In praise of older (but not too old) cars

[Bristolian]

Now that I've ironed out all the wrinkles that plagued my first year of ownership (I bought the car in March 2024 and it took me a long time to get it reliable), I tend to take my 2016 Mercedes E220 for granted. It was released from the factory on the 1st February 2016 so has just celebrated its tenth birthday and yesterday it took me the 416 miles from Bristol to Leeds (and back) in perfect comfort, without a hiccup, whilst returning close to 50mpg at 55mph average. Yesterday's trip was very important to me as I was visiting a long-term friend who is receiving end of life care in a hospice as the Parkinson's Disease he suffers from, aided by pneumonia, is finally winning the battle and yesterday may well prove to be the last chance I get to see him.

Last summer I was seriously thinking of throwing the towel in and getting rid but after deciding to give it one last chance to reprieve itself (a trip to Netherlands and back) we decided to keep it, and I'm glad we did. It is a lovely car to drive; smooth, powerful, comfortable and economic to run.

How do you feel about your older cars?

 

[Gunk]

I was chatting about the heyday of cars the other day, we agreed that between 1995 and 2015 were the best cars, before they were all electronically strangled.

 

[Gunk]

Sadly both of these have now been sold, but the Golf was a 2015 and the BMW 2017. IMO the best era of cars, sadly never to be repeated.

 

[Bristolian]

I agree about the explosion of electronics in modern cars. My E220 is a facelift S212 model that was replaced in May 2016 by the W213 which is loaded with additional electronics. I spent months hunting down a 212 with just the basic electronic package and I don't miss any of the gubbins that it doesn't have.

Edited to add:

One thing I have done though is to have Apple CarPlay coded in remotely by a guy in Birmingham (I think). It was an optional extra but the original owner didn't specify it for some reason.

 

[annedonnelly]

I'm hanging on to my 2008 Polo as long as I can. It doesn't have any stupid electronic gimmicks and is noticeably slimmer than the more modern versions.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I personally think the best years were between 2000 - 2017. I'm not that clued-up on European cars, but if I had to own a newer car it would be a Mazda or Toyota petrol or an EV, as that won't have the emission control systems that often make newer ICE cars more unreliable and expensive to repair. I've currently got a 2013 Honda, its a great car, but wouldn't personally want one after 2017, as they appear to have went downhill. I tend to buy older cars and run them into the ground. I've rust proofed my Honda and top it up annually. If I wanted to be tied into leasing every few years, which I don't, then the complexity of cars wouldn't be an issue. Things like wet belts as found on the Puretech, Eco Boost and Honda 1.0 litre engine, and many others are just nonsense to me.

 

[Jenkins]

It's trying to find the sweet spot where the car's got all the useful stuff - ABS, power steering, air con, etc - and where all the useless ADAS stuff such as lane keep assist, speed warnings and other associated bings & bongs can be switched off and stay off (current regs make them default to on each time the car is started).
Plus where the major controls are on switches/buttons rather than a touchscreen.
My 2015 Mazda 6 Estate fits all the above criteria perfectly and is comfortable on a long run while returning 50-55mpg (diesel)

 

[Drago]

Cars are for girls.

Real men like me and @fossyant drive vans.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

I'm hanging on to my 2008 Polo as long as I can. It doesn't have any stupid electronic gimmicks and is noticeably slimmer than the more modern versions.

I've got exactly the same model and year and fully agree. Electronic handbrakes, lane assist, automatic braking etc etc. All just waiting to fail and expensive enough to write off a six year old car with otherwise bullet proof mechanicals.

 

[fossyant]

Cars are for girls.

Real men like me and @fossyant drive vans.

Aye, but I've opened the bonnet on mine and cried. Good god it's complicated. It might be a van, but it's got a load of trickery in it. Not as easy to look after as our Qashqai 1.6 petrol, or my old P12 Primera.

 

[Drago]

Aye laddie, the engine bay of my van gives me a fair idea what the inside of an ICBM looks like.