I also think that SM is very good at skewing your world-view. Conspicuous consumption is very very prevalent on things like Insta and Tik-Tok, as well as the high street. Creators are paid well by companies and countries desperate to promote a thing, and look like it's the answer to all life's ills. It's very easy to be sucked into believing a world where everyone else seems to having everything sorted.
The key to cheap reliable sustainable long term motoring is to fix and maintain them yourself.
Assumes that you have time, space, knowledge tools, and ability.
Assumes that you have time, space, knowledge tools, and ability.
Or indeed the will. I have things I much prefer doing with my life - like maintain my bikes.
There's also safety to consider. Plenty of people shouldn't be trusted to take on safety critical jobs one their cars. Myself included.
Last time I phoned sky, I also got a Welsh lad, there was no nonsense, I just said my bills gone way more expensive recently and he said "yeah it always does that, I'll just make it the same as last year for you."
The key to cheap reliable sustainable long term motoring is to fix and maintain them yourself.
this would result in zero cost motoring for me, on account of my untimely demise after the wheels fall off
Or indeed the will. I have things I much prefer doing with my life - like maintain my bikes.
You don't sound like the people seriously impacted by rises in cost of living as a) they probably won't even have a car to maintain and b) if they have a bike they would have just one very cheap one.
So maybe the wording should have been "The key to cheap reliable sustainable long term transport is to fix and maintain a bike yourself.
That's the problem with modern cars though.
I could do most of the things on my mid nineties hatchback myself. I can do simple things, like a basic service, on my 2013 van. I wouldn't have the foggiest on a new car, far too complicated, far too many gadgets. My mate even had to take his new-ish Citroen to a main dealer after a tyre change as he needed the tyre pressure sensors resetting, even changing a wheel is no longer DIYable, madness.
My fibre broadband was about to go up to £55 per month. 5 minute phone call to the the provider, and they increased me from 300-500 mbps and got two year contract at £25 per month.
I'm a big fan of GoFibre. A bit of a shame that we had to the do the whole customer retention dance but they provide a decent service, good value and straight forward customer service. If you have them in your area I would recommend.
That's the problem with modern cars though.
On the other hand, they go wrong far less frequently than older cars. Arguably, cars need all this modern stuff around sensors etc precisely because the vast majority of people never do any maintenance, wouldn't have the first clue about it and often lack the tools, time, resources etc mentioned above.
They also spend too much time watching tiktoksArguably, cars need all this modern stuff around sensors etc precisely because the vast majority of people never do any maintenance,
Doing your own motor maintenance is all well and good in theory but it's becoming increasingly difficult as time goes on. My first three cars were respectively from 1977, 1985 and 1991 and I spent half my life under the bonnet. About the only thing I used a mechanic for when I was in my teens/twenties was an oil change because for the price of over-the-counter oil and filter the cost difference to pay someone else to do it was negligible (and it's a shitty job). Oh, that and when I needed a complete engine swap.
Today though... I'm not entirely convinced that I'd know where to start unless it was something simple. Half the engine bays in modern motors are big plastic slabs that say "go away" and the clearance is so tight that even my girlie wrists would struggle. The bay in my mk1 Fiesta was more air than engine. (Not a security question)
[EDIT: apologies, I've just seen that andrewh said much the same thing. I'm playing catchup.]
Shouldn't have to jump through those hoops every single time though - its almost an annual thing to call them and complain followed by the little dance about leaving them followed by an amazing cost save coming out of nowhere which they've "managed to do for me".
So yep, anyone with Sky, phone, threaten to leave, get a better deal. £440 p/a saving.
Back when I was with Sky, I did this merry dance with them (the key is to ask to speak to Retentions) and she explicitly told me to ring back next year to push for a better deal again when her offer runs out.
I have a theory that your deal price is secretly their standard price and that extra £440 is apathy tax.
The satellite TV and broadband service was generally pretty good for its time, but I do not miss having to deal with Sky as a company one jot. It was always a bloody trauma.
You can wax lyricall you like but they came with a 2 year warranty rusted like heck and broke down a lot.
Now 5+ years is normal, and theyre a lot less flaky
and theyre a lot less flaky
Yeah I dunno about that actually.
The things that can go wrong are more numerous. Nothing, but nothing, is designed for easy maintenance or simplicity. Literally the last car that ever applied to was the Ford Sierra, which was 1982.
So. When they do go wrong, and they do go wrong, often you're not stranded... you receive the orange mystery dashboard light telling you something isn't right, what will it cost, pick a number between 1 and 10... multiply by £1k... And you don't get the MOT ticket without that fix.
If you drive it for ages, maybe that takes out another part too. For a second four figure hit.
Different days.
"Extended" service intervals are total BS, too. Cast iron way to increase the repairs that are needed around year 5 when the guarantee runs out.
You can wax lyricall you like but they came with a 2 year warranty rusted like heck and broke down a lot.
I've got the owners manual for my motorbike of 1981 vintage - just 6 month warranty & only on the parts made by the bike manufacturer, so not the brakes, suspension, lights, switchgear, Speedo, rev counter, wheels & tyres - mind you there was no mileage limit 😃
Would it be cynical of me to wonder whether a warranty was just a way of tying you into overpriced dealer-only servicing?
