Short runs in city main use is going to be hard on any vehicle.

You want to buy in about 3 years a car aprox 3 years old and get a life of up to 20 years out of it, IMHO you'll be very lucky to do so, cars are simply not simple enough to last that long any more, that was the strength of the 90's era which are still giving good service by the thousand and they ain't going to make that mistake again.

If you're good at mechanics, can service your own for long life so every year without fail and gearbox/axle oils every other or third/fourth, then change the odd clutch, change a cambelt, maintain brakes properly (which almost no-one does) , change a rad or heater matrix, fix the odd cylinder head gasket etc etc, then you might squeeze 20 years out of something like an Avensis...but the electric parking brake will probably fail during the period so better brush up on how or who to fix that.

It would help if you have somewhere to park a cheap breaker to raid when the vast majority of your chosen steed are being scrapped, its things like ECU's (and those electric parking brake motors) window winders locks etc that are going to scrap most cars.

Oh and if you do go down this route, the first summer wash the underside thoroughly, wire brush any signs of rust and spend a whole weekend rustproofing it completely including inside all cavities doors sills wheelarches etc, we keep hearing the same cobblers being trotted out that cars don't rust any more, they do but people are too precious now to look underneath (some don't raise the bonnet) and few keep cars long enough for it to be a problem for them....suspension parts in particular, can cost an arm and leg to fix suspension issues because the bolts all rust in solid and can't be undone

If you need mechanics to do all the above then the chances are that the costs to keep from years 10 onwards will be harsh.

I've kept a Merc in superb condition from year 6 and its now 20, i daren't add up how much its cost, somewhere between 3 and 4 thousand in the last couple or three years alone, yes it should last another 20 and may well see us out if we keep it, but i have no illusions how much it will cost to keep it fettled to do so...and no a Merc is the very last car we should have done this with (hewn from granite my foot), should have found a low mileage Lexus 400 or imported a Camry/Crown.

Edited by gordonbennet on 08/05/2016 at 21:23

I would give the Dacia a miss myself, no one HERE has had one long enough to know what the long term ownership prospects are like.