Cars are in decline.

[twowheelsgood]

Fuel costs are the real killer, it was literally costing me no less than £70 per week, insurance is £80 per month which in my opinion is just ridiculously high anyway considering 6years NCB.

The government have forced motor costs through the roof.

Really? Fuel is bout 3 times the price it was 20 years ago, yet it's likely you car will be getting on for twice as economical. Fuel never was actually that cheap since the first oil crisis in 1973. Remember too a 1.6 Cortina, a typical family barge of the 70s/80s would average about 25mpg overall. My mums old "economy" Mini Clubman 1100 was actually LESS economical than the gargantuan new Audi A6 my father had before he retired.

I reckon motoring (apart for insurance for some groups, particularly the young) has never been cheaper. Starting from what you can buy second hand. A grand buys a lot of car these days, just a bit older and less fashionable. When I started drving it would buy you a pile of isopon and grief. The quality of cars in the last 10-20 year is simply incomparible to what went before.

I have an old Audi A4 diesel. Worth £1200 on a good day and will push 55mpg on a run. Because it's slow it's only £300 fully comp too. I've driven it 40,000km across Europe this year with nothing but normal servicing and a wheel bearing.

But if you will have a performance car it will chew fuel and cost you for servicing. Same with buying new. It's a choice to buy something that will depreciate, it's perfectly possible to avoid that. Frankly as a private buyer getting a new car is borderline idiotic.

It's easy running a car for less than £200 a month all in. It just might not what you wanted.

 

[dellzeqq]

setting aside the cost thing just for a second, and going back to the article linked in the OP..........where I live cars are no longer convenient for all but a limited number of weekend journeys. You spend an age getting anywhere (while those pesky cyclists just swan down the bus lanes), you can't park them when you get there, and if you do park them you can't have a drink.

 

[joebingo]

setting aside the cost thing just for a second, and going back to the article linked in the OP..........where I live cars are no longer convenient for all but a limited number of weekend journeys. You spend an age getting anywhere (while those pesky cyclists just swan down the bus lanes), you can't park them when you get there, and if you do park them you can't have a drink.

It amazes me how many people persist with car use in London.

I know, I'll spend £xx,xxx so that I can spend £300/year and £50/week on fuel to have the priveledge of paying £8/day to get into somewhere where I can spend £10/hr to leave my car at an NCP...

 

[asterix]

<br />setting aside the cost thing just for a second, and going back to the article linked in the OP..........where I live cars are no longer convenient for all but a limited number of weekend journeys. You spend an age getting anywhere (while those pesky cyclists just swan down the bus lanes), you can't park them when you get there, and if you do park them you can't have a drink.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Yesterday at 7 p.m. I had to drive 3 miles to York hospital (alone, I'd have cycled). A few 100m after I set off, on the Taddy Road, I noticed a distinctive hybrid being pedalled at a leisurely pace and passed it comfortably. 2 sets of lights and 1 hill later in front of Micklegate bar it was in the ASL in front. I passed it on the slope just before York Station and got lucky with the lights but it soon repassed outside the Library and left me far behind. The journey home was even worse.

My 3 miles took over 20 minutes, that's 9 m.p.h and at the time I didn't think that was too bad! Luckily I didn't have to park!

 

[515mm]

You might want to think about moving to North Korea. Everyone is equal there.