[Closed] Cars. Do you change yours frequently or run them until they die?

Every 2 years or boredom threshold if sooner.

54 plate Honda FRV here. Had it since new and see no reason to sell it as yet as it's performing faultlessly.

Edit: I've done it now haven't I? 😯

I was considering a newer Prius to replace our 55 plate, but then I thought screw it - I'll see how long it runs so I can shut up all those folk who tell me it's going to explode in a shower of toxins after 100k miles. 82k so far 🙂

You might die of boredom pretty quickly with a vectra and a fusion

Only when dirty, which might be problematic in the UK.

Regular normally every 12 to 18 months might try and keep the two we have at the moment longer but I always say that :). But then the car I just replaced I did 35k in under a year so was bored of it it's like three years average motoring in 11 months 😯

The old M reg Mondeo estate finally went to the great car park in the sky earlier this year. I now have a T reg Astra, which will again be kept until it dies. I don't see the point in changing cars if the one I've got still works.

Ive always managed to sell mine on even being honest ....

Diesel fiesta became a farmers pump Bodywork as facked beyond repair

Escort got sold to a fella in carnoustie - had 60 k on the clock and mayo for oil

Hyundai - drove it to my parents one day reversed it onto the drive and the clutch gave in - pushed it the rest of the way - handed the keys to my dad and said ill arrange to have to collected .... He asked what i ment - said it being scrapped.

He put a new clutch in and serviced it for 400 quid and sold it for 500 he was chuffed till i told him i was getting 100 for scrapping it ....

I might change the van but probably wont costs so little to run ..... Likely sell the mrs golf and get her something i can use for towing

I run them until they don't run no more.
Merc estate, w123, 13 years.
Merc estate, w124, 10 years and still going strong.

Cars - they are tools to transport you/things to places.

SB

when it's paid for, or when I can't afford to service it. Or when it's breaking more regularly than I fill it with petrol. I had a Renault 5 like that.

I got 133k miles out of an Alfa 146. Would have kept it longer if the muppet who fitted the new clutch had remembered to fasten the drive shafts to the gearbox

I traded my BMW in for a Saab when I'd reached 104k miles. Got rid of the Saab when I couldn't afford the £1000+ service bill (regular service plus 4 new tyres I could have lived with, but the £600+ for the cambelt change broke the camel's back). Wish I'd kept the Beemer. The Saab was lovely but jeez a bag of sand for a service? 😯

till they die.

250,000 miles on my van. goes pretty good, but a bit thirsty.

till they die

+1

Mainly out of spite with my current Astra 😈

till dead or costing silly money for too long...

last car died at 14yrs old and 130,000

virtually new replacement hopefully to last about as long

every 120k (company car) so just over 3 years usually, I can't wait to get rid of the current poobox

my wife has a astra. it is crap.

'til they become uneconomical to repair.

First car 6 year old Fiesta Si 1.4 with 54k on clock. Kept it for 6yrs and got it up to 144k miles. Was still mechanically sound, but rust was eating it.

Replaced with current Ibiza Tdi sport 130, which I have had for just over 5 years now. It's an 03. Bought with 24k on it. Now on 173k and shows no sign of slowing down.
Can't justify replacing it while putting 600 miles/wk on it, but do often look at estates to replace it.

I don't see the point in changing cars if the one I've got still works.

Me neither. Replacing a car because you're "bored"? WTF, are you 9? And if your driving [u]is[/u] exciting, you're doing it wrong.

Mainly till they die.
Current longest is a 13 year old Volvo estate with 170,000 miles on it.
Still runs strong.

I need a newish car for work, but even thats an 8 year old car!

My neighbours get rid of cars when they run out of warranty at 3 years cos they think it's safer and cheaper in terms of repair bills.

If they kept the cars and put the money they'd spent on the payments in the bank they'd have way more than they'd need to cover the worst possible scenarios, and given they drive reliable brands they'd probably get many years of trouble free motoring, so the money they saved could be spent on something else.

First ever car - Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L, bought at 2 years old, kept for 8 years.

Next, Seat Ibiza 1.9TDi - bought new, traded in after 3.5 years as we needed a bigger car for the kids.

Next, Citroen Picasso 1.8SX - bought new, kept for 9 years, sold privately.

Next (and current), Ford Galaxy 2.0TDCi, bought 18 months ago at 7 months old, intend to keep it for at least 8 or 9 years.

Don't see the point in changing cars if they meet your needs and are reliable.

I tend to change cars every 6-12 months. Buy them cheap, look after them, do little bits and bobs and then sell them on for the same money. I'll do 10k ish miles in that time normally.

My only vehicle is an '07 Ford Ranger pick-up - bought it Jan 2010 with only 2500 miles on the clock (company cars before that). It now has 68k on the clock and the plan was to sell it after 2 years when it had 80k on. It seems it'll go a bit longer than next Jan, so I'll prob sell next summer and maybe lease another truck.

Five cars in 25 years.
All pretty knackered when I got them and I ran them until they died.

