Cars – ownership vs. hire

Far too much hassle.

you seem to have a lot of hassle for sure

As I said above, my wife’s car has been in the garage 3 times in the last 3 years for service and MOT

Cynical – all the small things people forget but that add up Tyres, washing it, screen wash, repairs, oil top ups etc etc

Hmmm about £60 over 5 years then…

Depends where you’re coming from and where you see car use fitting into your life. If you’re used to doing your shopping by car or just sticking the bike in the back if it’s a nice evening then hire is unlikely to be for you, although car clubs might fit the bill. If you only really need it for weekend trips away then hiring has got to be pretty attractive- always a nice new car, no surprises, no ongoing bills. The only downside is you can’t be as spontaneous.

Cost is a hard one, as mentioned people are often pretty selective about what they include in the running/ownership costs. Against that it does seem a bit more expensive when you’re spending a certain amount directly on hire, whereas everday ownership just seems to largely disappear.

I libe in town and I’m frankly quite surprised by how many people I know who buy cars just to have them sitting there on their driveway costing them money most of the time. It just depends on how much you want to pay for the convenience of having it there when you want it.

2,000-3,000 miles a year?!?

I do that a month!! I still have no idea what the best solution for me will be, I actually *need* a 4wd aswell 🙁

2,000-3,000 miles a year?!?

I do that a month!! I still have no idea what the best solution for me will be, I actually *need* a 4wd aswell

At those sort of miles, I’d buy
something nearly new that has a big warranty Kia/Hyundai etc.

you seem to have a lot of hassle for sure

As I said above, my wife’s car has been in the garage 3 times in the last 3 years for service and MOT

Me? Never had a breakdown or even a component failure, even when running bangers.. touch wood!

The moan on the other thread was about a regular service cost!

No way I’d run two cars if we were only using one of them sporadically. Far too much hassle

I do, it’s no problem at all. Other car fires up straight away with no faults every time. The extra £1000 a year in fixed costs is pretty harsh but I love driving it so it’s worth it to me – I rarely drink, smoke or do anything else like that so I consider it my vice 🙂

Had my 3rd component failure in 50K miles/3 years on the 306 the other day – spring snapped a half a coil off – £25 repair. Previous ones were crank pulley £32 and track rod end £9.99. Pricey, these cars!

No choice but to own a car as i am a community nurse and my contract stipulates it.

Hence the fixed costs are there whether I use the car privately or not; so I only pay for petrol and additional wear/tear. To leave it at home and use public transport would be silly as, for the four of us, it would cost a fortune.

I do, it’s no problem at all. Other car fires up straight away with no faults every time. The extra £1000 a year in fixed costs is pretty harsh but I love driving it so it’s worth it to me – I rarely drink, smoke or do anything else like that so I consider it my vice

sounds nice – my “other car” (similar situation) is a corolla 🙄 not quite a thrilling driving sensation.

Coffeeking alluded to another factor – if you can repair the car yourself that’ll reduce costs significantly. If not even cheap parts will cost you plenty in labour charges.

two cars here too … a beater 4wd for winter because i got **** off walking 2 miles in from the road with crampons 4 or 5 times after shopping and carrying coal bags in 2 or 3 times a week on a sledge …..

fix that my self and use it for short essential journeys in winter – and to go skiing 😉 – sits on the drive the rest of the year really but for the 4 months this year where i needed it it was a life saver.

my main car goes to a garage that i trust and all my family use – if it needs something it gets it and it tends to keep my cars reliable ! -0 still things like ECUs do die – as happened on my old car -nothings gonna get you rollin then!

molgrips – Member
No way I’d run two cars if we were only using one of them sporadically. Far too much hassle.

Agreed, I’ve got 3 and it’s a pain.

Coffeeking alluded to another factor – if you can be bothered to repair the car yourself that’ll reduce costs significantly

if you can repair the car yourself that’ll reduce costs significantly

Don’t just repair them – improve them, with great dods of carbon fibre 🙂

europcar right near my house, cool
Astra for a day £47.50 not bad
Astra for a day but collect before 8am £95.50 NOT cool.

Actually scratch that just double checked, pick up 5pm night before instead of before 8am and cost is still £47.50 if you give a weeks notice, hmm

try enterprise – usually much cheaper than that

good shout TJ, <£30 and there’s one almost as close as europcar

Coffeeking alluded to another factor – if you can be bothered to repair the car yourself that’ll reduce costs significantly

I think it also requires tools, knowledge and time. Rather than just effort. All those things have to be factored in. Also, is it just me or do these things ALWAYS take longer than expected. Never fails to amaze me, usually goes like this:

“Of course mate, that’ll be easy. Just whip those two bits out, replace it, bang them back in, all sorted in about half an hour.”

3 hours later…

“If I can Just. Get This. Bolt Off GNNNNNNNNNARRRGGGG……. Right, here’s what we’ll do……..”

6 hours later….

“**** it, lets take it to the garage”

😆

Donk, Enterprise will pick you up and drop you off IME, I live 5 miles away too 🙂

I think it also requires tools, knowledge and time.

I think that a lot of people are like me, in that the only way my dad and his mates could ever afford a car was to buy cheap ones and fix and maintain them himself with help from mates.
The yearly trip to the MOT station was always fraught with angst

A lot of that knowledge was passed down as I was often roped in to help with stuff like bleeding brakes etc.

6 hours later….

“**** it, lets take it to the garage”

Thats only a plan of action if what you’ve already taken off will go back on. Otherwise you have to gingerly call out a mobile mechanic and explain to them coyly how you borked it all up.

I think it also requires tools, knowledge and time. Rather than just effort.

Certainly, having the tools is of course important, but I have those already for other things. And the knowledge was passed to me by my father and by learning/experience/reading manuals as required. All of this happened when I was a sprog when I found it exciting and interesting to learn and so these days it’s not really any bother at all and I still enjoy the learning process and feeling of accomplishment.

OK, I lied slightly, the spring replacement was only £25 but it did take me 4 hours as no matter how I tried the spring compressors wouldnt shrink the spring enough to get the strut top back on alone, so I spent 3.5 hours trying to find ingenious ways of compressing the spring an extra inch while getting the nut on top. Either action was easy, but seemed to be mutually exclusive for a long time. Still, it made me chuckle and I spent hours in the sun enjoying myself so no harm done!

I do actually love fixing and messing with cars. But it’s so damn difficult in your driveway, when every bolt is seized. And you’ve got to do it on the weekend when you want to be out riding or something. And something else is always slightly wrong or buggered.

When I’m rich one day I’ll have a big workshop and buy some old car just for the pleasure of stripping it down to a shell and restoring it. It will be a diesel Passat I think.