How often do you change your car?

[johnblack]

Are you a franchised ADI by any chance?

No, I have no clue what ADI is either. It's just our company car policy.

 

[Denis99]

This sounds an ideal set up for me for those journeys where a car makes things much more simple - getting the family across town on a Sunday, when the public transport is even worse than normal for example - but one of the key reasons we have a car is so we can go on camping holidays, which involve a car crammed with stuff and a long drive, or if we take the 'other' tent, a car and a trailer full of stuff and a long drive. How do you cope with those journeys - do you just not make them, do you spend a long time at service stations, or would you just hire a 'normal' car for the duration?

Yes, it can sometimes not be ideal.

But, for 95% of the time it is ideal.

Long journeys can be ok with a bit of forward planning , rapid chargers are increasing every month.

If it is a very long journey, then once or twice a year by train, or hire an ICE car.
Still very much in pocket.

 

[Accy cyclist]

TBH Accy, I can sympathise with the dealer there...

Why? He actually wears 'muscle man' torn vests and accompanying chav clothing to sell cars!
He seemed to think when I asked for a 4th or 5th test drive the other year that I was going to spend a hundred quid and not the £5,000 the car was on sale for.

Edit..and to add to his image he parked in the disabled bay at the library the other week,then dropped his takeaway rubbish on the floor before driving off. Yes I know it's hard to imagine him using a library,but he didn't as he parked up there to get his takeaway. I presume.

 

[Smudge]

Why? He actually wears 'muscle man' torn vests and accompanying chav clothing to sell cars!
He seemed to think when I asked for a 4th or 5th test drive the other year that I was going to spend a hundred quid and not the £5,000 the car was on sale for.

Does it really make any difference what a car salesman wears ?
You're not looking to be a drinking buddy with him, just buy a motor off him. He either has the deal you want, or you go elsewhere. Plus from his previous attitude with you, he obviously thinks you're a bit of a tyre kicker.

 

[KneesUp]

Yes, it can sometimes not be ideal.

But, for 95% of the time it is ideal.

Long journeys can be ok with a bit of forward planning , rapid chargers are increasing every month.

If it is a very long journey, then once or twice a year by train, or hire an ICE car.
Still very much in pocket.

That's what I thought - it's seeming increasingly daft to me that we have a car that can cope with the highest demand we place on it (3 people, 3 bikes and camping stuff) when over 95% of the time it's transporting 2 or 3 people and not much else. I've downscaled the car car as much as possible so that it can still do the bikes/camping thing, but when I bought it (Civic) I did think about getting an Audi A2, and I sort of regret not doing now because I reckon we could have managed with that size instead.

I guess hiring a car with a towbar is an issue - and if VED was on mileage it's mean people with caravans would be incentivised to have a 10 year old Land Cruiser to use for the rare occasions they pulled the 'van and a much smaller car the rest of the time.

 

[mustang1]

The Morgan in that video still looks suspiciously like they were inspired by the Bristol Fighter - which admittedly probably has slightly worse emissions given that even in base trim it had 525bhp, rising to a possibly excessive 1,012bhp in Fighter T trim.

View attachment 474975

Was it front wheel drive? It might as well have been: I don't think the chassis could handle 1000hp regardless of which wheels were driven.

 

[KneesUp]

Was it front wheel drive? It might as well have been: I don't think the chassis could handle 1000hp regardless of which wheels were driven.

Apparently they never built a Fighter-T - the most powerful they built was the Fighter-S with 628bhp / 580 lb-ft. The chassis was Bristol's own - although it was mainly steel rather than the all aluminium one they had planned initially. Most of the mechanical bits were from the Dodge Viper. I don't really do lusting for impractical and expensive items, but I'd really like a Fighter. They only made 13 though - gowd knows how much they are worth now!

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Apparently they never built a Fighter-T - the most powerful they built was the Fighter-S with 628bhp / 580 lb-ft. The chassis was Bristol's own - although it was mainly steel rather than the all aluminium one they had planned initially. Most of the mechanical bits were from the Dodge Viper. I don't really do lusting for impractical and expensive items, but I'd really like a Fighter.

They only made 13 though - gowd knows how much they are worth now!

Well, I know where one of them is

 

[Drago]

Does it really make any difference what a car salesman wears ?.

A big difference. Much less likely to get a customer's blood on a muscle vest.

