Good time to upgrade my car?

Mumum

parking_question_chap said:

For a balance I have a near on twenty year old petrol car and for the last six or seven years have only driven up to 2,000 miles a year almost exclusively to get me to the supermarket or football. Both of which are a few miles away and I have had no engine related problems. Engine damange is not caused by short journeys alone, it is caused by excessive revving before the engine has been warmed up or not bothering to keep the oil level sufficient.

Assuming its petrol and a got a FSH then unless the previous owner of this 30,000 mile car was a wannabe Fernando Alonso it will most probably be fine.

Thanks, haha thats pretty much what I do, just use it as a run around, about 2.5k/yr. Yes would go petrol and FSH only. What is your opinion on keeping my current car or upgrading? I'm guessing you would suggest continuing with the one I've got given that yours is older? I'm assuming that upgrading would leave me with less problems but of course there are no guarantees. Could spend £5k and still have a hundreds worth of work needed a couple of years on, so perhaps better the devil you know?

Homer_home

You seem to be panicking over nothing...

Brakes are a consumable part and will need changing several times over the life of a car regardless of what car you own

Same thing for the cam chain it will need changing at some point , now that it's done it shouldn't need doing again as long as you service your car regularly, I can't see anywhere where you mention how you found out the cam chain needed replacing?

I would keep your car , it has fresh brakes and cam chain , the next car you buy won't 

AdrianC

Mumum said:

AdrianC said:

How has your French-built Yaris been? Just fine? No issues with build quality? It's got to 17yo, after all...

I'd buy one with higher mileage, and pay less for it in the process...
30k across 8 years is probably pootled to the shops and back, never got properly warm, never had a decent run.

I'm not sure two replacement cam chains could be described as fine

Two? You only mentioned one.
The original will wear worse if oil changes are neglected.
Any replacement is only as good as the quality of parts fitted (OEM or pattern?) - and that's assuming all gears and tensioners are replaced, which they often aren't.

What sort of mileage and age would you say is a happy  medium?

I'd like to see 5-6k/year minimum, ideally more. People get unnecessarily scared by perfectly normal mileage, and pay way OTT for a car that's probably been abused. Cars benefit from use. Getting them properly up to temperature is good for them. Constant cold-engine short-journey use is not.

Looking at autobox Aygos on Autotrader, £5-5.5k...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?radius=1500&make=TOYOTA&model=AYGO&price-from=5000&price-to=5500&transmission=Automatic&exclude-writeoff-categories=on
and ignoring distance (since we don't know where you are!), I'd be starting off with the red 63-plate with 48k on it. It's been listed since Nov, so there might be some wiggle-room on the price.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011306623134

Norman_Castle

As above, if its reliable and does what you need get your moneys worth out of the chain and brakes. Your car dealer will probably still offer you £500px for it in a years time. Unlike a 5k car there will be near zero depreciation on this one.

Mumum

Homer_home said:

You seem to be panicking over nothing...

Brakes are a consumable part and will need changing several times over the life of a car regardless of what car you own

Same thing for the cam chain it will need changing at some point , now that it's done it shouldn't need doing again as long as you service your car regularly, I can't see anywhere where you mention how you found out the cam chain needed replacing?

I would keep your car , it has fresh brakes and cam chain , the next car you buy won't 

Thanks for explaining your line of thought. That makes sense. I would much rather not have to buy another car but wanted to make sure I wasn't throwing good money after bad. The garage had suggested that it would last me about another year but I don't know if they were basing that on age or condition. Mind you, the fact that they would buy it from me for more than £500 suggests they dont believe that to be the case. I'm not sure why you think I'm panicking. I've been considering upgrading for a few months now so am trying to gather information to make an informed decision. Thanks for your input, it helps.

Mumum

Norman_Castle said:

As above, if its reliable and does what you need get your moneys worth out of the chain and brakes. Your car dealer will probably still offer you £500px for it in a years time. Unlike a 5k car there will be near zero depreciation on this one.

Extremely helpful information Norman, much appreciated, thank you 👍 

Mumum

AdrianC said:

Mumum said:

AdrianC said:

How has your French-built Yaris been? Just fine? No issues with build quality? It's got to 17yo, after all...

I'd buy one with higher mileage, and pay less for it in the process...
30k across 8 years is probably pootled to the shops and back, never got properly warm, never had a decent run.

I'm not sure two replacement cam chains could be described as fine

Two? You only mentioned one.
The original will wear worse if oil changes are neglected.
Any replacement is only as good as the quality of parts fitted (OEM or pattern?) - and that's assuming all gears and tensioners are replaced, which they often aren't.

What sort of mileage and age would you say is a happy  medium?

I'd like to see 5-6k/year minimum, ideally more. People get unnecessarily scared by perfectly normal mileage, and pay way OTT for a car that's probably been abused. Cars benefit from use. Getting them properly up to temperature is good for them. Constant cold-engine short-journey use is not.

