>> Does anyone know how long the average car in Britain lasts? >> About 11 years.
Any advance on 11 ~ yes, 13.95
See www.cfit.gov.uk/research/scot0122/02.htm
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Well ive just read the website & i think it just consentrates on how much tax the average car makes in its lifetime (about 12-15 years). But then its lifespan does also depend on how it is looked after in that respect.
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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Oh & as a matter of interest in Japan, the average life of a car is about 6 to 8 i think because the government encourages car owners to buy new or nearly new about every 5 years or so, meaning the seconhand values of vehicles over that age will plumit to almost scrap value!!!! That or they are exported to here!!
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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I don't know if anything (MOT etc) forces it to be done, but aren't airbags supposed to be replaced at 10yrs? For the vast majority of cars, this would surely write them off.
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Done a few longish journies recently in our 14 yr old (H plate)BX. Very few cars seen were as old.
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I think airbags, along with seatbelt pre-tensioners, are a service requirement, not an MoT one. Isn't it just the 'gas' in airbags that needs replacing after a while?
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'I don't know if anything (MOT etc) forces it to be done, but aren't airbags supposed to be replaced at 10yrs? For the vast majority of cars, this would surely write them off.'
See:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=7034&v...#
for previous discussion...
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L'escargot - thanks for the link. Very interesting.
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Here in New Zealand, the lack of salt on the roads means that cars last much longer. I remember, before the days of used Japanese imports, that the *average* age of vehicles was over 20 years. I suspect this is a different figure to the 13+ years quoted above. Now we have a vehicle fleet that is probably 70% Japanese used import, 20% NZ new from Japan, and 10% NZ new from all other sources. You can still see the occasional daily use Mini, Austin 1100, but almost all the old cars I grew up with have gone now.
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Its interesting that such a large %age of NZ fleet is used Japanese cars.
Clearly they are less stigmatised there than here where they are viewed with suspicion about lack of undersealing, difficulty of sourcing some parts, the general reasons why its worthwhile shipping older Jap cars here and the price, which in some cases seem very high for what are elderly vehicles with no service history that can be read easily.
Why are they so popular in NZ?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Its interesting that such a large %age of NZ fleet is used Japanese cars. Clearly they are less stigmatised there than here where they are viewed with suspicion about lack of undersealing, difficulty of sourcing some parts, the general reasons why its worthwhile shipping older Jap cars here and the price, which in some cases seem very high for what are elderly vehicles with no service history that can be read easily. Why are they so popular in NZ?
I think that in the UK various motoring journo's (Top Gear et al) did a bit of a hatchet-job on used Japanese grey imports to scare people off. I guess the official importers had seen what had happened in NZ, AUS and Ireland and didn't want the same happening here. After lobbying, they got the tighter ESVA regs pushed through, so its much more difficult to import a car made after 1st Jan 1997.
Having inspected some Jap imports, they do look very well kept and have minimal corrosion. I'm sure there are some dodgy ones too - but generally they are much better (for their age) than a UK equivalent and I would have few qualms about buying one. Undersealing is an issue - but a top class rustproofing job is unlikely to set you back more than £250 - which is what many people spend on a stereo or a couple of tyres.
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whatever else is said about used jap cars - it is a very worthwile thing in an environment way to buy them as I suppose otherwise they get scrapped.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Average car age in this household is 26 years. That's 11 for the Volvo and 41 for the Triumph. When they start getting old I'll report back, but don't hold your breath - the Volvo's only just passed the 310,000 mile mark.
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My parents recently sold two 13 year old Hondas, both in excellent condition and are now being driven by younger friends. Reason for sale? My parents were getting too stiff to get into the cars as they are quite low. They now drive other Japanese cars which are higher (Subaru Forester and Suzuki Wagon R+).
They are likely to keep them for several years.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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An attempt was made in the early days of NZ importing of used Japanese cars to cast aspersions on them. It became obvious fairly quickly that it was done for the same reasons as above, and the consumer ignored the local importers' and assemblers' whingeing. Underseal is not such an issue in NZ as salt is not used on the roads. Most of the Japanese vehicles have very good rust protection straight from the factory, without applying underseal. I had a Mazda 626 in the UK which was about 10 years old, and it had no corrosion problems with its bodywork.
One reason for the popularity of used Japanese imports in NZ is that they seem to be made to last, even though their projected life in Japan is probably only seven years. Attempts have been made to sell European cars, but it was found that they really were built to last seven years. It's only recently that GM (Holden) have been able to sell Astras in NZ, previous incarnations were unable to compete with the Japanese cars in the quality stakes. The same goes for European small Fords, such as Escort, Fiesta. The Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda offerings run rings around them.
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An attempt was made in the early days of NZ importing of used Japanese cars to cast aspersions on them....
I think Japanese cars made for the world market do have good undersealing. However cars made just for the Japanese domestic market tend not to have much and I would suspect that rust would set in rapidly in the UK. Mind you, a blast of Dinitrol underneath shouldn't cost more than £100 and even a 'bells and whistles' rust proofing job should cost less than £250.
The problem in the UK now is the ESVA, which is designed as an obstacle to bringing in more recent Jap-market cars. It doesn't apply in other countries (e.g. Ireland) so I'm wondering if you could import a late-model used Japanese car into Ireland, register it there, and then import into the UK?
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