 

[gbb]

My wife and daughter nearly threw a spanner in the works this morning by trying to convince me to change the car.
2015 1.6 Astra SRI. Underpowered, not very economical but in a months time its ours (after we pay the end of deal settlement). I'd consoled myself to keeping it, it's cheap to maintain, modestly cheap to run if you drive it carefully....and boringly. It wont set the world on fire but its reliable and it looks ok.

And then you think, do you hand it in and walk away, then start again with a loan (which would be cheaper than these garage deals)...pay the settlement then chop it in (probably wouldn't do much better than break even)....or keep it as I boringly intended.

Then I looked at what's out there...for what I paid for it £8k at 11 months old and 12k on the clock...effectively a new car...all I can get now for similar money is a Corsa or similar, anything a bit more exciting is going to be £10k...and another 4 years of payments.

So I've slouched back into inactivity on the car front and decided, after a short spell of ...oooh, maybe...to...nah, sod it, I'll keep it.

 

[lane]

MOT and service this morning. No issues whatsoever. 110,000 miles reckon its got a good bit of life in it yet.

 

[Mart44]

The car doesn't get changed all that often, about every 8 to 10 years typically. I notice dave r mentioned an A35 earlier in the thread. My first car was the smaller engine (and back window) A30, which I wore out in no time.

These days I have a disabled persons converted Renault Kangoo that has a ramp at the back for driving a power wheelchair up. It's a noisy and rattly car but it serves the purpose well enough. I say "I" but it's really Mrs Mart44's car. It has hand controls fitted so that she can drive me home when I've had a pint or two. Mostly though, I drive the car while she travels regally in the back sitting in the wheelchair.

Before we got this car, we had a Renault Megane Sport Tourer (an estate car really) with a wheelchair hoist and hand controls fitted. Before that a Renault Laguna fitted out the same way. These conversions cost a fair bit and with them done, we're inclined to hang on to cars for a long time.

 

[Blue Hills]

My wife and daughter nearly threw a spanner in the works this morning by trying to convince me to change the car.
2015 1.6 Astra SRI. Underpowered, not very economical but in a months time its ours (after we pay the end of deal settlement). I'd consoled myself to keeping it, it's cheap to maintain, modestly cheap to run if you drive it carefully....and boringly. It wont set the world on fire but its reliable and it looks ok.

And then you think, do you hand it in and walk away, then start again with a loan (which would be cheaper than these garage deals)...pay the settlement then chop it in (probably wouldn't do much better than break even)....or keep it as I boringly intended.

Then I looked at what's out there...for what I paid for it £8k at 11 months old and 12k on the clock...effectively a new car...all I can get now for similar money is a Corsa or similar, anything a bit more exciting is going to be £10k...and another 4 years of payments.

So I've slouched back into inactivity on the car front and decided, after a short spell of ...oooh, maybe...to...nah, sod it, I'll keep it.

get rid of it - that will teach them.

 

[mustang1]

My wife and daughter nearly threw a spanner in the works this morning by trying to convince me to change the car.
2015 1.6 Astra SRI. Underpowered, not very economical but in a months time its ours (after we pay the end of deal settlement). I'd consoled myself to keeping it, it's cheap to maintain, modestly cheap to run if you drive it carefully....and boringly. It wont set the world on fire but its reliable and it looks ok.

And then you think, do you hand it in and walk away, then start again with a loan (which would be cheaper than these garage deals)...pay the settlement then chop it in (probably wouldn't do much better than break even)....or keep it as I boringly intended.

Then I looked at what's out there...for what I paid for it £8k at 11 months old and 12k on the clock...effectively a new car...all I can get now for similar money is a Corsa or similar, anything a bit more exciting is going to be £10k...and another 4 years of payments.

So I've slouched back into inactivity on the car front and decided, after a short spell of ...oooh, maybe...to...nah, sod it, I'll keep it.

Haven't they done the "what is the point of living if you can't have some fun?" Or the " you worked hard you deserve it" or ....

 

[mustang1]

Yes, it can sometimes not be ideal.

But, for 95% of the time it is ideal.

Long journeys can be ok with a bit of forward planning , rapid chargers are increasing every month.

If it is a very long journey, then once or twice a year by train, or hire an ICE car.
Still very much in pocket.

And for the 5% of the time, get a 2nd car.

The "rapid chargers are increasing every month" reminds me of "yeha get an android phone they are getting better all the time" (ok I'll just get an apple until android finally do get better then I'll switch).

Mwhahaha