If our girls were old enough for a car I'd be thinking about something like a Nissan Micra or Citroen ZX D, perhaps around 1994.
But they are only 4 and 6 now so the eldest will perhaps be looking for a car in 12 years time.
If requirements stay broadly the same a 7 year old car then will be one that is not due to be made for another 5 years (2006), if you see what I mean.
Was talking with SWMBO at the weekend as I worked on an "easy maintenance" current 8yr old car and, given the above, she commented "will you/anyone be able to tinker at all with the vehicles that are made in 2006, they're going to be full of electronics and sealed up aren't they".
It got me thinking just what will we be doing for "Uni/first job" motoring then.
Perhaps I'd better look after the old Land Rovers??
David
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your kids will be driving or wanting the new cabrio ka with a mayflower hydrogen engine
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I've hung onto our 1987 Mini for my son to learn to drive in when he's old enough. He's 13 at the moment and it will be an educating experience for him to help me restore the car to its former glory in time for his 17th birthday. I'm hoping that he will appreciate the car for all the work he has put into it rather than have a car just given to him that is then used and abused like so many kids do.
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Good call, Charles!
David, maybe take the cue here - buy some old 1970's cortinas, shove them up on blocks for a few years, and when the kids get to the right age, have them assist in the rebuild!
I'd imagine any 17 yr old of 2001 would be DELIGHTED to have a 1960s classic in top condition, ergo a 2011 teenager would love a 70s ford.
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David
It is difficult to foresee the future precisely, but I?m sure there will continue to be a demand for cheap, basis transport and where there?s demand, the market usually finds some way of servicing it.
Concerning your own occupation, I have worked quite closely with motor traders and independent motor engineers over the last 20 years and there is a trend that I expect to continue. It is becoming difficult to be all things to all people, that will become the preserve of large organizations.
Businesses that want to stay small, will have to become increasingly specialised, covering niche markets. So I expect a growth in small independent specialists and that may help if you're running an older car.
Regards
Paul
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We could dream that there will be an integrated public transport system by then which will make it less essential for them to each have their own car?
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David
The way things are going you will require two ---- a left and a right with toes and heels called shoes.
Invest in a cobblers last.
CDVD?
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My eldest daughter is at Uni and doesn't drive (overwhelming lack of interest), consequently she gets lifts at no cost, uses a subsidised bus service (thank you Nottingham), and has no transport worries. She appears relatively healthy from walking to the bus stops (or are the rosy cheeks makeup disguising a hangover, I wonder). She is also able to organise trips around the country to see friends and go on holiday by using bus and train timetables, a useful skill in itself and something that's probably beyond me.
My point? Unless you are really interested in motoring OR can afford a new car, university/college age is too young to start car ownership.
Unlike Andy Bairsto, I can't see the future that clearly. In fact I quietly despair about the future of transport. Here's my old mantra again, "these are the good old days".
David, some advance planning you are doing here!
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David
An interesting topic that most of us have stumbled into and "knife and forked" our way out of. My wife and I had a personal strategy of owning diesel cars (2 years old) so that I didn't spend every weekend under the bonnet of some heap.
Then my boys got cars - or at least one of them was a car (Astra), the other was a Metro. What did I spend weekends doing? You've guessed.
You're an important part of this impending problem too. Your girls are now 4 and 6 but what will you feel like doing in 12+ years time? Is it too early to get them interested in cars (tinkering with them and fixing them)? You never know, one of them might be cut out for re-building Landie engines!
I suspect there's no easy solution, don't you?
Ian
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> I suspect there's no easy solution, don't you?
I'm completely sure there isn't. If your eldest is 6, then I guess you'll be looking at 10 years from now (ish).
If you consider what the kids of today drive, and compare that with what they drove 10 years ago, then the increase in complexity is horribly frightening.
Now, if it increases like that again over the next 10 years, then I would say that you're stuffed.
You better concentrate on teaching them how to learn loads of dosh, or how to attract rich boyfriends, so that they can pay garages to do it for them.
My sister did an excellent job of learning all she needed to know about cars to service them herself. She then used this knowledge to appropriately select her boyfriends and never got her hands dirty [on the car] again.
As additional insurance I would suggest buying your lottery ticket each week. However, never buy a lottery ticket more than 6 days in advance. If you buy one 7 days or more in advance then statistically speaking you have a slightly higher chance of dying then you do of winning the lottery. I think lottery tickets should carry a health warning about this.
M.
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As far as the stats of winning the UK Lottery are concerned, you are actually more likely to have a heart failure whilst watching the draw than you are of winning it!
Lovely...
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Dan J wrote:
>
> As far as the stats of winning the UK Lottery are concerned,
> you are actually more likely to have a heart failure whilst
> watching the draw than you are of winning it!
Significantly more if you don't do the lottery.
It really is a tax on stupidity!
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> It really is a tax on stupidity!
And the problem with that would be............?
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Mark (Brazil) wrote:
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> > It really is a tax on stupidity!
>
> And the problem with that would be............?
It's costing me a fortune. ;-)
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Do people still do the Football Pools in the UK, or has that gone away now ?
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We do, but the revenue it raises has gone down about 70% since the start of the National Lottery - I am amazed it's still going, the prizes (as a result of aforementioned) are nothing like what they were
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Wasn't it Adam Smith who said that lotteries are a tax on the poor?
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David W wrote:
>
Hmm. Two teenage daughters?
I think that transport is going to be the least of your worries!
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I still have a standing forecast at Littlewoods. It's less bother, they even check your entry.
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Tomo,
Isn't half the fun in actually checking it ?
I used to choose the draws with my Grandfather and then watch the "ticker tape" on Grandstand as the draws came in.......
oh happy days.
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Unfortunately I don't have a SWMBO or kids, that I know of, but if public transport fails to match the needs of the customer then it will never replace the car.
I start work at 07:30 and leave at between 17:00 and 18:00.
I live in the County Town of Somerset and work 15 miles North. There is no public transport that will get me to work on time. If I miss the 17:00 bus I have to wait an hour and get the 18:00.........and so on.
I am on 24 hour call-out. What happens at 03:00?
I lived in London for 4 years and still cannot understand those who sit in their Porsches on the A13 Highway to travel 12 miles in one hour but those of us in the rural provinces - we have no alternative.
DJW - U can't beat a MkII Golf (did u think I would say anything else?) - built like a tank and with mechanics as crude as a WWII tank. Can run on LPG - bonus!
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