Is bangernomics/shedding for me?

BOWFER

lloydyyy said:

Thanks for the replies. The Leon is fully paid for. My actual car usage at the moment is minimal - probably 30 miles a week, maybe. I don't go far at all these days.

1500 miles a year....! 
Sell it, 100%

egyptiancotton

Well, on average it's probably 30 miles a week at the moment - sometimes more, sometimes less. 

Grumpy_chap

Pre-COVID mileage 100 miles / day, 20-25k miles per year.

Current mileage 30 miles / week, 2k miles per year.

That kind of massive drop is similar to myself and many others - I've done less than 900 miles since the beginning of 2021.  At the start of 2020, I was at the beginning of the process to change cars.  With such a low mileage and no confident that this is the true "normal" I won't be making any steps to change a car until there is some established new working profile.

Where I am different to the OP, is I don't have a car with £10k sitting on the drive depreciating - neither my 1997 Fiesta or 2007 Focus are going to depreciate much more.

Johnmcl7

It's a tough question and I'm not sure what I'd do in the same circumstances, I currently have a ten year old car that doesn't do many miles normally (bikes handle most of my transport needs) and there's little depreciation on it and running costs are low so it's fine sitting doing nothing for the last year or so.  I did almost buy a newer car last February but didn't go through with it thankfully as it would be much harder to stomach it doing nothing although I don't think I would have gone as far as selling it and going back to an older car.  

egyptiancotton

It'll be nice not to worry about dirt, dents and scratches anymore. No more endless driving around car parks looking for a safe place to leave the car. No more giving a hoot about the fine print on insurance policies - just the cheapest legal cover will do.

bartelbe

The trouble with bangernomics, is old cars are cheap for a reason. They are getting worn and could potentially come with big bills. To make it work you either have to get a good one, with no expensive problems or be able to fix such problems yourself cheaply.

OK so if you buy a lemon you could just scrap it but with used car prices being what they are, that could wipe out any savings very quickly.

Herzlos

lloydyyy said:

Thanks for the replies. The Leon is fully paid for. My actual car usage at the moment is minimal - probably 30 miles a week, maybe. I don't go far at all these days.

I'd sell it and see how you get on without it; walk, get a bicycle, use public transport or even just rent a car for when you really need it.

You'd be getting £10k back and then also don't need worry about tax, fuel, insurance, maintenance etc. The only thing you'd need to look out for was using your NCD after 2 years but you could probably just buy a banger and insure it 3rd party to keep it.

BOWFER

The only 'banger' we have is our daughter's 2013 Seat Mii, which we bought outright as her first car.
I'm getting a wee bit fed up of the attention it's needing lately, new brakes (which I did myself), new exhaust and heatshield, aircon regas etc
It's not just the money, it's the flipping inconvenience of her having to sort lifts to work (no garages will give an 18YO a loan car).
Looking at getting her into a new PCP/lease car, I can get her something really nice for £190 down and £190 a month.
Then that's the end of this constant 'something needing done' crap.
Good luck to anyone who wants to take the risk with a banger, I don't have the patience when it's something we rely on.

Grumpy_chap

BOWFER said:

The only 'banger' we have is our daughter's 2013 Seat Mii, which we bought outright as her first car.
I'm getting a wee bit fed up of the attention it's needing lately, new brakes (which I did myself), new exhaust and heatshield, aircon regas etc
It's not just the money, it's the flipping inconvenience of her having to sort lifts to work (no garages will give an 18YO a loan car).
Looking at getting her into a new PCP/lease car, I can get her something really nice for £190 down and £190 a month.
Then that's the end of this constant 'something needing done' crap.
Good luck to anyone who wants to take the risk with a banger, I don't have the patience when it's something we rely on.

I would not say that a 2013 anything qualifies for "banger" status, though at that age some maintenance is going to be needed.  The items you mention are all consumable wear and tear parts.
From recent threads on here, you can get something nice for far lower than the budget mentioned.

sheslookinhot

It’s a topical thread for me. I’ve had an 65 E Class sitting on my drive with barely 1,000 miles since last October MoT. I searched long for this car but just not using it. When I do drive it I’m keeping it, then I’m selling it. My son returned a car his mother gave him about 5 years ago, so that solves having a car when I need to use one. The sale of the Mercedes would be a good deposit for my Campervan.

WFH for 17 months, going P/T, so one trip at most to office per fortnight.

Decisions, decisions ? Listening to you folks it really should be away.