I hope you find this interesting and can help me understand my own numbers. I currently have 2003 Renault Scenic 1.6v Fidji, I've driven it since new and bought it off a friend at the end of 3 year lease for £3331 (long story to explain here).

Since then I have been keeping a record of maintenance costs (MOTs + Services and parts) and road tax. The results are as follows: Average per month on-the-road cost is £60 (ex purchase price) and Average per month total cost is £106 (inc purchase price). I did not take into account insurance cost (£500 per annum) as this can be affected by other unrelated factors.

The car does about 7200miles per annum. It appears to me that the car is certainly worth keeping with such low maintenance costs and I have happily driven it across Europe couple of times and to Spain and back.

However, would I be better off replacing this older car for a newer one with lower emissions and a lower chance of possible high repair bills around the corner, e.g. replacing air-bags as recommended by Renault at 10 year's intervals?

I've looked at financing a brand new car for the same monthly cost and all I can get is a super mini - not the most suitable car for a family one day (hopefully!).