Another thing with modern cars is how fuel efficient they are. a lot of that is down to fuel injection and its associated electronics
Would it be cynical of me to wonder whether a warranty was just a way of tying you into overpriced dealer-only servicing?
Remember the thread on here about Giant warranty? (as in, the bicycle company, not an enormous huge warranty, the biggest warranty of all...)
Basically in their T&C's, if you did almost any work on the bike yourself, it voided the warranty.
My local garage is one of those rare things in the car world, a garage with a conscience and good mechanical skills. They don't have very good things to say about dealer servicing, they apparently see a lot of cars that have been "serviced" which translates to "we plugged it in, it said it was fine, we charged £300 and the customer drove off again". They'd done no actual work to detect filthy oil or worn pads or corroded shocks.
They don't have very good things to say about dealer servicing
I think nearly every independent garage has to say that as part of their trading standards. I've used indys that are shite and very good dealers and vice versa.
Would it be cynical of me to wonder whether a warranty was just a way of tying you into overpriced dealer-only servicing?
From RAC
i certainly don't find my more modern vehicles any more difficult to work on. but then i didn't stop so my skills and tool sets developed along with the vehicles.
Fwwi I've vehicles from 1987 to 2016 that i work on regularly , Changed the alternator on the 2016 last month and access was some of the best I've seen took 15 minutes to change.- I've not yet had to touch my 2025 car but from a cursory glance access looks good and there's minimal parts to change anyway.
I will admit it hits me on dealer resale but i rarely sell anything that isn't within an inch of a scrap yard - although when i do i end up going to private sale as they appreciate the documented service history i supply (receipts, photos and specs of what's fitted and why i fitted it ) more than a stamped book.
My take on it is the only person invested in ensuring its done right is me - and if i do it wrong then that's my issue - not going to tempt fate by talking about number of times any of my vehicles have left me stranded*
*came close with a fuel cooler being ripped off on a snow drift in January , but some butchering with a Stanley knife and a jubilee clip fitted and i was rolling again.
Usually $120 gets me close to a full main tank.
Today, $120 got me under 3/4 of a tank.
Diesel is $3+ / litre now. Petrol (91) up from $1.56 to $2.50+
Even Waitrose sell toothpaste at £1.35...
But the identical toothpaste is £1.25 in Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's and £1.24 in ASDA and Aldi.
i certainly don't find my more modern vehicles any more difficult to work on. but then i didn't stop so my skills and tool sets developed along with the vehicles.
You can be immediately stopped in your tracks by the wrong type of fault code though. Plenty that don't show up on normal ODB readers and need a full workshop setup instead. Starts getting pricey at that point. Never mind modern stuff like replacing LED lights that might need setup to communicate with the car
Just got the new Severn Trent bill for the year. That's piss-taking. 15% increase. Just so they can still pay their fines for pumping shit into the rivers and still give bonuses out. If ever there was a useless bording on corrupt regulator, water is it.
i certainly don't find my more modern vehicles any more difficult to work on. but then i didn't stop so my skills and tool sets developed along with the vehicles.
You can be immediately stopped in your tracks by the wrong type of fault code though. Plenty that don't show up on normal ODB readers and need a full workshop setup instead. Starts getting pricey at that point. Never mind modern stuff like replacing LED lights that might need setup to communicate with the car
A £150 Foxwell can deeply diagnose and code modules on both of my Porsches, cloned Volvo Dice (dongles) are on Aliexpress - the Vida software (parts id, factory level diagnosis and workshop manauls) happily runs on a £100 second hand laptop via VM, PP2000 dongles are on eBay for Peugeot diagnosis.
I also have the PDF (just under 1000 page) Porsche factory manuals for both of mine.
There has never been more information or factory level grey/cloned diagnostics available. There are companies out there repairing ABS/CEM/ECU/Haldex etc etc modules.
Portable Fluke style oscilloscopes are available for less than £100
The world has moved on from Whitworth spanner’s and feeler gauges.
Exactly. Investing in a diag for your specific cars is invaluable.
Generic readers are often leading folks up the garden path and as pointed out earlier you can't code ancillaries . You cannot beat live data. In ways modern cars can be easier to diagnose than the cars I started on..... Early canbus with flashy dash lights codes "you have a sensor out but I'm not telling you which" ..... Out with the multimeter.
The world has moved on from Whitworth spanner’s and feeler gauges.
But paradoxically you've stumbled upon the reason most folks don't work on their own cars. As you suggested, the route to cheap motoring is DIY, if cars were still spanners and feelers gauges more people would probably have a go.
The route to cheap motoring sounds like it requires a significant investment in tools and facilities. Not to mention the time or inclination.
if cars were still parts darts more people would probably have a go.
The route to cheap motoring sounds like it requires a significant investment in tools and facilities. Not to mention the time or inclination.
Invest in the tools as you need them.
Front discs and pads on one of our cars last weekend, parts ordered online for £60. Job took under an hour to complete, I'd have lost more time sorting out dropping the car at a garage and either have to wait around for most of the day or inconvenience others to pick me up/drop me off. I'd have paid in the region of £2-300 for the privilege too.