Just bought a nice car for the first time. Let's see how long this one lasts 🙂

Depends on the car and my circumstances for me. My last one was an old Citroen Picasso and I decided (for a variety of reasons) to adopt the "run to destruction" approach to maintenance. I replaced it with a new-ish c-max and this one I'll maintain and use for a few years but will probably flog it after that as I'll be tired of it and circumstances will no doubt have changed.

Been past my test for 38 years & had 7 cars, none of which, luckily have been much bother really.
51 passat at the mo with 212K on it.

I'm on car allowance and supposed to stay under 5 years / 100k miles, so change on that.

I can't be bothered with the hassle of changing cars so generally change as little as possible. Before this job (and those restrictions) I owned a 106GTi for nearly 6 years. I'd probably still have it now.

Die.

Once you consider how much of your life is spent paying for huge depreciation in cars, you become reluctant to pay the 'prestige' tax.

Let's say you lose £5,000 on instant depreciation of a new car. How many working hours did it take you to acquire that much disposable cash? Even if you have £1,000pw surplus, that's 5 weeks of your life gone for nothing. That's what I regard as being enslaved to a possession.

There's a whole industry dedicated to making you feel as if your manhood and social standing is determined by what you drive.

A private car is simply a transportation box.

(Cars required for work and business are a different case - they're earning you money)

Vw beetle - fell to bits.
XR2 died in a crash.
Mitsubishi colt - B pillars completely made of rust and had to go.
306 estate still going at 140k. Not going anywhere yet.

My current one is a tool for ferrying bikes and crap.

I will say though that I really like new cars. They are usually nicer in some small way than your older one, they are shiny, they are much tighter all round, and a change can be fun.

If I were really rich I might be tempted to buy more cheaper cars than fewer more expensive ones.

My neighbours get rid of cars when they run out of warranty at 3 years cos they think it's safer and cheaper in terms of repair bills.

You mean thats how he justifies needing to keep up with the Jones'? 😀

Hardly, they have a Mazda 2 and a Kia whatever it is small thing. Not exactly prestige.

20 year old Defender, will own it for the rest of my life.

I've had 5 cars in 21 years of driving. I tend to sell them for sweeties at the end of their tether, or scrap them. My current Mazda is a 52 plate, 81k, and, like the rest of my cars it'll die in my ownership. 😀

The wife went through a spate of crashing cars so that used to determine when we got a new one.
Now it tends to be when they start costing a bit of money to keep on the road, last car needed a new turbo so it went the car before needed a fair bit of work so it went.
The current car has 117k on the clock and is going fine I suspect it will be somewhere near 160k before we consider getting rid of it, unless it starts to fall apart.

Mol, I think you should put that in writing to your neighbour.

Always kept my cars for a while or until something expensive is looming. Had both my 'keepers' stolen and been trying to get back to something I want to keep. Just bought a Lancer Estate which I'm gonna have for a while. Wife drives a y reg civic which we've had for a few years and runs like new, she's put a dint in every panel so not keen on getting anything more shiny! My mate runs a volvo t5 estate which he bought for £600 about 5 years ago and never had a prob with it!

Can't understand how people can afford a couple of brand new cars on the drive although they may not have a bike habit 😕

Can't understand how people can afford a couple of brand new cars on the drive although they may not have a bike habit

we were talking about that last night - next door have 2 brand new spankers - a white E class convertible and a matching white X1....our kids go to the same football kids team and it came out in conversation that they pay close to £1000 a month combined for the cars.....and will never own them...

I buy new and keep them for 5-6 years. However, my current Audi Quattro (5 years from new) is a keeper. First car I have ever had that I haven't get bored with, plus to pay £30k+ for a new one ain't going to happen any time soon, if ever again unless I win the Lotto. I am not mechanically minded and as soon as things start to go wrong I get shot.

Until they die or I kill them. A manifestation of my characteristic indolence.

Have historically rolled them frequently but latest 2 are keepers - 08 Legacy estate owned from new (tax and gst evasion strategy while self employed) which is MrsNzCols now , has been thumped in car parks, dented and I monstered it into a bank as well whoops. 08 Rs4 Avant which is mine and is the best car ever owned, fast , practical, fun to drive, drive to track fang round drive home. Well keep that until new RS4 arrives and will see what that is like. Have only lost money on 1 car I have sold !

I bought my Peugeot when President Mitterrand was running around in the same model.

I run them until I think they are going to cost money. Last 10 years motoring history,

Saab 9-5 145,000 miles - turbo, head gasket, tryes

Ford Ranger 23,000 miles - drank too much diesel and was way to happy to do 360's

Ford Mondeo 154,000 miles, air bag light on, clutch going, 4 tyres needed

Skoda Octavia 48,000 miles, it was a bag of crap, visited the dealer 3 times for 4 engine light related issues in the last 3 months of ownership and was seen by no less than 6 RAC men in those last three months too. Secondary water pump, exhaust gas sensor, throttle sensor, blower in cabin for air, tyre pressure sensor. DON@T BELIEVE THE HYPE. SKODA'S ARE AS UNRELIABLE AS EVER.

DON@T BELIEVE THE HYPE. SKODA'S ARE AS UNRELIABLE AS EVER.

