's called getting a car allowance, choosing the new car I want to drive, buying it from the cheapest supplier, having a fuel card and only paying tax on the ACTUAL private miles travelled and getting tax releif on the zillions of business miles travelled.
Maybe that's why I'm always smiling....or maybe that's just the insanity showing through???
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It's a bit like saying why should people who buy new cars worry how fast they can go as they're only allowed to do 70 mph, even if they occasionally reach, say, 85.
Judging by the messages on this board, intelligent motoring enthusiasts have got the environmental message. Not so much the one about pollution and global warming, but the one that the oil is going to run out. Although the alternative fuel situation looks promising now, sustainable fuel may be expensive because of difficulty in meeting demand.
Cheers, SS
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Environmental message - Not so much the one about pollution and global warming, but the one that the oil is going to run out.
And so sensible environmentally friendly people are running old cars as they are well aware that the energy required to build a new car is well in excess of the few gallons of extra petrol that an old car will drink.
Eco-friendliness is about continuing to use what has already been made - not about building something new at great expense that shaves a smidgen off the fuel consumption.
Instead of trying to get old bangers off the road by introducing stricter emissions testing, the Government would be better off putting a ban on the sale of new cars for 6 months, so as to encourage the re-use of some old cars that are perfectly good but just a bit unloved.
e.g. You can buy 5 old-shape Audi 100s (198?5 - 1991) with no MOT off eBay for a total of £100 (on a good day). Take them all apart & put them back together in a different order with some new suspension bushes & you will have 3 or 4 perfectly good Audi 100s worth £400-£500 each with a full MOT, plus some scrap that the scrap man will give you £40 for. If I wanted to make money out of old cars, that's what I would do. And I would be setting a green example.
There's a splendid VW dismantlers somewhere East of Greenwich with a large poster on the wall announcing their environmental credentials. (!)
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"The government should put a ban on the sale of new cars for six months"
You you might find that could lead to the odd economic difficulty here and there.
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A car that does 14,000 miles at 40mpg against 30mpg will use around £500 more fuel, so £1,500 over three years ownership.
Compare that to the depreciation cost of the average new car over three years and it is pretty insignificant.
V
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People buy new cars for the same reason they buy new washing machines because they can. A new car will always be better than an older model, cars are continually improving. The newest super mini will be leeps ahead of the 4 year old model in every way, refinement comfort performance sound system air con etc etc. Thats why people buy new cars. Ofcourse none of this applies if you buy a new Rover 25???
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"A new car will always be better than an older model"
Debatable - especially if the new car is just out and its predecessor had a decent production life. Cars are redesigned for fashion reasons, too...
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On the environmental front, just curious about the following...
People buy new BMWs for all sorts of good reasons, but is anyone (in the UK) persuaded to buy one because the advert says it lends itself readily to recycling at the end of its life?
Oz (as was)
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It's only going to effect the last user directly, but it may have a subliminal effect, especially if the scrap/recycling industry makes it easier to dispose of such vehicles (or more difficult to get rid of the other sort).
It would be greener, of course, to make vehicles easier to maintain and extend their lives, but I can't see that being a major incentive!
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