We have an 02 plate focus 1.8TD with 275,000 (serviced every 10K) numerous fleet Renault Traffics regualrly serviced at 250-400K. Regular servicing most cars will get to 200K and beyond. I used to travel to the Netherlands alot and jump into a local taxi companies E220CDI Mercs. THey used to send them to the block at 800-850Km (about 4 years old) and they still drove well just worn seats really.

New cars have their logevity curtailed by manufacturers chasing the fleet market and quoting long service intervals. (Its like someone smoking 30 a day in their 20's will cope better than someone in their 60's still smoking 30 a day). The manufactuers know the cars will last 3 years 50-60K without a lot of bother and aren't bothered if they show their age above 120-130 K as they are out of the dealership network and as likely that owner will not use a main agent for servicing. Manufacturers want to sell new cars and want their cars to last long enough for durability not to affect their depreciation over their first 3 years as this will affect the leasing prices and thus sales but equally well if they are classed as end of life at 9-10 years that suits them fine and keeps the flow of cars coming through.

Environmentally we should hang onto our vehicles a lot longer than we do as the cost of recyling far outweighs the perceived cost savings in fuel between a 15 year old car and a new one of the same type.

A Decent local garage and regualr servcing is the cheapest form of whole life cost ownership for most people

Where we live even in Budapest you will see lots of 15 year old and older cars still going strong. The MOT equivalent is every 2 years which helps and there has never been a scrappage scheme.

You still see Trabants/Wartburgs as well as Ladas and old Skodas in everyday use. Our van is a '96 VW Transporter and still works fine (though could do with a good clean and a replacement gearstick gate!!).

Thanks Trilogy.

Oh yes, i used to be a waxoyl girl but not any more, my heart is now given to BH..:-)

Seriously, waxoyling has to be the filthiest job you can take on, best thing i find it to tip the first batch straight over your head then when the subsequent batches end up there anyway you won't be so annoyed.

Obviously you'll do the job in warmish weather, but BH comes in huge aerosols, 2 types, cavity and underbody, with really long probes for the cavity wax you can get right into the nooks and crannies like the pros do, well nearly as well, no blockages at all.

It goes on great and sticks like the proverbial, it smells quite reasonable and that smell will be gone in a couple of days not the 2 months that waxoyl stinks for.

Those probes are brilliant for getting inside to coat the inner surfaces of the rear subframe mounts, these need treating well inside and out, very difficult repair if they rot out.

The other main spot is the front wings above the front bumper just ahead of the wheels (do outer and inner wings), plus do check behind the clip on plastic panels on the doors/wings, they can vibrate and wear through the paint over time, and check the jacking points even removing the jacking point bungs will give you an idea whats what have a poke about with a screwdriver (no sills as such but the integral chassis is very strong and the jacking points are part of it), and check the brake pipe that goes over the rear subframe, it corrodes under the securing clips, rest of rust points should show themselves once you get the wheels off.

The other problem point are those rubber bungs that fit all round the rear wheel arch, water gets under the existing underseal and does its damage rotting around the holes, you can get to the insides of all these points with the probes.

Without salt a 124 should last a lifetime with care, have been very tempted by those later than usual facelift E500's coming out of Japan.

BH is more expensive that waxoyl, but IMHO it works out about the same cost to treat the car well, due to far less waste and more accurate, and dare i say its actually pleasurable to use.

Cheers for the good luck.

Edited by gordonbennet on 21/01/2015 at 20:18

I did a very thorough job on the Scooby, IIRC the aerosols are 750ml jobbies, but would have to confirm when daylight, think i used about 6 aerosols of cavity wax and maybe 8 of the underbody, think it was around £150 in materials and i do have maybe one or two of each left.

I used a lot on the subframes, and there's far more subframe on a Legacy than a 124 coupe.

Trouble with me is i'm a wholesale type buyer, so if a 20 pack works out much better value even if i only need 10 i'll buy the 20 and use the rest on annual reapplications, my garage is a treasure trove, but when i kick the bucket my lad may not necessarily agree..:-)

Its cheaper to buy in 5 litre packs if you have a compressor and spraying kit, but the aerosols are so convenient as to be owrth the extra.

Funy isn't it, by now on another forum people who have never seen the underside of a car would be posting disparaging remarks about the value or point of doing any of this, nine time out of ten being company and regular new car buyers missing the point completely.

ps...should have added in the previous post, make sure you keep that rear crossover brake pipe treated, its hells own job to replace with the subframe in situ and you really don't want to be dropping that.

Edited by gordonbennet on 21/01/2015 at 20:55

Lovely car that, understated blue with unusual dark blue leather, nice change from the usual black grey or mushroom (mine) leather.

Yes, please do start one or resurrect this thread if you can find it when you do the job, would like to know how you get on.

hmm tomorrow i'll know if i'm going to be doing the same to an Amazon come June time... but first job LPG conversion..:-)

Edited by gordonbennet on 21/01/2015 at 21:35