Should I keep my old car or buy another one?

Barkin

stu12345_2 said:

Barkin said:

stu12345_2 said:

Barkin said:

stu12345_2 said:

when a car hits 4 years old things need replacing, exhaust, springs, shocks, battery, brakes, discs, tyres, cat, alternator etc, then again at 8 years.

Crumbs! Seems my 20 year old motor hasn't been made aware of that... 

depends entirely on the miles done.

Just coming up to 170k

Yes, it's had tyres & brakes done obviously. 

But steering/suspension is all original apart from front drop links & rear trailing arm bushes. They were done at approx 130k/13 years.

Exhaust is original. 

The original (Bosch) battery lasted 14 years. I replaced it with another Bosch.

I kinda get your point, but saying that a car will need these things at 4 years old, and again at 8, is... well... 

many sellers sell their cars just before these anniversaries, cos in general they know these parts are wearing out, especially if they have done say 12000 miles a year

Which cars are these - Fisher Price? 

lcc86

I think the main issue you have is your budget wouldn't actually get you much that's half decent with low mileage, so you'd probably be better off maintaining the one your have for now and saving a bigger fund to get you something a bit better when the time comes.

I have a 13 year old car, 70k miles, serviced every year and it's worth about 3.5k, I thought about replacing it for a newer model last month (2 years old) and I just realised that it wasn't worth it as long as there were no major issues with mine, as any monthly loan/finance payment would outweigh the cost of maintenance on my current one. If your car was consistently failing MOTs then it might be different but it sounds like you look after it well and 5k could put you into the territory of a car that perhaps hasn't been looked after so well and could cause issues if you get unlucky. I'd say better the devil you know for now!