Advice please re keeping or changing old car

love_lifer

I can't decide what to do so thought I'd ask opinions from folk on here who know about cars.

I have a 1999 bmw 323, completely reliable, great drive, good looking. it's not cheap to run- about 30 mpg? I do 4000ish mainly local miles a year. I 'need' a car for various reasons, so am not considering not having one.

My question is, shall I buy a newer bmw, smaller engine, bigger boot? or stick with old faithful?

any thoughts welcome- i'm fed up of going through it in my own head...

Lum

If you're happy with the car, it meets your needs, and know it's in a decent state then I would say keep it.

If you get a newer car it will take a LONG time for the fuel savings to make up for the cost of upgrading, especially at only 4000 miles a year.

4000 local miles a year also means that a modern diesel car will not be suitable for you, you'd need to do some research and go for a slightly older one with no DPF, otherwise you will end up with big repair bills after a few years.

Normally at this point, I'd be recommending an LPG conversion, but at 4000 miles I'm not sure even that would be cost effective.

Lets do some back of an envelope maths:

4000 miles per year, 30mpg at £1.50 a litre will cost you £757 a year in petrol
If we change that figure to 45mpg, it's not costing you £504 a year in petrol

Total saving: £253 per year.

So if you spend £4000 on a new 45mpg car, it will take you 15 years to break even. Maybe a bit less if you take into account ever increasing fuel prices. In all honesty I wouldn't expect a modern £4000 car to even last for 15 years!

LPG fares a bit better, it will cost you around £1200 to fit and will almost but not quite half your fuel costs, lets call it £400 per year, so a saving of £357. This will take you a little under 3 1/2 years to break even.

andygb

Definitely keep the car and enjoy the ride. At 350 miles per month, you would not find another car which will be more economic than yours, when you take into consideration the quality and comfort which you enjoy.

love_lifer

Thanks for your comments, that's pretty much what i'd thought but you've helped clarify it. insurance is expensive but nevertheless the figures do still point to keeping it

Lum

You said you're planning on replacing it with another BMW.

Wont the insurance still be expensive, or are the 90s beamers more heavily loaded these days thanks to the fact that they're now cheap enough to be in reach of boy racers and similar idiots?

vax2002

You do know they dont scrap old 323's ?
They shoot them.......

attila_

What about an older, smaller car? 205 1.9 gti etc?

love_lifer

ive had such a good experience with this i don't want a less reliable make, am too old... also ive had lots of cars and this is head and shoulders above all of them.

didnt realize insurance for smaller models would be dear, thats useful to know

forgotmyname

205 1.9GTI probably does similar fuel figures.

If you get a car that does 40mpg then you will saye £200 a year on fuel.

Checkout the post about manufacturers fuel consumption figures, 60+mpg when real life owners get 40 ish mpg.

Is it worth the risk of buying an unknown car to save £200 a year?