Cars (aaaaargh!) – dilemma!…

So a month ago having gone through the ‘shall we keep the old Skoda, shall we get rid’ – we decided to stick with it.

In the last two weeks a spring has gone (£100), battery has gone (£80), and now the rear boot won’t open. The door locks have been going for a while and will now only open from the passenger door! Its only a matter of time before that fails. And I really don’t want to spend cash on non-mechanical things.

So do I still keep a 15yr old diesel Octavia (102,000 on clock) or swap it!!?

Bearing in mind I’ve only got £1500 tops to chuck at another car!

Are old Zafiras any good (51 to 53 plate). Seen a 51 plate with 76k on the clock and full history.

Keep the skoda, Zafira engines and gearboxes are weak,

Spring and battery are wear items so replace them.

Have a look at Briskoda for a fix to the locks, if its otherwise running fine at “only” 102k miles, keep it rather than buy another car with an unknown history.

102k is quite low mileage fix the locks, my car has 275,000 miles on it at the mo and things don’t work, passenger door doesn’t open from outside, etc etc

So you want to walk into a 13yr old car thinking 100% of it will be working?

As long as the mechanics work – thats key. Things like springs will break. Batteries last circa 4yrs.

How would you feel if you bought into another used car and the samething happened? Do you think a used car dealer could be expected to pay up (no, its on age/price paid).

Don’t leave valuables in it and don’t lock it. No need to fix locks on a 15 yr old car. Who’s going to steal it?

I’d get rid and chuck £1000 at an old 5-series or something and keep £500 for fixing stuff.

I’d get rid of the car and but a 29’er then post on here how awesome its made you, that 5seconds on your local Strava loop 😀

Don’t leave valuables in it and don’t lock it. No need to fix locks on a 15 yr old car. Who’s going to steal it?

Definitely this. If you don’t want to spend cash on non-mechanical things then don’t.

To a tea leaf, the car has no value and (if empty) contains nothing of value.

Considering the Daddy had a rusting 1.8 automatic Sierra stolen about three years ago, I’m not sure I’d be inclined to agree with the above.

a battery cost you 80 quid? and i hope you got two springs…?

I’d get rid and chuck £1000 at an old 5-series or something and keep £500 for fixing stuff.

Sounds like a plan!

How about a X reg 2.5 ltr Subaru legacy auto with full dealer history for 1k! Had a few Subarus and always liked them!

sbob a Sierra would be valuable for its parts for the ‘classic’ Ford market though.

How about a X reg 2.5 ltr Subaru legacy auto with full dealer history for 1k! Had a few Subarus and always liked them!

I like your thinking. If that went pop (on anything) you might be looking at its purchase price in repairs. Have a look at the Bangernomics thread. That may help, but if the gearbox and engine are good you’d be utterly mad to spend £1,500 for what return?

Any car 10yrs+ is firmly in the law of diminishing returns. The law of bangernomics is if a car gives you trouble- be happy to scrap/sell for parts.

hora – Member

sbob a Sierra would be valuable for its parts for the ‘classic’ Ford market though.

Not this one, it was over 20yrs old and **** in every conceivable way.
Besides which, it wasn’t stripped for parts.

get an old Toyota Yaris Verso for under 1500

So do I still keep a 15yr old diesel Octavia (102,000 on clock) or swap it!!?

Of course! Nothing’s really gone wrong with it. Springs and batteries are consumables. If you buy a new car, you might have those things go wrong with it too!

Changing cars is almost always a false economy. Fixing the locks might cost some money, but changing the car will definitely cost a lot more.

Sierra can be stolen with a spoon and provides at least an hour of fantastic tail out rear drive hoolaganism either on the local industrial estate or round the banger track

A diesel octavia has an immobiliser chip and doesn’t.

if you have limited budget for a ‘new’ car, and the one you have is known history, then my conclusion – that I’m working on is this:

new car – second hand, budget of £5k say
unknown history
depreciation – 20% so £1k / annum

so I allocate a £1k budget to keeping our car (1996 Saab 900S, 115k miles, worth SFA) on the road.

OP for abit more I’d sell you my car (07 Xsara Picasso- a good car).

muzz – Member

get an old Toyota Yaris Verso for under 1500
Then you can become a eunuch and it will come with free brown perforated leatherette driving gloves and a tartan rug with a box of tissues on the parcel shelf.

I’ve been wondering what the concerning Rover driver was using these days.

You’ve had to spend £180 on a car and are thinking of spending £1500 on a car that will be exempt from similar issues?

I thought you’d had to spend a couple of grand or somthing when I red your first post.

Considering the Daddy had a rusting 1.8 automatic Sierra stolen about three years ago, I’m not sure I’d be inclined to agree with the above.

When my (at the time) 18 year old Pajero got stolen it was used as a backup getaway car by burglers – they use it to drive to the house and if they manage to get car keys from inside just leave it there. The police at the time said it’s pretty common and the theives actually target old bangers as they’re less likely to have alarms and easier to break into/hotwire.