KneesUp
Guru
My approach to buying cars is generally to buy an old-ish car outright (5 to 10 years old depending on available cash) but the top spec one of the given model, and then drive it until the wheels fall off.
The previous family bus was a Picasso diesel, which I sold because the interior was falling apart and the engine sounded like a builders van. And I never really liked it anyway (but the massive opening glass roof was nice) Before that I had a Seat that was written off and a Fiat that fell apart almost spontaneously, like a clown car. So the decisions on getting rid of those was easy.
The current car is a Honda which has now covered somewhere north of 200k miles, and seems to be not so much falling apart as getting to a time of life where stuff is wearing out. It's has new coil packs - not a huge expense, and can fail on any car. It's has new driveshafts - but they're done now so should be good for another 150k miles. It's had some suspension stuff - because that wears out. It uses a tiny bit of oil. It now needs a starter motor.
But everything else works - the climate control controls the climate, the auto wipers wipe, the heated seats heat, the stereo is stereo and the navigation navigates. And when it starts (which it only does currently if you bump it ...) it runs very smoothly and efficiently.
It's just that it's cost me a few hundred quid a month for the past few months - although that is offset by it costing me sod all in maintenance other than servicing for years previously.
At what point do you think 'sod it, I'll just replace it' and stop thinking 'well it should be ok again now'?
The previous family bus was a Picasso diesel, which I sold because the interior was falling apart and the engine sounded like a builders van. And I never really liked it anyway (but the massive opening glass roof was nice) Before that I had a Seat that was written off and a Fiat that fell apart almost spontaneously, like a clown car. So the decisions on getting rid of those was easy.
The current car is a Honda which has now covered somewhere north of 200k miles, and seems to be not so much falling apart as getting to a time of life where stuff is wearing out. It's has new coil packs - not a huge expense, and can fail on any car. It's has new driveshafts - but they're done now so should be good for another 150k miles. It's had some suspension stuff - because that wears out. It uses a tiny bit of oil. It now needs a starter motor.
But everything else works - the climate control controls the climate, the auto wipers wipe, the heated seats heat, the stereo is stereo and the navigation navigates. And when it starts (which it only does currently if you bump it ...) it runs very smoothly and efficiently.
It's just that it's cost me a few hundred quid a month for the past few months - although that is offset by it costing me sod all in maintenance other than servicing for years previously.
At what point do you think 'sod it, I'll just replace it' and stop thinking 'well it should be ok again now'?
