Clio - Till it dies or Switch n Ditch?

Petree

Looking for some advice!

Currently drive a 57 Plate (Dec 07) Renault Clio 1.5 86 Diesel, which returns 60+mpg and £35 road tax :T

I drive about 30,000 per annum so as my little clio approaches its 2nd birthday its going to have 58k on it, so within 18-20 months will have the dreaded 100k on. :eek:

The car is paid in full and likely worth £5-6k, I assume with 100k on it it will be worth £1.5-2k so big loss (unless I'm totally misguided and people will buy a clio 3.5 years old with 100k on for a reasonable amount?)

So...should I part exchange it for something about the same age but more designed for this mileage (BMW 3-5/Audi A3-4/VW <Golf/Merc C) and take the hit on MPG/Road Tax as the depreciation should be less?

If this option ideas for cars which fit would be handy, 23 yr old male driver with 5 years NCB, likely to get company car in a few years and just got 55% payrise so need something which looks the part, 60 mile daily commute including M3/25 (joy!), and 200-300mile trips every 2-3 weeks, no need for kiddies/wardrobe moving so estate not needed.

Or keep the clio and take the big loss in value in return for cheap as chips running costs, I've had a couple of french cars and been happy breakdown wise but 100K on a clio might be pushing it, servicing every 12k is annoying cost too but I do actually like the car and aside from lacking cruise control it's fully specced.

Any and all advice gratefully received...

Petree

hewhoisnotintheknow

Petree wrote: »

Looking for some advice!

Currently drive a 57 Plate (Dec 07) Renault Clio 1.5 86 Diesel, which returns 60+mpg and £35 road tax :T

I drive about 30,000 per annum so as my little clio approaches its 2nd birthday its going to have 58k on it, so within 18-20 months will have the dreaded 100k on. :eek:

The car is paid in full and likely worth £5-6k, I assume with 100k on it it will be worth £1.5-2k so big loss (unless I'm totally misguided and people will buy a clio 3.5 years old with 100k on for a reasonable amount?)

So...should I part exchange it for something about the same age but more designed for this mileage (BMW 3-5/Audi A3-4/VW <Golf/Merc C) and take the hit on MPG/Road Tax as the depreciation should be less?

If this option ideas for cars which fit would be handy, 23 yr old male driver with 5 years NCB, likely to get company car in a few years and just got 55% payrise so need something which looks the part, 60 mile daily commute including M3/25 (joy!), and 200-300mile trips every 2-3 weeks, no need for kiddies/wardrobe moving so estate not needed.

Or keep the clio and take the big loss in value in return for cheap as chips running costs, I've had a couple of french cars and been happy breakdown wise but 100K on a clio might be pushing it, servicing every 12k is annoying cost too but I do actually like the car and aside from lacking cruise control it's fully specced.

Any and all advice gratefully received...

Petree

if you service it it will go on for ever

we have a 04 clio van at my work that has 240 something on the clock and it get spanked daily

goldspanners

or you could buy something that already has a high mileage on it then you get it a bit cheaper and dont loose so much on it when you sell it.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

100,000 miles is nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Lithian

Something odd is going on with the bmw 2nd hand market, you'll probably find a tidy 530d for less money than a 320d which for those kind of miles would be much more comfortable and relaxing. Just make sure its debadged if the MD only has a 525d

pulliptears

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

100,000 miles is nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Was just going to say that 100k on a Diesel and its barely run in.

mcjordi

barely run in for a diesel

service it and change timing belt regulary and itll last a loonnnnngggggggg time

AdrianHi

I see 2 choices,
1. run what you have tolerating the increasing amount of maintenance attention it is going to demand until you have to spend 600-700 a year+ on repairs (because annual depreciation on a young Clio is about £800 a year). 100,000 of motorway miles isn't going to be a problem for the engine, it's everything else. 100,000 miles of school run and it's probably near death.

2. Buy 6 to 12 month old Clio's or similar, keep for 1 year / 30,000 miles and move it on.

When you do the sums you'll be surprised how little difference there is in the costs of the two methods.

Personally I would go for option 2. as it means less visits to the garage (no MOT's for a start. The advantage of some cars like the BMW 1 or 3 series is the long oil service intervals (perhaps 23,000 miles for you) which really mean something when you are doing 30,000 miles a year. I'm not sure a BMW is necessarily longer lasting than a Renault. Because they are worth more in the used market people will keep fixing BMW/Audi/Merc until later in their life.

Premier_2

pulliptears wrote: »

Was just going to say that 100k on a Diesel and its barely run in.

mcjordi wrote: »

barely run in for a diesel

service it and change timing belt regulary and itll last a loonnnnngggggggg time

Remember, the diesel engine may last longer than an equivilent petrol, but the rest of the car (gearbox, suspension, body, etc) is exactly the same.

Modern cars are generally designed to last about 150,000 miles. (some may still only be 100,000 miles)

Anihilator

What do you do?

I just ask because for the figures you quote I have image of one of those dodgy sales type companies which are very volatile. In which case do not upgrade.

pulliptears

mcjordi wrote: »

barely run in for a diesel

service it and change timing belt regulary and itll last a loonnnnngggggggg time

I can hear you say that in my head as " It Love you looooonnnnngggg time"
:rotfl: