upgrade or downgrade to save money?

helzbelz_57

i drive an 03 mazda 6. i'm getting about 35mpg, it costs £215 per year to tax and insurance is about £700 per year.

we are looking deeply into all aspects of our lives to see where we can cut back and save money and the car is next on our list.

so i have had a look at the cars that are cheapest to tax, insure and run and reckon we would be looking at spending about £4k minimum on a decent used car. we think we will get about £1200 for ours as it is.

however, some peopel have told me that it would be a long time before i would reoup the expense of upgrading and that we should sell our car and buy a much cheaper car which would mean paying the high tax and not so good on the running costs and fuel efficiency.

so what i'm asking is, which should i go for. i'm not great at weighing up the cost difference and also unexpected things in older cars that might go wrong. we have two sons so a four door and room for a buggy is essential.

all opinions welcome, any advice would be great.

goldspanners

in your situation i would keep the mazda. you need something of half decent size for kids and buggys and stuff so going to a smaller car would not be so accomodating this way.
also as you say you wont get much for the mazda so it means spending much more money on another car.
and if you want the lower tax bracket car they come with a price tag that makes up for the savings you would make in tax and cost more when they break,they are usually small and might lack in power when loaded with 4 people and buggys etc..

if theres nothing majorly wrong with the mazda keep it.

helzbelz_57

thanks for that, i had thought that might be the best option but wanted to explore the others. yes there is nothing so far wrong with the mazda, touch wood!! so i shall hang on for a few more years to get my moneys worth.

casper_g

You don't state how many miles you cover in the Mazda. Obviously that will affect how the maths will work, but unless you're really eating up the road the advice you've already been given -- to keep the Mazda and avoid the costs associated with changing cars -- is good.

AdrianHi

My wife has had a '53 plate Mazda 6 2.0TS since new now 75,000 miles on it.
I would have thought you'd get somewhere around £2500 for it unless it has a high mileage.

I keep a spreadsheet on projected car costs which proves to be pretty accurate over time. In general if the car isn't costing you in repairs and your mileage is quite low you won't win anything moving to a younger more effiecnt car that then won't satisfy your needs so well.
If your mileage is higher then it can make sense to switch.

It didn't take much to pursuede you to keep the Mazda, given the attachment we have to ours, I'm not surprised

Ours is a hatchback, had the boot struts and drivers electric door lock replaced under warranty. At 4.5 years old the power steering fluid pipe was replaced FOC not as an immediate recall but when we were in for a service due to a design fault that means they can leak. Other than that nothing to report. We did have some problems with rear brakes which cost a fair bit, but that is entirely down to a woman not listening to me when I told her to stop driving her car now and get the brake pads replaced. I had to take the keys off her and give my car in the end. Women!
New disks, pads and a brake calipre becuase they will toast themselves if you keep using your brakes when there are no pads left :mad:

helzbelz_57

i do love my mazda. i love the space it has but if it was worthwhile changing then i would do it.

it has 110,000 on the clock so quite high mileage and a few dings on the doors and bumpers (i'm really clumsy). i was doing about 12,000 miles a year but my job has been relocated to my hometown as of two weeks from now so my mileage should be way less.

tomstickland

buy a much cheaper car which would mean paying the high tax and not so good on the running costs and fuel efficiency.

Are you assuming that a cheap car will have worse fuel economy than the Mazda?

helzbelz_57

not necessarily, i dont know why i said that. i have had older cars that were getting better mileage.

chivers1977

We are looking at doing just this. Selling our 04 Zafira with 47k miles and buying a Yaris with similar stats. My OH will be learning to drive this summer (at 34!) and where we live the roads are very narrow (so the cars have to park up on both pavements and still only one car can get past). I reckon that in addition to the safety aspect of a new driver in a smaller car, the fuel efficiency and tax would make it worth doing. The prices appear to be about the same for both cars c 3-4k dependent on mileage. The Zafira does around 35mpg and the Yaris around 50mpg and with my 12k mileage each year I work out it is a saving of around £10 per week in addition to RFL being £90 per year cheaper. Insurance on the Zafira for me is £344 pa, on a Yaris is £274 and even putting my OH with no driving experience will only be £325.

Therefore looks like an all in saving of around £650 pa which I think is worth doing for me.

We bought the Zafira as we were going to have more children and wanted to be able to cart the in-laws round. As we are sticking at one and the in-laws can't ever be bothered to visit, it is excessively large for a commuter car that drives a 4 yr old and my OH round in at the weekend!!!

merlie

chivers1977 wrote: »

We are looking at doing just this. Selling our 04 Zafira with 47k miles and buying a Yaris with similar stats. My OH will be learning to drive this summer (at 34!) and where we live the roads are very narrow (so the cars have to park up on both pavements and still only one car can get past). I reckon that in addition to the safety aspect of a new driver in a smaller car, the fuel efficiency and tax would make it worth doing. The prices appear to be about the same for both cars c 3-4k dependent on mileage. The Zafira does around 35mpg and the Yaris around 50mpg and with my 12k mileage each year I work out it is a saving of around £10 per week in addition to RFL being £90 per year cheaper. Insurance on the Zafira for me is £344 pa, on a Yaris is £274 and even putting my OH with no driving experience will only be £325.

Therefore looks like an all in saving of around £650 pa which I think is worth doing for me.

We bought the Zafira as we were going to have more children and wanted to be able to cart the in-laws round. As we are sticking at one and the in-laws can't ever be bothered to visit, it is excessively large for a commuter car that drives a 4 yr old and my OH round in at the weekend!!!

but don't you find the Zaffy a good load lugger ? I'm in a similar situation thinking about downsizing ... but we would miss being able to take stuff to the tip ... furniture shopping .... trips with the bikes ... ikea ... and general taxiing