Looking at autobox Aygos on Autotrader, £5-5.5k...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?radius=1500&make=TOYOTA&model=AYGO&price-from=5000&price-to=5500&transmission=Automatic&exclude-writeoff-categories=on
and ignoring distance (since we don't know where you are!), I'd be starting off with the red 63-plate with 48k on it. It's been listed since Nov, so there might be some wiggle-room on the price.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011306623134

Thank you for going to the trouble to find those cars for me. Funnilh enough the first one is pretty much on my doorstep and I enquired about it a couple of months ago, albeit overpriced. Yes unfortunately the cam chain needed replacing first time 5 yrs ago, a year after I had purchased it during my MOT and again last Autumn. Very frustrating as I have it regularly serviced but google suggests its not uncommon in this make and model. Yes I suspect the garage may have used cheap parts as well and not checked the rest that you mentioned at the same time. So you suggest more mileage is a better buy but overall you're saying stick with what I've hot for now? Thanks again for taking the time to help.

jimjames

Mumum said:

Homer_home said:

You seem to be panicking over nothing...
Thanks for explaining your line of thought. That makes sense. I would much rather not have to buy another car but wanted to make sure I wasn't throwing good money after bad. The garage had suggested that it would last me about another year but I don't know if they were basing that on age or condition. Mind you, the fact that they would buy it from me for more than £500 suggests they dont believe that to be the case. I'm not sure why you think I'm panicking. I've been considering upgrading for a few months now so am trying to gather information to make an informed decision. Thanks for your input, it helps.

I certainly wouldn't change if it wasn't needed. If your current car has been reliable and you know the work done then I'd keep it. Generally older cars don't rust now like they used to so if they are maintained mechanically then they should keep going. You will need consumable items but those will be needed on any car. Buy another one and the you have no knowledge of the history, it may even cost you more to run as well as more to buy. I have a 12 year old car and 19 year old car, both running without issues and minimal cost to maintain each year and definitely no depreciation.

noclaf

jimjames said:

Mumum said:

Homer_home said:

You seem to be panicking over nothing...
Thanks for explaining your line of thought. That makes sense. I would much rather not have to buy another car but wanted to make sure I wasn't throwing good money after bad. The garage had suggested that it would last me about another year but I don't know if they were basing that on age or condition. Mind you, the fact that they would buy it from me for more than £500 suggests they dont believe that to be the case. I'm not sure why you think I'm panicking. I've been considering upgrading for a few months now so am trying to gather information to make an informed decision. Thanks for your input, it helps.

I certainly wouldn't change if it wasn't needed. If your current car has been reliable and you know the work done then I'd keep it. Generally older cars don't rust now like they used to so if they are maintained mechanically then they should keep going. You will need consumable items but those will be needed on any car. Buy another one and the you have no knowledge of the history, it may even cost you more to run as well as more to buy. I have a 12 year old car and 19 year old car, both running without issues and minimal cost to maintain each year and definitely no depreciation.

Agree with all of this. My 16 year old car just keeps going and going, it needs maintenance but (touch wood) has on the whole been reliable due to regular servicing and it actually covers what I need at this present time in terms of practicality, running costs etc. I like cars so am constantly browsing the classified due to 'wanting' some newer shinier faster metal but have to remind myself that I don't have a valid 'need' to change the car.
If your current car keeps going then why change it...if however it's a desire to have a newer car rather than a need then that's your call to make.

Mumum

noclaf said:

jimjames said:

Mumum said:

Homer_home said:

You seem to be panicking over nothing...
Thanks for explaining your line of thought. That makes sense. I would much rather not have to buy another car but wanted to make sure I wasn't throwing good money after bad. The garage had suggested that it would last me about another year but I don't know if they were basing that on age or condition. Mind you, the fact that they would buy it from me for more than £500 suggests they dont believe that to be the case. I'm not sure why you think I'm panicking. I've been considering upgrading for a few months now so am trying to gather information to make an informed decision. Thanks for your input, it helps.

I certainly wouldn't change if it wasn't needed. If your current car has been reliable and you know the work done then I'd keep it. Generally older cars don't rust now like they used to so if they are maintained mechanically then they should keep going. You will need consumable items but those will be needed on any car. Buy another one and the you have no knowledge of the history, it may even cost you more to run as well as more to buy. I have a 12 year old car and 19 year old car, both running without issues and minimal cost to maintain each year and definitely no depreciation.

Agree with all of this. My 16 year old car just keeps going and going, it needs maintenance but (touch wood) has on the whole been reliable due to regular servicing and it actually covers what I need at this present time in terms of practicality, running costs etc. I like cars so am constantly browsing the classified due to 'wanting' some newer shinier faster metal but have to remind myself that I don't have a valid 'need' to change the car.
If your current car keeps going then why change it...if however it's a desire to have a newer car rather than a need then that's your call to make.

Thank you for this. No I've no desire for something shiney and new, I'm quite happy with my car. I genuinely believed that when they got this old that they were false economy to keep and that they had more problems,  especially after the money I've spent on it this past year. The feedback sounds promising though, I'm glad I didn't go ahead and buy a new car and will stick with car for the foreseeable.