Maybe Don but I know at least 4 people with the 170BHP diesel engine who have had problem after problem.

Mechanically sound but electrically? not so sure.

Guessing Madrid Taxi drivers don't normally go for the 170BHP motor.

Fair enough, I missed the bit about the problem being specific to the 170bhp model rather than the whole range. 😳

12.5yo with 152k (I've owned it for 11 and done 130k) - a supposedly unreliable Pug 406. Keep thinking about getting rid, but I suspect I'll keep it until something really expensive breaks (or a multitude of things - had a variety of advisories last MOT, none of which I've done anything about 😳 ).

Have owned 4 previous cars - got rid of 2 because I wanted to upgrade - one after 3 years, the other after only 18 months, but that was because it was my first car and a complete heap and I got something better as soon as I could afford it. The other 2 got written off (only one my fault 😳 )

I don't beleive the Skoda stats on reliability surveys. I wonder what post-3yr old owners would say about them. After all they have the exact same ECU, turbo, EGR, DPF's etc etc on the VW's that DO fail.

Get a new one every 3-6 months, or whenever my Demonstrator gets sold..!!!

Till they die.

Bought an '03 plate Seat Ibiza ex demo. Still got it 96,000 miles later. Think the total bill for non-scheduled repairs has been approx £100 (to replace a temperature sensor that was falsely giving a "check engine" light).

Until they die or are very close. Currently running a 2005 renault Megane with 125k on the clock, that will be kept until at least next summer and possibly longer depending on what breaks in the next few months.

Mrs lunge has just got shot of a Y reg Fiat Punto as the repair bill for the head gasket is twice what the car is worth.

Till they die. I've no real interest in buying new. I'm handy with spanners and enjoy the mechanical challenges in keeping them running.

My old Shogun off to the scrappies. They paid me £600 for it, it will either be dismantled for parts or shipped as is to Africa. Lots of running still in it, but just too much chassis welding to be worthwhile for me.

[img] [/img]

I've had three cars in eighteen years.

51 Mazda 323, owned for 5 years, the rust is terrible, arches, inner wings, had a hole neat the front shock mount that you could put your fist through!

Running gear has been solid mind, shame the rust worm likes it so much

Expect to see just and engine and gearbox and a pile of rust dust on the drive one day soon!

Plus a 53 Golf estate, both will be run into the ground and sold for scrap one day.

What is the going rate from a scrap yard for a mid sized car now?

Used to be £50 and a nip off a Rottie 😉

ski, we got offered about £100 for a Punto which I thought was not bad. They did say it depends on how much of it is useable/sellable.

Aye, colleague just got £125 for an ancient rust Corsa 🙂

Generally keep them until they feel like they're about to die

55 plate honda accord tourer bought new
51 plate puegeot 307 xsi bought 1 year old
1987 citroen 2cv bought 1 year old (now completely rebuilt)

All done just under 90,000 miles.

Till they die

Currently have a 19year old Hilux, with about 120K on it that I've had for the last 8 years, gone through every MOT and the only repairs needed have been things I've broken while offroad.

Other car is a 12 year old VW we bought for two grand about three years ago, now sitting at 91K, will replace when it decides to die...

Meant to say 'this is the cars I currently have' with no plans to change any of them.

My old Shogun off to the scrappies. They paid me £600 for it, it will either be dismantled for parts or shipped as is to Africa. Lots of running still in it, but just too much chassis welding to be worthwhile for me.

That's pretty much the only reason I get shot, it's rare to get mechanical issues that can't be sorted reasonably these days. HGF or a DMF clutch going seems the aorts case, but a DMF clutch is not found on my ancient Nissan, cost £180 to replace last time all in - for that it was worth risking it failing on a welding issues for another year (1995 Almera, 135,000 on it - don't really bother with pleasantries like oil changes either :-))

i've only ever sold one car in this country (mx5 that I had for 18 months and sold for a 15% profit). all other cars have been run to the grave or so close that they were given away. Currently on a 1999 mondeo with 185,000 miles

Always had company cars until recently so changed them every 3years. I put 200k on my last Beemer 530D Sport Tourer and it was simply the best car ever.
No I've my "own" and will run the Prius until 3 years then chop it in, the SMART I'm about to chop in for another, the van I'll keep until it dies or I die first.

So far I've only replaced them when they get written off. Buy them at about the 10 year stage, bits and bobs need doing but nothing much, and still plenty of miles in them and parts cost buttons.

Always until they are almost dead, still get a few hundred quid for them (or have given them to relatives to kill off).
This time its different though - going to get rid of the Saab before it's old cos I just don't want a diesel anymore (or need one). Had it 3 years though, which isn't bad.

Until they seem unwell.
Cars:
1st - 1989: Renault 14, gave up on it when it felt like I was driving a rotting shed around.
2nd - 1995: Nissan Micra (1st type), kept patching it up but when the gear box went thought time to get the new car I'd been thinking about
3rd - 2001: Ford Puma, bought from new and kept until it looked a bit battered from bike transporting and being kept on the street, needed a new exhaust system and I needed more space anyway.
4th - 2011: Skoda Roomster, so far so great.

Why would you not believe reliability surveys?