Buy them new, keep them 100,000 miles or so (around 4 years)
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My first car was a used 5 year old Micra, which started to fall apart after 3.5 years and so was disposed of. It was a bad buy. I read that they were designed to last 7 years and I can believe that. I've had my Ford Ka for 3 years, and will keep it no more than 2 more years. IMO small cars can be changed every 3 years because they are so cheap to buy and you get the advantages of a 3 year warranty, new tyes, brakes etc. I suspect that as far as purchase and running costs are concerned prestige cars are overall cheaper to buy and maintain when used, and should really be kept till repairs start to get expensive (or just before).
Leif
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Audi 100, acquired as a company car and then purchased for private use: sold at 10 years old.
Capri 2.8i, acquired as a company car and then purchased for private use: 20 years so far.
MB W124 Coupé, bought used: 4.5 years so far and expecting at least another 10 years out of it.
MB W126, bought used: three months so far and expecting at least another 10 years out of it.
Golf VR6, bought new: 8.5 years so far and expecting at least another 10 years out of it, unless I sell it soon.
I have experienced no serious problems with any of these vehicles (although it looks like the W126 might need the head gasket replaced before long -- it's done 132k).
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Bought my 320d SE Touring new and as I am now retired and only drive about 7 - 8k per year, intend to keep it for 10 years. Thankfully I really enjoy the car`s driving dynamics and fuel economy,( averaged 51.4 mpg on a recent holiday trip to West Wales), so it will not be too much of a chore. Depreciation in the early years of ownership are horrendous, (even with BMW`s), so as somebody has already mentioned, I hate to see my hard earned cash frittered down the pan, and besides that I don`t like the look of the latest E90 3 series, so unless Bangle`s influence is diminished within BMW, I will be looking to Japan for its eventual replacement.
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My Alfa 156 is nearly 6 years old (mine since new). My mind set had certainly changed. With the trade in price for it being so low and having to use hard earnt cash to upgrade, decided to stick with it. Not really a hardship as I still enjoy driving it as much now as when I got it.
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Buy new or nearly new and run it into the ground, possibly relegating older vehicle to mostly local use. Should get 10-15 years from them, but suspect big bills for electrickery, airbags and general complexity mean recent acquisitions will not achive the BX's 14 years.
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1st Car, kept for a year, sold because I was moving and the costs involved in taking it with me were more than the car was worth.
2nd car, kept for 2 years, sold because it needed small repairs, the introduction of emmisions testing had me concerned it would not pass and I finally had enough money saved to buy what I really wanted (probably reason enough)
3rd car, kept for 6 years, sold because I wanted a truck. I had bought a house that year and quickly realized that a Mustang hatchback was rubbish at carting things about.
4th "car", kept for 6 years, sold because I was moving (to the UK) and again not worth taking it with me.
5th car, now on 2nd year of ownership. Want something different now, but will probably keep for another year at least.
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1st car - ex demo Volvo 340 - 4yrs 72k - sold because increasing costs to repair a mystery fault
2nd car - new Pug 306xtdt - 2yrs 48k - sold due to brake problems that Pug couldn't fix as well as numerous other small probs.
3rd car - new BMW325tds - 5yrs 88k - sold due to new family arrivals
4th car - not new BMW530dT - 5yrs and counting 55k - plan to keep until it gets expensive to keep. Hopefully that will be pushing 200k.
I pay a little bit more than I want when starting off in the hope and expectation that it will be efficient and last a long time.
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Hoping to keep the fiesta till it falls to bits, which I hope badly will be a very long time. Had Astra for 3 years till it fell apart on me, Renault for about 5 or 6 years till it did the same, and first ever car, a Sunbeam, till the same thing happened. Maybe there is a pattern here?
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"Maybe there is a pattern here?"
Sounds sensible enough to me. We keep our cars until they fall to bits, too, although in practice this means failing the MOT for something expensive.
