Trade in regularly or run into the ground. Opinions please?

bouicca21

I bought my car secondhand, it's now 7 years old. Took it into the main dealer for what turned out to be a minor repair (but it still cost£100) and while there was accosted by salesman who was trying to get me to trade it in for a 3 year old car with low mileage.

My brother changes his car regularly; my ex kept them till the repairs weren't worth doing. I'm in a quandary. I like my car. A newer one seems much the same in terms of spec, but of course it's newer. I know nothing of cars or engines, and I won't be putting in the effort to learn.

Obviously there's no right answer but I'd be interested to hear people's opinions on the subject of whether it is worth trading in regularly or not.

thescouselander

Depends on your point of view. I like cars and tend to change mine regularly but if you just see a car as a means from getting from A to B it might be better not to change.

Changing always costs money so I suppose it depends on whether you think spending the cash is worth it.

mollycat

I run into the ground....always.

TBH for someone like me who usually runs a 12-15 year old car, the dilema given in your OP, (3yr or 7yr), is negligible; to me these are both "newish" cars.

AdrianC

Option C. Maintain the damn thing properly, so it'll keep on going.

motorguy

bouicca21 wrote: »

I bought my car secondhand, it's now 7 years old. Took it into the main dealer for what turned out to be a minor repair (but it still cost£100) and while there was accosted by salesman who was trying to get me to trade it in for a 3 year old car with low mileage.

My brother changes his car regularly; my ex kept them till the repairs weren't worth doing. I'm in a quandary. I like my car. A newer one seems much the same in terms of spec, but of course it's newer. I know nothing of cars or engines, and I won't be putting in the effort to learn.

Obviously there's no right answer but I'd be interested to hear people's opinions on the subject of whether it is worth trading in regularly or not.

If you're otherwise happy with it and its giving you no trouble you'd be as well running on at it.

Keep it well maintained and well serviced.

Dont let maintenance get away from you.

A friend of mine scrapped his perfectly good Peugeot 406 2.0 HDI because it needed tyres, front discs and an exhaust for MOT which he deemed a prohibitive cost relative to value. Had he done the maintenance as he went along head have easily got another couple of years out of it.

elsien

I keep until they start to cost more money than they're worth. Last one went till 14 years. Current one is 11 years with (fingers crossed) no major repair bills as yet. I am now doing much higher mileage than previously though, which may change things slightly.
My maintenance skills are limited to topping up things under the bonnet and changing bulbs/fuses, and that's how they're likely to stay.

forgotmyname

My sister runs them into the ground. Service? whats that???

The thing is she leaves everything until the repair bill is 2x or 3x more than what it would have cost to fix it properly in the first place.

Properly serviced most petrol cars will do 200k miles and diesels 300k miles +

Trade it in every 10 months and you will never need to pay for a service ever again...Although the depreciation after 5 years would be eye watering.

System

Run into the ground is always the cheapest option. In the USA they take that to the point where they'll put a new gearbox into a 20 year old car because $2000 on a new gearbox is less than a year's depreciation on a new(er) car.

There is a belief in this country that cars get to a point where repairs are not worth doing and once upon a time it used to have validity as you could literally watch a car rust before your eyes but since the introduction of modern anti-corrosion techniques the bodywork seldom fails first. The belief then now only holds true if you're planning to replace a car with a fairly old second hand one of low value (which may need its own repairs) but if you're planning on going for a new or fairly new car as its replacement to avoid repair costs then there is almost no point where repairs are not worth doing on an old car from a financial point of view purely because the depreciation hit is more likely to cost more than almost any repair to an old car.

AdrianC

Tarambor wrote: »

There is a belief in this country that cars get to a point where repairs are not worth doing. This only holds true if you're planning to replace a car with a fairly old second hand one of low value but if you're planning on going for a new or fairly new car as its replacement then there is almost no point where repairs are not worth doing on an old car from a financial point of view purely because the depreciation hit is more likely to cost more than almost any repair to an old car.

I think it's because repairs are a "visible" cost, along with VED and fuel. You actually have to dip your hand into your pocket to pay them.

Meanwhile, depreciation is "invisible", simply because it's background, even if it's a monthly lease payment. Basic financial illiteracy.

This is the only explanation that makes ANY sense for why people insist on leasing new cars "because they're saving money" from a nominal 10mpg extra on 5,000 miles/year and £100/year VED saving...

Actually, it's not. The alternative explanation is that they like shiny new things, but are lying to themselves to justify it.

System

elsien wrote: »

I keep until they start to cost more money than they're worth.

Wrong way of looking at it.

I am now doing much higher mileage than previously though, which may change things slightly.

Yep, your car has had the chances of something major going wrong dramatically reduced.

mollycat

mollycat wrote: »

I run into the ground....always.

TBH for someone like me who usually runs a 12-15 year old car, the dilema given in your OP, (3yr or 7yr), is negligible; to me these are both "newish" cars.

For clarity i meant maintain the older car until it's "run into the ground".

Never understood the sense in scrapping an old car for (say) a £400 MOT bill, then going and spending thousands on a newer, but unknown quantity.