Ever kept a car until its 'died'?

Fireflyaway

I have had my car 6 years and its 10 years old. Reached over 100k miles now.I love my car - it runs well, looks OK and is cheap to run etc. Best part there is no finance. However the exhaust sound s bit dodgy recently!

I don't know anyone who has kept their car until it literally dies. Everyone I know upgrades after a few years. I figure I could buy a new car but what to say that won't have issues?

Am I missing something here? I guess I won't have anything to part ex but I don't think I would get much anyway.

stator

I buy cars that are 10years+ and keep them until they are no longer viable to repair. It's usually an MOT failure that causes you to scrap them in the end.
In my opinion it's a very cost effective way of owning a car, but it has got a bit more expensive in the last 5 years.
If you have a garage/mechanic that you trust not to rip you off and to give you an honest opinion of the condition of a car, then there is no reason not to keep your cars until the bitter end.
I've not had any breakdowns recently either. Had a clutch go once but that was just wear and tear and as a new driver I didn't know enough to notice it going. Keep on top of things like batteries and keep an eye on the rust and check the service schedule for cam belt timings and you should be ok.
It's always good to have a plan B though, whether a new car or old, how easily could you hire a replacement.

aeroblade

Father has a '98 Corolla that his owned for the past 16 years. He plans to keep it till it dies. It's chain driven no worries about cam belt changes. No major problems besides tyres/routine maintenance and cracked springs and font struts that happened 4-5 years ago and was not expensive to fix.

EdGasket

I've kept most of mine until uneconomical to repair as per post 2. I keep them well maintained so in my opinion are worth more than their 'book value' and hence not worth selling. Depreciation is negligible once a car gets old. Admitedly doing my own maintenance and repairs is a big plus for this strategy.

R34GTT

Cars rarely just die, they usually get scrapped once the repairs become uneconomical.

We've kept cars going even when the repairs have been close to the cost of the car as the car has otherwise been nice to drive. Even if all tyres, exhaust, brake discs and pads and clutch need replacing, that's fine as long as the car is in generally good working order. Replacement of consumable parts is just part of the cost of owning a car. A lot of people end up buying a newer more expensive car on the basis that things keep going wrong but often once a set number of maintenace items have been addressed the car will go years before anything beyond oil service needs doing.

The times we've scrapped is when major engine damage has occured such as that resulting from head gasket failure and even that is a gradual deterioration while increasing amounts of coolant mixes with the engine oil until the engine can no longer move. Of course early diagnosis is treatable but often uneconomic.

If you like the car just keep it well maintained. An old well maintenained car is nearly always cheaper to run than buying newer especially if that means finance.

AdrianC

If nobody owned their car until it died, then who would be the last keeper? Who would the penultimate keeper sell to?

EVERY car that has ever been scrapped was owned by somebody when it died... Just as every car on the road was bought brand new by somebody...

benjus

My first car: about the time its MOT was due it started developing issues, and was very old anyway, so I decided to scrap it and get another one.

One ill-fated purchase, after I'd had it for about 3 months, developed a short circuit and fried the ECU. Garage couldn't (initially at least) figure out how it had happened and couldn't find a replacement ECU, so I decided to scrap it.

Tobster86

What car is it?

Vehicles have very different recipes as far as longer life (10+ years) is concerned; and two different vehicles which appear of similar mechanical condition at 8 years old may have vastly different practical life expectancies.

I'm of the opinion that fewer 'cheaper to run' cars have the recipes for long life; especially since the retirement of indirect-injection diesels.

AdrianC

Tobster86 wrote: »

Vehicles have very different recipes as far as longer life (10+ years) is concerned; and two different vehicles which appear of similar mechanical condition at 8 years old may have vastly different practical life expectancies.

The ownre's attitude is probably the primary determinant, though.
Some will scrap a perfectly good car for relatively minor wear and tear - "oh, it failed the MOT, so I scrapped it" (two tyres, a stone chip in the windscreen and a couple of bulbs).
Others will spend more than the car's nominal value on maintenance and repairs.

SailorSam

I don't see any difference between a car and a washing machine or a TV. If it'still works i'll keep it. Don't get rid of anything until it dies.

Tobster86

AdrianC wrote: »

The ownre's attitude is probably the primary determinant, though.

There are strong factors in a car's build that will determine it's lifespan; bodywork being a very good one. Rust tends to be somewhat polarised as to which cars it affects by ten years old, and few people of established character want anything to do with it.