15-year old Mazda and 16-year old Audi are both fine, so far... (crosses fingers while clutching wooden desk, rabbit's foot and lucky white heather)
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I keep mine till they get uneconomic to repair. My last one was a Holden Kingswood that I bought 18 months old and kept for 25 years. In the end it got rust in the heater plenum chamber and that was going to be too expensive to repair. Also I wanted to get power steering and airconditioning. I am in Australia and it gets to 45'C in summer which is a bit trying without aircon. I also have a Mazda 323 bought new in 1999. I aim to keep it till 10 years old and then I will reassess its condition to decide whether to keep or replace. I like to put my money into things that go up in value like houses and try to keep my motoring costs to the minimum.
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Agree that there are better things to spend my money on.
Hence I aim to run it into the ground / keep it till it falls to bits / is uneconomic to repair / is proper broken etc.
(In practice, I've only owned one car which I no longer have - it was declared uneconomic to repair by my insurers after a bump.)
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Totally agree, I had not intention of spending anything on cars this year or next. Then SWMBO fell in love with a Volvo V70. It is hopeless and heaven knows how short a time will pass before I give in to the earache and buy something else for her.
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Until bank loan is paid off.
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Well it's good to see there are *some* Backroomers who share my attitude towards cars!
Regards, HF
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>>>My first car was a used 5 year old Micra, which started to fall apart after 3.5 years and so was disposed of. It was a bad buy. I read that they were designed to last 7 years and I can believe that.
The reason why they're designed to last 7 years is because in Japan cars are worth only scrap value due to the car taxation scheme over there which encourage owners to perchase new vehicles up to every 5 years!
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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I have a 1988 F reg Sierra Ghia automatic purchased 1n 1989 with 5000 on the clock.It has only let me down twice-in 1990 when the water pump went and again in 2002 when the auto box packed in but got me home. It cost £800 for a new box ( am I crazy you say) but SWMBO asked me where I could buy such a reliable car for the same money to which I could not find a reply.It is toyally rust free and has passed every MOT without work being done. The bulbs are still original as were the drive belts (not cam) until a couple of years ago when I aked the garage to replace them.It has every conceivable extra except air con but including headlamp washer/wipers and discs all round and ABS.I have all the receipts since I purchased the car.I am now 72 and it is unlikely that I will ever change the car. I have a small part time job driving all types of car including Mercedes and BMW and for comfort and ride my Sierra beats them hands down. I can drive for three hours to Cornwall and feel quite fresh but in a BMW I have backache after 1 hour .Would like to add that I have driven several Mondeos and tis is the car I would buy if I had to switch. My feeling is that once you have a car which is reliable and comfortable-keep it and go on a world cruise with the thousands saved.
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This is a sore point at the moment for us. We seem to change every 3 years or so or when we feel the car's getting on a bit. The money lost is unbelievable and others are right to ask where we should be having our priorities - a lump of metal on the drive thats a money pit or a nice holiday etc. What with modern vehicles costing the earth to fix, I'm seriously considering staying with relative bangers.
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I kept my last car for 18 years, the one before that for 7. Main reason is lack of money to change. If I had plenty of spare disposable income, I'd change about every 3 to 4 years. Doing a low annual mileage means that I just cannot justify spending thousands of pounds on a depreciating means of transport. If a car starts to become unreliable, costs loads to kep fixing, or starts to rust "unacceptably" (to me), then I change it.
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I've still got my 1994 Vauxhall Astra 1.7DTL now with 196,000 miles on the clock. She still starts on the button, and runs very smoothly. It has slight diesel knock when it's cold, but this goes a few seconds after start-up. I'll keep it until it falls apart.
I service it twice a year, change the cambelt and thermostat every two years. I always use genuine parts. It's really clean under the bonnet and it doesn't lose any oil at all, and I never need to top it up between oil changes. There's no rust in it anywhere, and the only problem I had with it was the power steering pump failed three years ago. I got a second hand one for £45 and it's been perfectly good ever since.
Keep your newer cars, they're nothing but expensive trouble, and once they're out of warranty you'll just have to dig in your pocket more and more.
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re my previous entry re my Sierra I would add that it has now 131000 on the clock. I bought a Peugeot 205 auto for my daughter for £400 2 years ago. When purchased it had 130000 on the clockand all it has needed is a new radiator. it has now done another 20000 miles and she is delighted with it.Completely rust free. They dont make cars like they used to!! good to see that other contributors are beginning to see the light.Hasnt let her down once-touch wood!!
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