car maintenence eeek!

JAMIEDODGER

hi guys. just wondered what everyone else budgeted for "repairs/maintenece/servicing" for their car per year. my car cost me £95 today although thats the first time this year it cost me anything (apart from general expenses petrol,tax, etc) when would you say was agood time to get rid?when it costs more than x amount per year? many thanks, jamie

squeaky

Jamie, this one would be best answered in the Motoring Board where there are loads of people who can answer this one for you, so I'm going to move it over...

Gingham_Ribbon

I had a lovely old escort and it did me well. But it ended up in the garage 3 times in 3 months, each time costing over £100. We couldn't afford to keep up with it, so let it go.

It doesn't sound like you're doing badly with yours at the moment. But the decider for me was that I suddenly didn't trust it any more, as well as the cost of keeping it. It cut out pulling out on a 4 lane roundabout in rush hour with my son in the back. Once. Even though it started straight away and I hadn't actually got on to the lanes, I didn't drive it again.

Wasn't happy that the garage had told me a week before that it was safe to drive.

I'd be interested to know what other people budget for car maintainance too.

Murtle

I budget the cost for;

a service

the mot

and a new set of two tyres each year.

(they don't wear out that fast, but it gives me something in reserve and at least I know I have the money if they do need to be changed)

So far it's worked but she's getting older so I guess something will give soon!

jjames_3

Nothing at the moment; my car still has the balance of the 5-year unlimited mileage warranty (about a year left). It's passed its first two MOTs without issue. So just about £200 a year to cover (expensive dealer) servicing and the cost of an MOT slip.

That warranty has been a waste of time so far... four years on and not so much as a rattle out of the thing, bloody car..... lol

When to get rid of a car? Hard to say. When you lose faith in it I guess. If you've run it 5 years without fault, then the gearbox falls out, that's an expensive job -- but depending on the age of the car it may well still be worth doing it up and keeping it, despite leaving you £5-600+ out of pocket. Such a fault is unlikely to have any bearing on future reliability.

But, if your car breaks down 3 times in as many months due to an unknown electrical issue, that proves cheap to fix each time, but keeps happening, then even though it's only cost you a couple of hundred quid I'd be looking to shift it at that point.

ManAtHome

I generally reckon on £30 a month (only 7-8k miles a year) after the first 3 years, around half that for first 3 (from new). As a rough guide, budget for new fronts at 20k miles, rears at 40k (subtract if you drive like a nutter of course), brake pads at 30k, disks at 60k, new exhaust every 3 years, battery at 5 years, likely to be brake pipe and suspension work after 6 years.

As to how long to keep it - depends on whether you 'need' to have a shiny newish one really. The biggest cost of any car for the first 5 or 6 years is likely to be depreciation. I normally buy at a year old (Ford Direct), then run until they become unreliable (rare these days), or repair esimates more than trade-in value (or if/when I get it right, likely repairs more than achieved trade-in.!).

larmy16

I drive an old family saloon car, which is low on street cred, but high on reliability and cheap to run. I bought it from a couple I know and it has been religiously serviced every six months since it was born.

Apart from mot and tax and insurance costs, I have one major service per year @£175
and will have a basic service for the winter months in October @£110.

The car (the "angel" as she is known) cost me £400 three years ago. Apart from two new tyres - she has cost me nothing in repairs. She must be about 11 years old now.

My favourite cars I ever had, were a mark1 xr2, and then a shiny black xr2i. Both of them cost me a small fortune in repairs as they had been thrashed by the boy racers!

I love those kind of cars. My dream car would be Subaru Impreza. It is just that though a dream. I love and adore my Granny wagon and the fact that she is the most reliable car I have ever had, makes me want to cherish her.

Silent_Bob_3

As larmy says, so long as you have them serviced regularly then they should last you for years and years.

My FTO is 11 years old now and the only things that have gone wrong with it was a seized rear brake caliper and bent steering rack end rod.

Last weekend I had all 6 plugs changed, alternator belt and power steering belt, air filter, engine oil and filter and gearbox oil. Cost me £100 to have that done plus £80 for the parts I supplied (plugs, belts and air filter).