Optimum age/mileage to get rid of a car?

almillar

mattyprice hints towards the point I was gonna make to the OP. I don't see anything wrong with his strategy in general, if he's decided that's what he can afford, for driving something quite new.
What he needs to do though, is check the service schedule for each car that he looks at. Is there a timing belt change coming up? How much does it cost? For cars with timing belts, the intervals, and costs of changing can vary greatly, and will add significantly to the cost of running the car. Watch out for other servicing items along similar lines.

bigjl

I like buying above average miles ex lease cars with one owner and full Main dealer history.

Started buying newer for a few years but in retirement I have gone back to my old ways.

I still do 25/30k a year due to long school run and general running about.

I buy at or near 100k and run it for three years or so then get rid.

My last Mondeo was trouble free but the alternator did to on the mate that bought it.

Current car has needed a heater can motor, common fault on the V50.

The high mileage means the prices are much less.

So I am not affected by the miles I out on as much.

New cars can deal with high miles fairly easily in most cases, Emergency Response and Taxi/Minicab work are obvious exceptions.

If I did fewer miles I would keep my cars longer.

But 160-200k is enough for me.

After that things do tend to wear out even in a well looked after vehicle.

Clutches and DMF's both come to mind.

If I had got did of the Mondeo six months earlier I would not have had to out the last set of tyres on it and a set of front discs and pads.

The ones on the car when bought lasted to over 200k. I am lucky in that my usage is not very hard on the brakes.

It does make me giggle a bit when main dealers say you need new discs and pads at 30k miles though.

londonTiger

its all down to personal preference.

Some people like doing the odd DIY repair and maintenance work. (I do) and my 101K car is a joy to own because of that.

But if you're the sort of person who is extremely busy and cannot spend any time on maintenance and need a runner that has all mod cons and works like new then maybe you want to get something lower than 50K

I have to say though, I don't understand why 101K+ engines are regarded as being so bad. Mine is very reliable,.

wba31

OddballJamie wrote: »

In the main you are right, but a high mileage is no guarantee that the car has motorway miles only. My mates wife is a nurse/carer who does home visits and easily racks up 500 miles a week in her private car and rarely ventures on a motorway. Would I buy her car? heck no. Other examples are learner cars, tons of miles, loads on wear on the clutch, gearbox and suspension.

I suspect the huge difference in price helped make your decision easier

difference in price was £1000 on list, but the seller offered me £500 off the lower mileage one, as he took them as part ex but 95% of his cars were Audi, BMW and Mercedes, so he just wanted rid of the Hondas.

mad_rich

Joe_Horner wrote: »

No they don't.

But "optimums" aren't about averages, they're about optimums. And in terms of cost some of the "less loved" 70s mand early 80s models hit the optimum in just about every way:

Out of interest, how do the annual costs stack up for your cars?

For me, even at a modest 6000 miles per year the fuel cost in my old petrol Saab was killing me. 23mpg = over £1600/ year

That's nearly a grand more than my current car (10 yo Skoda Fabia with a 58mpg average). Tax was more too (£255 vs £135), and the insurance was the same (£400).

Despite the Saab being reliable, with plenty of tax and MoT left, I've decided I could throw it away and still come out in front with the Skoda.

Norman_Castle

buy at £12,000, keep for 6.5 years, sell at £3,500, that's £1,300 per year.

In 16 years I spent £1300 on three cars. Scrap total of £300. Annual depreciation of £62.50.

Joe_Horner

mad_rich wrote: »

Out of interest, how do the annual costs stack up for your cars?

For me, even at a modest 6000 miles per year the fuel cost in my old petrol Saab was killing me. 23mpg = over £1600/ year

That's nearly a grand more than my current car (10 yo Skoda Fabia with a 58mpg average). Tax was more too (£255 vs £135), and the insurance was the same (£400).

Despite the Saab being reliable, with plenty of tax and MoT left, I've decided I could throw it away and still come out in front with the Skoda.

On the 66 Marathon Coupe the previous year (about 9400 miles) has worked out like this:

Tax: £0.00 . Even though it's a 1974 car, DVLA insist that it must be 1971 because it's had a "K" plate (personalised "DAF xxxK" bought off a Mk 1Escort) since new. When it got to the point that it looked like they might withdraw the reg and stick a random age related on it we gave up trying to pay!

Fuel: £1600 (overall average just shy of 36mpg)

Insurance £69 fully comp (12k limited mileage, street parking in rural Wales)

Maintenance:

1x MOT @ £50
2x tyres (165/80/13) @ £70 the pair
7l 20W50 (2 changes) @ £24 total
2x oil filters @ £7.50 total
2l antifreeze @ £4.75 for the bottle
odds n ends about £50

Total maintenance: about £210

Total costs for the year: £1879 over 9400 miles = 20p per mile.

To be fair it's coming up for its next MOT and will need 2 more tyres, a pair of front flexi hoses, and an exhaust rubber mounting ring. So that's about another £110 to be spent before the year is technically up, but I'm counting them towards next year's budget

On the 32 (1966 so "genuinely" tax exempt) there's been 5 litres of oil (2 changes) @£18, no filters (it doesn't have one), £670 fuel for 4500 miles, one front wheelbearing set (the first replacement since it was built) @£8.95 delivered and £83 insurance (fully comp, 12k miles inc commuting). Which comes to a shade over 17p per mile.

And that's MSE motoring


eta: That's not counting the fact that they've both increased in resale value while we've had them, so you could knock a couple of hundred off those costs if planning to sell

mad_rich

That's interesting. Your fuel economy is better that I expected.

Your insurance is very cheap too. Don't know if that is down to the car or your risk profile. (FWIW, I just had a look on Autotrader and picked a random 70s car to get an insurance quote for. 1972 Vauxhall Victor. Most insurers coming out in the same ball park as my current car - £400-£500 - but there's one which pops up at £120.)

How is it getting hold of spares?

Joe_Horner

Fuel consumption is pretty good on the Dafs - helped by the variomatic transmission always keeping the engine at its most efficient speed. On a good run (like down to Colchester from here) the 32 can just about top 50mpg and the 66 will be around 42 - 45.

For insurance the trick is to go for the classic specialists - Lancaster are generally good and offer a "guaranteed premium" in some cases based on minimal info if you fit their basic risk profile, or will usually find better if you answer more questions.

My risk profile isn't great - mid 40's, self employed watch & clock repairer, clean licnce and no previous claims but with 0 NCD because I haven't had a "normal" policy for over 7 years now to earn any on.


Of course, the flip side of those pence per mile figures is that I do all the maintenance myself. But apart from weekly checks it only takes about an afternoon every couple of months, which I enjoy anyway, and at least it's possible on these without access to a dealer's diagnostic machine!

Parts availability depends very much on what you go for, but a lot of models have surprisingly good support through the clubs and specialist dealers - lots of parts turn out to be off-the-shelf if you can find ross-references (makers tended not to design their own bearings, brakes, ignition parts etc back then) and even the drive belts for Dafs are available newly made!

Strider590

Small hatchback = around 4-6 years of age.
Large motorway barge = around 8-10 years of age.

2004 Vectra still going strong.....

Bigger cars, built for the fleet market, they have to be reliable because that market is so competitive and important (if not vital to the manufacturers survival).

Small hatchbacks are designed as average family cars, they make very little money on the initial sale, so after service is really where they need to see a profit.

There are always exceptions, like Alfa Romeo, which are terribly unreliable and costly across the range.