Buying car to last 15 years?

AdrianC

They are the same car. They've just been facelifted and updated. Substantially? Perhaps. But it's the exact same basic car as was launched in 2009, on a platform that dates back to the 1998 Mk2 Clio and 2002 K12 Micra. The "new" engines are the same as have been in the Qashqai and Juke for five years or so.


Dacia is still playing with the leftovers in Nissan-Renault's Lego box. They might be doing perfectly creditable things with it, but let's not pretend it's anything but what it is.

andygb

The great thing about modern cars (those built after 2000) is that they hardly rust when compared to those from a few decades ago.
We have a Skoda Octavia (55 reg 1.9 TDi PD - probably one of the best diesel engines ever made IMO), which had 92K when we bought it and now has nearing 180K. Apart from wear and tear - tyres, CV boots, ball joints, discs, pads, cambelt water pumps, it has had a new radiator and clutch master and slave cyclinders in the past year.
We took it to Salzburg in 2017, did 2.5K miles in 2 weeks and it returned 52MPG.
It has a really large boot and the estate versions are even more impressive.
There are plenty of ones which do well over 400K miles.
Nealt forgot. I always have a look at the underneath of the car when it goes in for a service and there is no hint of corrosion - not bad for a 14 year old car.

Angus_Og

wymondham wrote: »

As a suggestion, what about the Dacia Duster?

It had crossed my mind but would prefer it on a shorter term basis.

It is the need to tow infrequently that is the bugbear at the moment, if I could dispense with that need I would probably buy something smaller.

I have decided I just don't like Octavias BUT the Sperb has caught my attention even phoned up about one Cat S but it had gone. Kicking myself in that the repairs were fairly superficial new wing, bumper bonnet and a headlight, 68 plate £11,500. No idea why it was a CatS.

I think I am possibly coming round to a slightly older car.

AdrianC

Angus_Og wrote: »

BUT the Sperb has caught my attention even phoned up about one Cat S but it had gone. Kicking myself in that the repairs were fairly superficial new wing, bumper bonnet and a headlight, 68 plate £11,500. No idea why it was a CatS.

Insurers don't write cars off that lightly, if it would be considerably cheaper to repair.

So what wasn't visible? S-for-Structural, remember.

LandyAndy

I've had my Mazda6 estate nine and a half years, from new, and covered 160,000 very reliable miles in it.

Angus_Og

AdrianC wrote: »

Insurers don't write cars off that lightly, if it would be considerably cheaper to repair.

So what wasn't visible? S-for-Structural, remember.

I think you would be surprised. I've been buying salvage and having repaired for 15+ years.

I'm pretty good at spotting the signs. That doesn't mean I don't have surprises, last car was all repaired MOT and on the road. Then it was decided it needed a new front subframe which was another few hundred pounds.

Angus_Og

Thanks all, well I succumbed in the end and bought Skoda Superb Estate 2.0TDi 16 plate, for £8.5k not too bad.

Family are moaning it is too long and the youngest was muttering about being collected in a hearse. But they never get any say, so water off a duck's back

TheMoonandBack

Angus_Og wrote: »

Thanks all, well I succumbed in the end and bought Skoda Superb Estate 2.0TDi 16 plate, for £8.5k not too bad.

Family are moaning it is too long and the youngest was muttering about being collected in a hearse. But they never get any say, so water off a duck's back

They are roomy !
I hope it lasts, seems a good price.