I bought a 10 month old car a little over 2 and a half years ago and I’ve heard that you should change your car every 3 years max in order to get best value for your old one. Is this true or is it just used car dealers trying to get some more money out of the punters?

Nothing has gone seriously wrong with the car yet, just normal wear and tear like new tyres, wipers and a couple of bulbs. The suspension has started to make knocking noises but nothing too serious and i probably only notice it cos my last car had no end of problems with the suspension.

Should I be thinking about changing it or keep it until I can’t stand taking it to the garage every month or so?

From a purely financial point of view now you’ve bought it run it for as long as possible until the costs of repairs become greater than it’s value. This was your depreciation is spread over many years and as depreciation cost reduces as the car ages you get a double benefit.

Think the three year ‘rule’ used to be down to the length of loan period people used to take out for cars – pay off the loan, start a new one for a new car so they don’t get used to having the extra cash spare.

I used to be a regular 3 year trade in kinda guy, now certainly going to run the missus car into the ground.

Until the monthly loan payments would be less than the monthly garage payments I’d keep with the one you’ve got – sounds like it’s a decent one.

Should I be thinking about changing it or keep it until I can’t stand taking it to the garage every month or so?

What warranty does it have?

Depends on the car.

I’ve a 4 year old Passat with 120k+ miles on it which just keeps on going. Why bother changing?

My parents buy 3yr old cars and run them into the ground, seems like the cheeper method than buying new and suffering with deperectiation.

I’m not really a car person and i usually get rid of my cars when the cost of the repairs are more than the value of the car, or when the car becomes too unreliable.

I know some people like to change their cars often and probably budget to spend xxx a month on car payments. I bought my car new 5 years ago and now have no payments on it. Apart from replacing the consumbales, I reckon I’ll run it for another two or 3 years. As someone has already said, 3 yrs was probably a break even point for financing, trade in values etc this is as long as your budgeting xxx amount per annum for cars.

I don’t do particualry high mileage though, so my cars last me. Motorbikes on the other hand………………

I have a 12 year old Cordoba (Mk3 Polo estate, rebadged) with 115k+ miles – never broken down, and ‘just works’ (thanks to being serviced every 4-5K). Don’t think I’ll ever buy a brand new car tbh.

If your happy paying out £x per month for a car then keep doing it, and I guess the idea is once you have finished paying the loan off you have equity in your car to put towards a newer one to either buy of the same standard or upgrade. If you run a car in to the ground you dont have any deposit to put down so need to borrow more cash (obviously that doesnt factor in depreciation) Newer cars also tend to be safer, more gadgets, more performance, more mpg etc.

However I think alot of the change every 3 years etc goes back to the days when cars were not anything like as reliable and well built as they are now.

What warranty does it have?

Warranty is finished with now it’s over 3 years old.

Until the monthly loan payments would be less than the monthly garage payments I’d keep with the one you’ve got – sounds like it’s a decent one.

No loan left on the car so any garage costs will be more than repayments on the car.

Part-ex I suspect would be about £6k-7k for the car but i’d want something similar quality but newer so would be looking at £10k-11k on the new one. if it’s gonna cost me £4k to get new car would you say its worth it? Especially seeing as the current one doesn’t seem to be breaking at all.

I bough a year old touran nearly 4 years ago, I plan to keep it for years. Anything that goes wrong isn’t down to a previous owner and it has been faultless plus as of this year I won’t be paying for it other than running costs. This from someone who used to swap cars like it was going out of fashion – 33 in 6 years.

I guess I just grew up and no longer viewed a car as a status symbol.

Should I be thinking about changing it or keep it until I can’t stand taking it to the garage every month or so?

If it’s only just over 3 years old it should be many years before that happens.

Swoosh – unless you’ve found something genuinely better (that could cover all sorts of things – bigger for a growing family, more reliable than a dodgy current car, faster, whatever) then keep what you have.

Changing cars always costs a horrendous amount of money even if swapping the same model for a newer one.

If many were honest with themselves they’d admit they change cars either as a “status” thing or through boredom with the current car. Neither are worth flinging money at to “solve.”

Part-ex I suspect would be about £6k-7k for the car

If you’re really worried about making the most of your money don’t part-ex. Sell your car privately and be in a beter position to haggle for the new one.

