Buying a Newer Car (should I?)

KatieDee

In true MSE fashion, I need someone sensible to advise me on my car

I own a 2005 Mini Cooper with just 50,000 miles on the clock. However, it is becoming a bit of a money pit and I'm trying to decide whether a newer car is justified or not.

Over the past two months I have spent around £800 on repairs, and there are still knocks and squeaks coming from it. A year or so ago, I had all the brake pipes replaced. The clutch is also on its way out and the control unit needs replacing, both of which are going to cost me some money. The MOT is due in March and it will not pass without a replacement control unit.

The car itself drives fine other than the occasional judder, but I have a feeling that just due to the age of the car, it might be worth upgrading. I was looking at purchasing a more common car, something future proof and bullet proof, so was considering something like a Honda Civic 1.8, around 2011-12.

Is it worth investing in something slightly newer, or should I stick with what I know and just continue to repair it? I know I could just be buying someone else's problem

martinthebandit

As this is a money saving site I’ll just flag up that, in by far the vast majority of cases, it’s always cheaper to keep the car you already own and spend some of the money you would have spent on a new car on repairing and maintaining it.

sheslookinhot

Honda Civics are well known for their reliability, so it's very unlikely you would be "buying problems". Changing now may even save you in the long run as well as giving you peace of mind.

martinthebandit

sheslookinhot wrote: »

Honda Civics are well known for their reliability, so it's very unlikely you would be "buying problems". Changing now may even save you in the long run as well as giving you peace of mind.

The maintenance costs on a 5 year old Honda and a 10 year old mini are going to be similar.

A 5 year old Honda will depreciate more each year than a 10 year old mini.

A 5 year old Honda will cost more to buy than the 10 year old mini will cost to fix.

How is the OP going to save money in the long run?

Crabman

I'd suggest taking a look at this site with reviews and customer feedback by model:

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/

This should give an impression of the kinds of problems buyers have had and roughly what you may expect.

sheslookinhot

martinthebandit wrote: »

The maintenance costs on a 5 year old Honda and a 10 year old mini are going to be similar.

A 5 year old Honda will depreciate more each year than a 10 year old mini.

A 5 year old Honda will cost more to buy than the 10 year old mini will cost to fix.

How is the OP going to save money in the long run?

Less visits to the garage to be fixed.

System

sheslookinhot wrote: »

Less visits to the garage to be fixed.

No guarantee especially on a car doing lots of short journeys. The reason the OPs car is in as bad a state as it is in for 50,000 miles is because its had a hell of a hard life. At an average of 4200 miles a year its spent a lot of time doing short town/city journeys which hammer a car far harder than if it had done 42,000 miles a year sat on motorways. Town journeys really hammer steering, suspension, brakes, clutch, gear selector and cause more wear on the engine as well as the exhaust rotting earlier due to the fact it never gets hot enough to burn off all the moisture in the oil and in the exhaust.

reeac

Both the cars will experience the same short journey (or maybe just low annual mileage but not necessarily short journey) treatment. The difference is between a Honda and a Mini and I guess that most people would regard the former a being more reliable so , as already suggested, fewer trips to the garage for repairs.

KatieDee

Tarambor wrote: »

No guarantee especially on a car doing lots of short journeys. The reason the OPs car is in as bad a state as it is in for 50,000 miles is because its had a hell of a hard life. At an average of 4200 miles a year its spent a lot of time doing short town/city journeys which hammer a car far harder than if it had done 42,000 miles a year sat on motorways. Town journeys really hammer steering, suspension, brakes, clutch, gear selector and cause more wear on the engine as well as the exhaust rotting earlier due to the fact it never gets hot enough to burn off all the moisture in the oil and in the exhaust.

You couldn't be anymore correct - I only do bumper to bumper, stop start, inner city driving, which has caused my car to deteriorate a ridiculous amount over the past two years.

To add further heartache, I woke up this morning to find a huge crack behind my rear view mirror, definitely over 5cm and to my knowledge, not caused by an existing chip.

This means I'm waiting for the clutch to be done, a battery, the control unit, the mystery suspension issue and now my windscreen :eek: Probably still cheaper than the car I'm looking at (£4500) but potentially more issues in the future due to the type of car.

reeac wrote: »

Both the cars will experience the same short journey (or maybe just low annual mileage but not necessarily short journey) treatment. The difference is between a Honda and a Mini and I guess that most people would regard the former a being more reliable so , as already suggested, fewer trips to the garage for repairs.

Thank you for your opinion. I am seriously torn at the moment - it seems so risky to purchase another car which isn't brand new, as I could be buying someone else's problem. I'm currently looking at buying through a dealer (complete with 12 month warranty and breakdown cover) but to honest, I know this doesn't make a vehicle any more reliable!

worried_jim

KatieDee wrote: »

You couldn't be anymore correct - I only do bumper to bumper, stop start, inner city driving.

Toyota Prius will fit the bill nicely for this scenario, or a full EV like a Renault Zoe.