The economics of running an older car

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi

We have a 2005 1.6 Petrol Zafira, bought in 2011 for £3.5k. We do 12000 miles a year, mostly in journeys of less than 5 miles and need a big car so while the Zafira isnt particularly beautiful it does the job. The mileage is now £95k.

We have spent £1375 in repairs/servicing/MOTs since we bought it. It has been serviced every year since new, had the cam belt changed and anything that needs doing gets done. We are just about to spend another £100 on getting a small dent seen to that is going to rust if we leave it.

We were lucky to buy the car outright so no interest costs. We spend about £180 a month on petrol and the car tax is about £220 a year from memory.

The car is probably still worth £1000 if we were to sell it but we are hoping to keep it now for as long as it lasts.

So if I have got my maths right the car has cost us about £1300 a year in maintenance and depreciation. Is this reasonable? Is keeping this car until is becomes too costly to maintain the right way to go or should we sell now and buy something newer?

molerat

Depreciation is not in a straight line so that annual cost will go down the longer you keep the car but obviously the annual maintenance cost may increase. If the car is still reliable then keep it until it does start to get unreliable or costly. You rarely save money replacing a car, that reliability and shininess costs money.

LandyAndy

Realistically, depreciation is now pretty much £0. So you have a car you know the history of, know it has been properly maintained and which, at 95k miles, has plenty of life left in it. I wouldn't be thinking of changing any time soon. Unless you get a major bill it looks like pretty cheap motoring.

reeac

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Hi


So if I have got my maths right the car has cost us about £1300 a year in maintenance and depreciation. Is this reasonable? Is keeping this car until is becomes too costly to maintain the right way to go or should we sell now and buy something newer?

As long as it remains reliable and you're confident in the car then keep it. As your journeys are mostly so short you're unlikely to be stranded far from home in the event of a breakdown anyway.

motorguy

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Hi

We have a 2005 1.6 Petrol Zafira, bought in 2011 for £3.5k. We do 12000 miles a year, mostly in journeys of less than 5 miles and need a big car so while the Zafira isnt particularly beautiful it does the job. The mileage is now £95k.

We have spent £1375 in repairs/servicing/MOTs since we bought it. It has been serviced every year since new, had the cam belt changed and anything that needs doing gets done. We are just about to spend another £100 on getting a small dent seen to that is going to rust if we leave it.

We were lucky to buy the car outright so no interest costs. We spend about £180 a month on petrol and the car tax is about £220 a year from memory.

The car is probably still worth £1000 if we were to sell it but we are hoping to keep it now for as long as it lasts.

So if I have got my maths right the car has cost us about £1300 a year in maintenance and depreciation. Is this reasonable? Is keeping this car until is becomes too costly to maintain the right way to go or should we sell now and buy something newer?

The timing belt is probably something you'll have changed once and wont need to again during your ownership of the car. You cant really hold the dent against the car either.

I would have thought that the car was probably worth £1700 or so.

If you tweak your figures with that revised valuation then you're down to £1000 a year depreciation and maintenance which i think is very good.

With regularly maintenance you should get another 3 years or so reliably out of that car, at which point its going to be worth probably £800.

Buy a newer car and you're going to suffer a lot more in depreciation.

fishybusiness

We have spent £1375 in repairs/servicing/MOTs since we bought it

So 2 maybe 2 1/2 years motoring with the big jobs done, and maybe 30k miles in that time.

Our cars are 2002 and 2003 plates, and we put aside 600 pounds a year each, which can easily be spent on tyres, exhaust and other odds and ends as a one off, add the odd MOT glitch and servicing and its gone. If we bought newer cars I don´t think there would be much difference, excepting more depreciation.

Keep it, your maintenance costs may go down, and as others have said, you know the car, you know what has been done.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Agree with all, look after it and reap the benefit of that previous good care.

Netwizard

Keep running the Zafira. It suits your needs, the mileage is below average for the year and its obviously very reliable. Why bother changing just for a newer number on the number plate?

I run a 17 year old 160,000 mile car. Mine also does fairly short trips but I also take it abroad during the summer. Volvo 940's need very little maintenance but I do like to keep it tip top.

All my friends are running around in financed up euroboxes, laughing at my <20mpg around town saying I should get a more economical car! But when you add up all the figures, my car was paid for outright in cash 3 years ago (a massive £800!), it costs £50 odd to give it a full service, £150 for a cambelt change and has needed very little outside general wear and tear items.
It leaked brake fluid and needed a replacement master cylinder (£200 for a genuine Volvo one) and needed a new radiator and battery along the way (another £150 or so).

My friends are always mentioning how they are getting 50mpg in their crappy diesels, but its false economy for me, as what they are saving in fuel, they are blowing in finance and interest payments, whilst I have zero depreciation to worry about, and the car is easily worth what I paid for it still.

Running an older car is much much cheaper than paying out finance for a new one. It is only snobbery / keeping up with the Joneses as to why people want a shiney new one!

Stoke

Bangernomics, keep it going and reap the benefits.

Geodark

I have a 2002 1.6 zafira, I have had it coming up for 7 years, and I will be keeping it until it falls apart! Luckily my next door neighbour is a mechanic, so if anything goes wrong he is always willing to give a hand. Last 3 years MOT's have cost me on average £70 including the test fee! (2011 - windscreen wiper, 2012 - drivers side ball joint, last year passenger side ball joint) Got this years due in a couple of weeks, so will report back with anything after that.

All in all - if the car is running and isnt costing too much to keep on the road - keep it

redux

Netwizard wrote: »

Keep running the Zafira. It suits your needs, the mileage is below average for the year and its obviously very reliable. Why bother changing just for a newer number on the number plate?

I run a 17 year old 160,000 mile car. Mine also does fairly short trips but I also take it abroad during the summer. Volvo 940's need very little maintenance but I do like to keep it tip top.

All my friends are running around in financed up euroboxes, laughing at my <20mpg around town saying I should get a more economical car! But when you add up all the figures, my car was paid for outright in cash 3 years ago (a massive £800!), it costs £50 odd to give it a full service, £150 for a cambelt change and has needed very little outside general wear and tear items.
It leaked brake fluid and needed a replacement master cylinder (£200 for a genuine Volvo one) and needed a new radiator and battery along the way (another £150 or so).

My friends are always mentioning how they are getting 50mpg in their crappy diesels, but its false economy for me, as what they are saving in fuel, they are blowing in finance and interest payments, whilst I have zero depreciation to worry about, and the car is easily worth what I paid for it still.

Running an older car is much much cheaper than paying out finance for a new one. It is only snobbery / keeping up with the Joneses as to why people want a shiney new one!

Do both, as there are also older diesels

I've had one for a bit over 10 years, and the depreciation £4500 > £650 works out to 2.2 pence a mile

Fuel is about 12 pence a mile at the moment, whereas yours might be about 25 to 30 pence

I've bought another for £1000 which will cost 6 to 7 pence a mile for fuel, with cheaper insurance and £30 road tax