It’s tough at the moment because cheap punts just don’t seem to exist any more and newer models of even cheap cars are so expensive. For 5k though I’d be siding towards something newer that isn’t slowly turning to dust.
6 Vs 1/2 dozen but I’d argue that you’ll almost always save money going older and cheaper.
Buy a £1000 car, and put £4000 in a stocks and shares ISA. I’d bet that on average the shares appreciate faster than the car breaks down. Even if you treated it as bangernomics and binned it at each minor inconvenience you’d be unlucky to have to do that in less than 2-3 years.
Where it get’s dicey is >20 years. At that point even cars that don’t have a reputation for rust will start to rust. Our Fiesta is going on the inside door skin form the inside out, so it’s only a matter of time until it shows through the outer skin.
tbf, I’d class suspension bushes and wheel bearings as consumables.
So would I, just trying to think of everything that wasn’t a stamp in the book job.
OH’s Fiesta which is similar mechanicals has been the same. A handful of minor inconveniences but otherwise it’s done almost 170k, not bad for a 20yr old city hatch.