I could do the front discs and pads on my 1995 Proton Persona, my 1993 Peugeot 306 and my 1998 Ford Mondeo.
On my, current, 2013 Transit the discs are behind the front hubs. I can do the pads easily enough but the hub bolt is 450Nm, plus rust, and getting it off usually destroys the wheel bearings. That's a garage job. Not a problem specifically of it being modern, but an example of how modern ones aren't designed with the DIY mechanic in mind
I don't have a garage to work in.
I can absolutely guarantee that it would take me far longer than an hour to change a set of discs and pads.
On my, current, 2013 Transit the discs are behind the front hubs. I can do the pads easily enough but the hub bolt is 450Nm, plus rust, and getting it off usually destroys the wheel bearings. That's a garage job. Not a problem specifically of it being modern, but an example of how modern ones aren't designed with the DIY mechanic in mind
thats not a car problem thats a transit problem that is as old as time its self. stupid design.
as for it taking more than an hour - yes most likely the first time this is true- but subsequent time less so.
But paradoxically you've stumbled upon the reason most folks don't work on their own cars. As you suggested, the route to cheap motoring is DIY, if cars were still spanners and feelers gauges more people would probably have a go.
Most people don't "have a go" because they don't have the tools, time, space, knowledge or inclination.
Sure, you can buy a Haynes manual (or these days look it up on YouTube), go and buy the tools then lie on your back in the road trying to fix whatever is wrong but it's time consuming, unpleasant, potentially dangerous and there's no guarantee it'll work anyway.
Also, most people are thoroughly lazy. Part of the reason that old cars were so poor on safety (other than the lack of crumple zones, airbags etc) was because they'd be driven for miles with under inflated tyres or low oil because there were no sensors to say "this is faulty, get it serviced" and most people would never think to look or even know what they were looking for.
hard to moan about the cost of motoring at that point though .
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSaop7N0KOQznAHXsYnUcpUSGBHHs8ZU6z6kg&s
I could do the front discs and pads on my 1995 Proton Persona, my 1993 Peugeot 306 and my 1998 Ford Mondeo.
On my, current, 2013 Transit the discs are behind the front hubs. I can do the pads easily enough but the hub bolt is 450Nm, plus rust, and getting it off usually destroys the wheel bearings. That's a garage job. Not a problem specifically of it being modern, but an example of how modern ones aren't designed with the DIY mechanic in mind
Yeah, that job would probably get sent to my local garage. Depends on the job whether I take it or not (time of the year matters too)
The car needed new brake lines front to rear a couple of years back, I've never done them before but happy to have a go. Tools and the parts were almost as much as the £120 I was quoted, local garage got that job.
My van needs a new air con condenser, £80 part, £600 quoted from my local garage as it's a bumper, headlights, slam panel etc off job, for a £500 saving I'll be doing that myself. You tube video found, probably a morning's work.
i made the mistake of thinking a 15 quid handbrake cable wouldn't be "too" expensive on a new to me vehicle last summer - with alot of other stuff going on it just let the garage do it with the MOT .
430 quid + vat later ..... it works and it works well but dear lord i can see why people are fearful of putting their car in to get fixed and would rather long term rent something
Ouch, glad I did my own now but my van is 23 years old so pretty simple. Most jobs still go to garage as I would rather spend the money and have my weekend free and working on the van is not something I enjoy. Plus my garage is reasonable back street set up, drop van off play with mechanics dog, have a moan and a laugh with them.
My works van goes to a dealership and the firm I work for gets an absolute spanking for anything that needs doing.
Anyone seen the update on plug in and play solar panels at last, not huge savings but it will reduce costs in the long term, available from July I think.
Related to the above but also more generally the cost of living, I'm without a car at the moment (mine failed MOT in late January) so I'm trying to work out what to do. I rarely use a car for day-to-day stuff but it's really handy for weekends, spur of the moment stuff and so on.
Do I:
accept the loss of "I'll just drive to Llandegla / Dalby / etc" whims and use hire cars on a more planned-for basis accepting the occasional hire bill against the otherwise much reduced costs of not owning a car
buy a cheap car and accept the inevitable garage bills (plus insurance / tax / fuel etc)
borrow enough money to get a more up-to-date S/H car and accept the higher initial payment against hopefully much reduced garage costs
get a lease car through work and accept a regular bill of £400 a month for 3 years but with zero other ownership costs (other than fuel)
???
And that's all against a backdrop of all the other costs going up. Also, what idiot decided that 2-3yr old S/H cars should now be £12,000 and upwards?! Bloody hell, that's twice what I paid for my old car (bought outright at 2yrs old in 2011).
buy a cheap car and accept the inevitable garage bills (plus insurance / tax / fuel etc)
I'd do this one, making it a £20 or £35 a year duty one (petrol ideally which might make things tricky) and presumably slightly lower insurance due to low annual mileage. Garage bills almost certainly pale into insignificance compared to chunking up lease or low mileage second hand car prices.
But yes, the price of second hand cars now is making Bangernomics feel quite tricky.