I’ve got an R reg Avensis, 80k miles. Nothing goes wrong, why replace it? It’s essentially a free car and leaves me money for more interesting projects.

MB – I have p/xed our last two cars an got better (much better) prices from a dealer than from selling privately.

Astra worth about £5-5.5k – got £6k
Jimny worth £3-3.5k – got £4k and then ONE ad response after we sold it.

If you are a cash buyer, you should get a reasonable price for your old car. Selling privately is a PITA – with both our “old” cars, tney sorted it all out and picked the car up (and delivered the new one) from your house.

suspension has started to make knocking noises but nothing too serious

…on a 3 year old car? WTF?!

I’ve just sold an 02 Focus and replaced it with a lovely 98 Honda Civic Aerodeck with 80k miles that cost £1500. I don’t anticipate needing to change it for at least 3 years, it should be reliable because it’s mechanically simple (in comparison to some modern cars) yet very well made, and if I keep up the maintenance and servicing (which I will) it’ll still be worth something (£500-800) in 3 year’s time even if the miles are up to 150k at that point. My only complaint is the fuel consumption, down from 45+ easy to 35-6 with care.

I’d say get off the nearly-new car every 3 years conveyor if you can because you’ll look back one day in the future and regret what it has cost you.

Late 90s Japanese metal is where it’s at.

If many were honest with themselves they’d admit they change cars either as a “status” thing or through boredom with the current car. Neither are worth flinging money at to “solve.”

+1

No loan left on the car

So start saving those monthly payments and when you have enough saved up to buy a new car, buy one. Dip into them for the garage costs as appropriate.

Although I’m currently driving my newest & most expensive cars ever – 4 years old at a cost of 5k. My last 3 cars sold at £105 and £25 respectively, so I feel we exist at opposite ends of the market and you may feel free to ignore my advice 😉

Late 90s Japanese metal is where it’s at.

What a perfect moment to post a pic of Wifey’s birthday present at the beginning of this month.

Late 90s Japanese metal is where it’s at.

A Celica GT4, Integra Type-R or Skyline yes, but not an MR2. They’re absolutely horrible.

If many were honest with themselves they’d admit they change cars either as a “status” thing or through boredom with the current car.

I agree with Matt, I think most people buy a new car as a status thing. There is an ever growing number of ’60’ plates arriving in the work car park even though everyone is being made redundant next year. Personally I’d rather buy after 3 years and 50% + depreciation. You can extend the warranty with most manufacturers these days so there isn’t the worry of major expenditure either.

A Celica GT4, Integra Type-R or Skyline yes, but not an MR2. They’re absolutely horrible.

Wifey loves them and has always regretted selling the first one she had when our son was born. That’s what matters to me, although I do quite like them myself in a very impractical and not spectacularly fast sort of way.

I’ve got an R reg Avensis, 80k miles. Nothing goes wrong, why replace it?

Because it must get tedious having people putting their hands up in the air and shouting “TAXI”?

I’ve had my car for over 10 years and I bought it when it was a year old. It’s done over 100k and still going alright. I think you only start to get your moneys worth when they get 10 years old and anything past that is money in the bank. So long as nothing expensive goes wrong, I’m hoping to keep it going as long as possible. You stress much less about an older car, and I don’t mind the scratches on it now.

Cars are a status thing,swap 3 years if you want the latest car. But you give a fortune to the car dealerships each time you swap. IMHO

Personally I’d rather buy after 3 years and 50% + depreciation

My last car had already lost over £40k when I bought it…

For me, I’m happy/resolved to stomach up £1-2k pa servicing/repair a car, as a new(er) one would be losing this much just in depreciation anyway – and you’ve still the running costs as well..

My last car had already lost over £40k when I bought it…

b r, what car was that?

The only issue with buying cars that were very expensive new is the price of parts is often relative to the original purchase price.

‘a lovely 98 Honda Civic Aerodeck’

I wonder how many other people would describe it as ‘lovely’!? Seriously though, as long as your happy good luck to you.

You will always have suspension problems living down that road with all those bloody speed bumps.
I’d say keep it and get a new bike, but you know how I look after my cars.

I do quite like them myself in a very impractical and not spectacularly fast sort of way.

Go testdrive an MR2 Turbo. Same looks, same amount of impracticality, but by the beard of Zeus are they fast…! A mid-to-late model one (mk3-mk5) will be around 5 seconds 0-60. There’s simply nothing on the roads this side of £50k that does that nowadays.

