The costs of running a car and the joys of cycling

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Smudge

Veteran
Location
Somerset
I also bought my car brand new in 2015. It serves me well and, so far, is very reliable. I pay £0 a year VED and intend to keep it a long time. I drive it with care and don't rush from a to b. It gives me 65 mpg on average. I keep getting e-mails from my dealer offering me all sorts of deals to change it for a newer model. I am not interested. It is fully paid for and that's nice.

Modern cars are very reliable mechanically..... its when those many electronic sensors start playing up that it costs to fix em. But we should have a few years yet.
I could have got the £0 ved in my model, but i thought the better power variant was worth the extra paltry £20 per year. Although it probably wasn't, because you're always stuck behind someone in traffic.
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
I got a ride in and indeed drove an old pug 205 diesel. Great to drive and went OK but I thought it a bit shabby and threadbare seeming so not built to last - then I saw it had done over a quarter of a million miles, maybe not too shabby after all!

The diesels were great and with a high top gear ratio, were very relaxed for cruising at high speeds on a long journey. Mine doesn't really do motorways very well - too low geared for sustained high speed cruising.

However, the smaller petrol engined 205s were so much nicer to drive on rural roads as the lighter engine made the steering lighter and and more positive and they turn into corners so crisply. The diesel was good but more prone to understeer due to the heavier engine and it didn't float over crests in quite same way.
 

skudupnorth

Cycling Skoda lover
I worked in the motor trade for many years and I could see technology that was being used was becoming so difficult to fix even for trained technicians it was no fun anymore. Some of the lads I worked with came from the points and valve setting era and they were just becoming more and more frustrated with the mess manufacturers were creating in modern cars.
I still love my old cars and thankfully I can repair them if they break but I don’t rely on them daily now,just for weekend fun and Dad taxi. Our family car is another matter even though it’s a 14 year old VW Touran. I can service it after taking loads of trim off but anything else is garage only ! It’s a well worked bus with 175k on the clock but when it does need some love, it can cost £££ Thankfully the one big repair can still be less than a monthly payment on a new tin box so we can live with that.
I will keep my old girls just because they are fun and cost nothing other than taxes and service items plus the kids love being in something different
 

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fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
I hate driving to work, but unfortunately the number of badly broken bones I suffered and the impact on family as a result of cycle commuting, I've given up

That said, my car is 17 years old, full of kit, but is fixable, not that it goes wrong.
 

Johnno260

Veteran
Location
East Sussex
My car is a 2011 Fiesta it's been reliable I can't complain, but the timing chain needs replacing, and input shaft bearing is leaking the cost will be horrible.

I used to enjoy driving, but with aggressive driving, tailgating and general total intolerance for other road users means I detest driving now, motorway driving I will try and avoid as much as possible.

I have told the other 1/2 when the Fiesta is replaced I want a MK2 Golf, almost indestructible and not much in the way of electronics.
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
The diesels were great and with a high top gear ratio, were very relaxed for cruising at high speeds on a long journey. Mine doesn't really do motorways very well - too low geared for sustained high speed cruising.

However, the smaller petrol engined 205s were so much nicer to drive on rural roads as the lighter engine made the steering lighter and and more positive and they turn into corners so crisply. The diesel was good but more prone to understeer due to the heavier engine and it didn't float over crests in quite same way.

Yep, my ex had the 1360 'GR' with the 5 speed gearbox and the handling on that was superb, not bad on the motorway either apart from once. I'd serviced the car before we drove up to her parents in Blackburn then on for a couple of weeks in Scotland, we'd slowed right down and nearly stopped due to road works/contraflow for a few miles then came out of it and back up to 80/85 or so and after 5 minutes or so Pamela said to me "Is the car making a funny noise", I turned down the cassette player and had a listen for a bit then turned it back up and told her maybe it would be better in top gear as opposed to 3rd.
 

Saluki

World class procrastinator
My car is on the drive as I have the opportunity to car share for commuting to work, until Friday. My work is a 50 mile round trip so I do need the car. I am half looking for a closer job but not desperately hard as this is a cool project. If we get a summer I might well ride to work and car share home, then carshare to work and ride home a couple of times a week.
 

Hicky

Guru
I hit 40 and did the only sensible thing I could do having watched older people as a kid....I went out and bought a Volvo D5 estate, autobox for good measure.
It's over engineered to oblivion and isn't the best on fuel in traffic but on the motorway its superb.
The first thing I did was tune BBC 2 and Smooth into the radio....the kids constantly but Capital or some other shite into the memory....I delete it :laugh:
 

Paulus

Started young, and still going.
Location
Barnet,
I can understand the need for a car in rural areas, or areas with very little or the non availability of public transport. For us who cycle in and around urban areas, there is no need of cars. For those eager to buy a car I would say that when you take into account the cost of buying the vehicle, taxing it, insuring it, maintaining it and the cost of fuel equates to an awful lot of taxi fares, should you not want to use public transport. Plus, in London the buses now have a lot of bus routes that are 24hour routes as apposed to the night bus network. The Underground starts up around 0515 in the morning and the main line similar. Those who live in urban areas don't really need and vehicle for purely social use.
 

Johnno260

Veteran
Location
East Sussex
Modern cars are very reliable mechanically..... its when those many electronic sensors start playing up that it costs to fix em. But we should have a few years yet.
I could have got the £0 ved in my model, but i thought the better power variant was worth the extra paltry £20 per year. Although it probably wasn't, because you're always stuck behind someone in traffic.

The petrol tank sensor failed in my wife's S-Max, I still cry myself to sleep over the cost for that, it now has a sensor failing that reports an engine fault and engages limp home mode...
 

Smudge

Veteran
Location
Somerset
The petrol tank sensor failed in my wife's S-Max, I still cry myself to sleep over the cost for that, it now has a sensor failing that reports an engine fault and engages limp home mode...

Also finding which sensor is causing the problems, can sometimes be a lengthy process..... With the obvious costs of labour time.
Modern cars are so complicated now, that when they get older they can easily become money pits.
 

bigjim

Legendary Member
Location
Manchester. UK
I run a 2001 Yaris Verso. I think it's one of the last simple cars. I paid £1000 for it in 2011. I've spent £250 on repairs in the last 8 years. That was a new water pump which was just noisy and a rear exhaust box and a small weld. I fill it up once a month. It's on 130k miles now and rarely used by myself. I'd get rid but my wife will not hear of it. I too used to enjoy driving but it's no longer a pleasure. I'm quite happy walking and cycling. The annual tax has just gone up to £200 a year and now it needs another rear exhaust. I bought a new one for £35 but can't get the old one off and now have to look for a garage to do the job. I'm at their mercy which I hate. Chances are they will want to supply the new part themself at great cost. Then there is the MOT due. I see it all as a lot of hassle. It 's probably costs me £1000+ a year to run including fuel. That buys a lot of taxi rides and the odd weekend hire car without the hassle.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Oh for the simplicity of my old 1986 Land Rover 90. You could fix it with a set of basic spanners and ours had been repaired and refurbished dozens of times by the MOD. But it guzzled fuel and rusted for fun.
 
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