When is it time to sell a car?

andygb

Thanks for the replies folks, you can tell how I feel about the car. The garage did the repair yesterday (I get my major servicing and MOTs done there), and it was a n/s drive shaft which had gone, so they replaced it, and it came out at £150 (the drive shaft was £124).
I usually do all the routine stuff on the car, from oil changes through to pads and discs.
We have had it since 2004 (I bought it from auction with 27K miles on it - ex BT fleet car), and for four years it just needed an MOT and service. I think the extra parts will keep it going for a long time - fingers crossed!
The cost over 5 years is:
£2300 purchase price
£220 full exhaust plus cat fitted
£45 front pads and discs
£360 three sets of tyres in 70K miles
£120 cam belt and full service
£80 front coil springs
£350 drive shaft, CV joints, drop links, lower suspension arms

Total for those bits and bobs - £3475
There are extras for MOTs, servicing, petrol, insurance and road tax, but you would pay that for any car.
I suppose that is quite cheap motoring when you work it all out.
I may have convinced the missus to give it a stay of execution.

cyclonebri1

andygb wrote: »

Our Mondeo (1.8 Verona) is nine years old, has 95,000 on the clock, and the engine and gearbox are very sweet. The bodywork and interior are immaculate, and we have just had a full exhaust system fitted, plus new tyres all around. Although we have had coil springs, drop links and a CV joint fitted in the last year, these are all "wear and tear" items, and would apply to any car. Now we have to have a CV joint fitted on the other side (no surprise really, given the state of the roads), and the missus (who drives the car mostly), says that we should sell it.
I have been on the Mondeo forum, and there is no reason why this car should not do another 95K easily.
I like the car, because although not exciting, it does everything you ask of it rather well. It is a good motorway cruiser (South of France and Italy no problem), very comfortable and is quiet, and economical (500 miles on a £55 tankful).
So, when is the "right" time to sell a car?

Andy

When either or any combination of the below occur;

It gets unpresentable, unreliable, downright boring, very costly, the neighbours complain:rotfl:,you need a bigger or smaller or more economical car, or you can afford or need better.

Doen't seem to be right now does it :T:T:T

I find the scappage issue farcical, condeming perfectly good motors to an early grave in the name of ecology.:mad::mad::mad:

jaydeeuk1

I got rid of mine when the cost to get through the MOT and repair things like heater matrix (car unusable in winter) cost twice as much as the car was worth. Scrappage scheme made complete financial sense to me.

My mother in law has an absolute lemon of a car (renault of course), cost £9k to buy 2/3 years ago, and has spent £5k repairs on it since and it still breaks down. Understandably, she won't sell it as it would be worth barely half what she paid, plus lose all the money she's spent on it.

AdrianHi

At a glance it looks like worth keeping for a bit longer yet.
The way I look at it is if you buy an in warranty say 6 month old Moneo finance charges (or lost interest if you pay cash) plus depreciation will amount to somewhere roughy in the region of £1500 a year. If repairs and maintenance (including wear and tear other than tyres) adds up to as much as this in a year it is time to move it on.
The 6 month old car won't need brake linings for a while, CV joint, exhaust etc doing for a very long time so these costs count against the older car.

AdrianHi

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

I got rid of mine when the cost to get through the MOT and repair things like heater matrix (car unusable in winter) cost twice as much as the car was worth. Scrappage scheme made complete financial sense to me.

My mother in law has an absolute lemon of a car (renault of course), cost £9k to buy 2/3 years ago, and has spent £5k repairs on it since and it still breaks down. Understandably, she won't sell it as it would be worth barely half what she paid, plus lose all the money she's spent on it.

She has already spent the money on it, it's done, cannot change it, keeping it could be throwing good money after bad, she might still be better off cutting her losses and getting rid. What could she have bought for £9K+£5K = £14K?
Something with a decent amount of manufacturers warranty left on it and so no surprise expenses I think. Looks like she is spending about £2K a year keeping it going which would be more than enough to cover depreciation and finance charges on a young (not brand new) similar car.... something Japanese may be

catflea

I'm a huge fan of bangernomics, buy a cheap car and when it dies throw it away - took me nearly 3 years to kill off my old car (mk3 fiesta) and it didn't really die, I got fed up with it and it was too shabby to sell - I couldn't be bothered to get it through the MOT so it was scrapped (prob would have cost a fortune to MOT) Oh, I also associated it very strongly with a stressful occurance in my life (false insurance claim that dragged my name through the dirt and was a week from hitting court)

My current car however has been a bit different. I actually LIKE it so I've pumped a little bit more cash into it. Rover 114GTA - its great fun, a little pocket rocket.

Purchase price (June) £320 - 12 Months MOT
Head Gasket replacement (September) - £200
Front brake pads (yesterday) - £20
Trailing arm bushes (imminent) - approx £90-£120.

One the trailing arms are done all of the "weak" points of the car will have been dealt with and hopefully no further suprises. I very nearly got rid because of the trailing arms but have decided to keep the car and do the work, partially because for that money I'd end up getting a dog with short MOT and partially because its a fun car! So, when to get rid can be a bit subjective too! :beer:

AdrianHi

Other reasons than just money for moving a car on and different personal circumstances can affect the situation too.

I'm self employed, a car needing a repair may and has cost me a days income. It does not take many of those to blow the £1500 rule and make it worth getting the younger car.

Another one might be your attitude to crash safety.
Lets look at the Rover 114, some people would not accept this: http://www.euroncap.com/tests/rover_100_1997/11.aspx

catflea

Thanks for that link Adrian,

I'm fully aware of the low score of the rover 100 but its still better than my other car! In my situation I'm not too concerned about it, I have no dependants, no mortgage etc so its not a huge issue imho. I fully acknowledge that if I have a big smash its likely to be game over. If I was regularly carrying a kiddy though that would be another issue entirely.

Just to clarify, I do not intend having a crash and tend to drive quite defensivly but whatever will be will be.....

Inactive

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I find the scappage issue farcical, condeming perfectly good motors to an early grave in the name of ecology.:mad::mad::mad:

100% agree with that.;)

catflea

Not going to go into too much depth on the subject, as I cant remember the figures but in terms of ecology a cars biggest effect is in its production, not its usage. The hybrid & electric cars out there are even worse, because of the batteries!

Makes a mockery of the "green" aspect of scrappage. You could even trade in your 40mpg old banger for a 20mpg 4x4 which makes it even worse....