Neighbour has a similar aged 1.4 Ghia which he has had from new. He spends money on it, including new wheels the other year as corrosion had set in and tyres were going flat, because he knows it and it has been ultra reliable.

As above, it seems a lot when compared to vehicle value, but over almost 20 years its small beer compared to the costs of changing it. As long as the body is solid it will keep you going.

Flawed logic to compare the repair cost to the cars value. How much would it cost you to buy another reliable car? You’d need £5/6k upwards or you’re just replacing one old car with another that might need £1,000 spent at the next Mot anyway. Stick with what you have, they’re generally robust things and parts are cheap. It’s just been a costly year for it.

Indeed, especially when the events of the last 5 years have made buying a supermini in particular ridiculously expensive, especially older petrol ones. I've seen many 10yo cars going for literally just half the original RRP.

My dad px'ed his similar car (and in far better condition - no real issues to speak of) a couple of years ago for £1200 in order to buy a 70 plate Fiesta 1.0T Titanium 125PS for (cost to change) of about £14.5k. Given he probably has 5 years of driving left in him, and the latter has the 'belt in oil' engine, I don't think that was a wise decision.

This time last year I spent ~£1700 on my (then) 18yo Mazda3 1.6 petrol to replace its exhaust manifold and broken lambda sensor (it would've cost just £180 or so had the sensor been able to be removed without stripping the threads from the manifold), plus I had it serviced and MOTed, total cost about £2100. The car was and is still worth around £300.

Given what my dad paid to replace his (newer) car, and mine being fine otherwise, I decided to pay the £1700 rather than risk an MOT failure on exhaust emissions, as it was far cheaper than spending many £0000s (maybe over £10k) on a replacement, and especially a car I might not know its entire usage and maintenance history (unlike mine, owned from new).

Back then, a local Ford dealership had a PXed 17 plate Mazda3 2L (roughly the equivalent to my car in spec, MOT history fine, FSH and about 45,000 miles) for £8.5k, which actually was a decent price compared to what else I had looked at (most were £1k - £2k more). That was still 4x what I paid to keep my car going. Needless to say it passed this year's MOT with flying colours, not even an advisory. £6.4k saved.

As you say, it's always a risk buying a second hand car to replace one you know that could be back in decent road-going condition for a relatively small amount compare to buying a replacement car.

Not so bad if you already intended to replace it and with a new or nearly new car still under manufacturer's warranty, where you intend to keep the replacement for a long time and money isn't much of an issue. Otherwise, I agree that sticking with what you know is probably the best bet. Compared to what I paid out to fix/service/MOT my car, £1115 is actually quite a snip, as long as the work carried out is done properly.

Thank you everyone for chiming in with your stern but fair thoughts. Usually, whenever advice is sought on anything, opinions tend to be divided - but I think in this case, we seem to have a general consensus: Keep the car! I'm happy with this outcome as I have had no major problems with the car over the past 6 years of daily use. Obviously this year a number of fixes were needed. A combination of the new starter motor, engine bracket, new spring + 2 new tyres pushed the cost up and so the final figure is a bit skewed in that regard. Overall, the bodywork is sound - no rust or loose panels. With the new starter motor in place, the Duratec engine now fires up in a heartbeat (you can hardly hear it crank anymore - it just comes to life the moment you turn the ignition). I had the drive belt & water pump replaced 3 years ago when it was on 89K miles. So there is good reason to keep the car running for at least another 12 months - and possibly another year after that. Sensible thing to do.

Likewise I would keep the car but as mentioned earlier in the thread, it will probably be rust that kills it. Keep an eye on the sills and subframes. A neighbour a few doors away has been told at the recent MOT that her 06 model will need welding on both sills next year. I would get a hose and old car brush and hose along the underneath as far as you can reach and in the wheel arch lips to get any mud and salt off.