I wonder if any backroomers would like to comment on a car cahange that I am considering.I owm a 13month old Honda Jazz with 20,000 miles.I mailnly use it for motorway commuting(120 miles twice a week).My father in law has a Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Club 2001(y) on a motability plan with one year to run.At the moment the Astra has just 4000 miles on it.
Would it be sensible to arrage to buy the Astra from Motability and sell the Jazz privetely.Obviously their price would have to be good.On the Jazz I would have 1500 left on finance in a year.
Thanks a lot
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The idea being to switch between the two cars and pay off the finance?
Personally, no way in hell would I do that over a mere £1500. The Jazz does less than 20k a year so will have a full 3 year warranty, holds its value well, has a good image and is a Honda so is virtually unburstable. Although smaller than the Astra, it is much more cleverly packaged while being faster and more economical.
Meanwhile the Astra is an ultra low mileage car with no image and lots of potential problems related to the lack of use - every one of those cold miles is equivalent to 5 on the motorway when warm. In a year it will be out of warranty and it is likely to be less reliable than the Honda despite its lower mileage.
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Thanks for your comments.Just to clarify,this is a deal I am looking at for May 2004.The Jazz would have done 40,000 by then while the Astra will have done about 6,000,mostly on what I have heard called the "district nurse run "i.e lot of short town runs.
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Thanks for your comments.Just to clarify,this is a deal I am looking at for May 2004.The Jazz would have done 40,000 by then while the Astra will have done about 6,000,mostly on what I have heard called the "district nurse run "i.e lot of short town runs.
DON'T DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Clariman,specifically why do you think I should not consider this deal.I've not made up my mind either way and your comments are appreciated.
Thanks
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I'd swap only if you need the extra space or you don't like the Jazz. Because of the infrequent use, the Astra is likely to suffer premature failure of the exhaust catalyst, as it's never been used at its proper operating temperature for very long.
Andy
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Given the packaging of the Astra, there's probably not really any extra space.
It's not just the exhaust catalyst that you need to be worried about. It's probably never had the opportunity to get a good Italian tune up, never bedded in across the rev range, and is a candidate for premature clutch wear. It may also not take the strain on components that wear over time once subjected to more expensive 20k a year usage as well as a normal 3 month old car with the same mileage.
Many Motability cars are not serviced so it may even be running around on 2-year-old oil 'because it hasn't done the mileage' - which means the oil isn't protecting the engine nearly as well as it should.
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You've had the Jazz from new and it's one of the most reliable cars in the world. If you stick with it and observe the service intervals it should give you 10+ years honourable service at 20k a year.
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