Admittedly they do try to kill you every now and again.

VX220, Elise 111R, Exige 260R, most Caterhams, an Impreza STI, an Evo FE360/400 (60 in under 4 seconds) and many more – all sub £50k, handle properly and would batter an MR2 Turbo. A mate had one and the handling was tragically poor; dangerous in fact.

Mk3 MR2 handled 2345235 times better but needed more power.

Have bought new, nearly new and older.

BM was the best buy – lists at over £38k, got it just over 2 years old with 16k on the clock from a main dealer for £21,250 with loads of extras thrown in. Bargain.

Flying Ox, I’ve read about those and they do sound a bit er ‘entertaining’.
Our early non-turbo MR2 could be a little flighty. Wifey span it on a wet roundabout with her Dad in the passenger seat and I did the same in front of the gatehouse at work. It wasn’t the power, they just didn’t like you lifting off while turning if the road was at all slippy. Her new one (a Revision 5) feels much more secure.

OK, OK. There’s simply not much on the roads this side of £50k etc. etc. etc.

Still, cost of a brand new Elise/Evo/Scooby etc vs £4k on an MR2? Second hand ones even, against £4k MR2? And the handling isn’t tragically poor. It’s just not what most people expect (or can cope with) when moving from a FR rep-mobile to a MR forced induction car.

This is all I can think of when I hear someone talk about MR2s:

Still, cost of a brand new Elise/Evo/Scooby etc vs £4k on an MR2? Second hand ones even, against £4k MR2? And the handling isn’t tragically poor. It’s just not what most people expect (or can cope with) when moving from a FR rep-mobile to a MR forced induction car.

I couldn’t care less if they’re fast in a straight line as the handling is awfull. I had a Vauxhall Nova with a 2 litre conversion and a few other tweaks that would have been just as fast, doesn’t mean it was a good car. Why would anyone want to move from a rep-mobile to a faux sports car anyway. There are loads of other two seaters that are infinately more desireable: Honda S2000, VX220, Elise, Z3M, Z4M, Z4 Alpina etc…

I have p/xed our last two cars an got better (much better) prices from a dealer than from selling privately.

…which means if you’d had cash in your pocket (i.e. no trade-in) you should have got a bigger discount on the purchase price. P/X value is a pretty much meaningless number in the transaction; it’s just part of the dealer’s sales technique.

-m- I am aware of that, having a brain and all that.

Good p/x prices AND good purchase prices AND loads of extras thrown in too. Now will you be trying to patronise me on those facts too?

We paid cash both times.

I think one or two of you may have missed my point. The MR2 is Wifey’s car. She thinks they look gorgeous and now gets to feel smug/happy/superior whenever she drives it. She also thinks I’m slightly more wonderful than before. Wallet emptied, mission accomplished.

Myself, I’m really not into cars. I’m happy to trundle along in the T5 you can see behind the MR2. If I took my cycling competitiveness onto the road it would end in very big tears, I’m sure.

Gachet: This is all I can think of etc….

This is all I can think of when people say the MR2 has awful handling:

😀

All I was originally saying was that if Mostly Balanced fancied the same driving experience in a faster package, then a mk2 tubby was a possible option.
After that, I was saying that handling most definitely isn’t awful. It’s just 95% of people who make the switch don’t have the natural ability to get the most out of a mid-engined RWD forced induction car. They get bitten in the ass and rather than admit that the car is too much for them, they automatically assume the MR2 is pish and back this opinion up either with countless instances of pish spouted by others on internet forums, or that one time they went out with a mate who had one and it was a bit lary when in fact, if they’re honest with themselves, their mate was driving like a tool.
Also, what’s your definition of a sports car, if sub-6-seconds 0-60mph and a top speed of 155mph is ‘faux sports’? Come on… it was pretty good for a car released in 1989. Christ, I’m boring myself now.

OP – get a Golf. A diesel one.

b r, what car was that?

BMW 535i, over £42k in 1998…

Flying Ox, I may be about to dissappoint you but my ultimate driving experience is to be sat in my T5 high enough to see over most cars in front, the rear loaded up with camping kit plus bikes/canoe/windsurfng kit, the stereo turned up and a clear road between home and somewhere good to use all the stuff in the back.