Keep or replace existing car?

onefurlongout

My current car is 8 years old, in very good condition and worth around £10k at current prices. I own it outright so no finance.

Is there a comparison calculator  that helps with the financial decision making process as to whether I should  consider a new car? Am I best using the value of the current car to leverage a deal or drive this one into the ground?

daivid

Most economical is likely to be keep it (unless it is ridiculously expensive to run). 'Best' depends what else you are valuing - more advanced/switch to electric/downsizing… 

Krakkkers

Good luck buying another car and owning it outright, my last purchase was a struggle with the garage not wanting to sell me a car on anything but a finance deal.

lcc86

Probably depends what car you're looking to get and your reasons for wanting to change. I am in a similar position atm trying to make the same decision for various reasons, haven't found a financial calculator to help unfortunately!

MikeJXE

onefurlongout said:

My current car is 8 years old, in very good condition and worth around £10k at current prices. I own it outright so no finance.

Is there a comparison calculator  that helps with the financial decision making process as to whether I should  consider a new car? Am I best using the value of the current car to leverage a deal or drive this one into the ground?

My current car is also 8 years old and worth about £10k, I don't need any kind of calculator to make me a financial decision. 

I have spent £130 on repairs to date

It does about 11 miles per litre

i know this car where I wouldn't know the next 

Thats why there won't be one until this can go no further 

Nobbie1967

As long as you maintain it well, just drive it into the ground. A new car will have high depreciation now that the Covid effect has passed which will more than offset the extra maintenance on the current car unless it’s particularly exotic.

Bigwheels1111

I would not change cars for a year or two.
Euro 7 comes in next year.
It might cause issues.
My car is 8 in September, only done 23.5k miles.
I aim to keep it until it’s 15 years old if possible.

Herzlos

onefurlongout said:

Is there a comparison calculator  that helps with the financial decision making process as to whether I should  consider a new car? Am I best using the value of the current car to leverage a deal or drive this one into the ground?

Financially it's almost never sensible to get a newer car, the few exceptions are where the old car starts to cost a lot in maintenance, it falls foul of LEZ pricing or you can save enough in running costs to cover the payments.

There's nothing wrong with changing car because you want a new feature, your usage is different, or just for the sake of it though.

Cloth_of_Gold

Bigwheels1111 said:

I would not change cars for a year or two.
Euro 7 comes in next year.
It might cause issues.
My car is 8 in September, only done 23.5k miles.
I aim to keep it until it’s 15 years old if possible.

Our car is almost the same - 7 in September and just over 20K miles. It's in excellent condition, inside out and, and so far has given us no problems. Despite its age we always have it serviced at a main dealer and have any work done promptly. It meets our needs perfectly and although we thought about changing it last year we decided against it because there didn't seem to be any advantage, especially as we don't do that many miles each year. As long as it is not starting to cost a lot of money in repairs we will probably keep it for a few more years.

zagubov

Thrash it and trash it is my motto. I usually buy my cars second-hand  in other cities where I have family who can test-drive in advance.
I buy the card on my credit card that gives me points.
I'll run the car for decades if I can.
To sell my existing car I don't want them scrapped really. Half the energy costs of a car's lifetime was the energy it cost making rocks become a car in the first place.
I always get a quote from webuyanycar then offer it around my workplace for exactly that price  on the grounds that it'll usually be a great bargain for them, under the terms that
1) I'm totally upfront about any issues in advance
2) Any later faults they've got to sort themselves or sell it on.

Arunmor

One idea might be to set aside an amount each month over say the next 3-5 years so you have a hefty chunk ready for when the car does need replacing.