Having exhausted rugby,football and women conversations the pub conversation turned to cars. One of our number is heading toward retirement and last car time. He reckons he's got 10 years of driving left before various bits of him will have fallen off rendering him beyond economic repair. Because of his age spares will also be difficult to come by.
He was wondering if he would be better off buying say a 1 year old average car (Ford, Vauxhall etc) and keeping it 5 years then repeating the exercise again or buying a "quality" car (BMW,Audi etc) and keeping it the full 10 years.
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Buy Japanese and if his ability to hold a licence lasts for 15 years so will the car.
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Ageing parents, in fact father, had the following rationale:- they both wanted their own cars so, mother got a simple Toyota with sun roof, A/C, auto box for her daily run about and father got a used BMW for his enjoyment. 19 years on both run well as the result of excellent servicing, garaging and low mileage but regular use and longish runs. Interestingly, he has only ever driven the BMW himself (excpetion of myself, takes pity on me on my rare returns to blighty plus I get the body polished annually) and mother's car is used by all members of the family on an ad hoc basis - her car suffered damage when he dropped it off to be serviced via a dry stone wall...took us some time to get this fact and I don't think he knows its public knowledge so anyone knocking around north cambs and bumps into 'the colonel' would be requested not to relate this one.
On the other hand, an old friend of mine advised his folks to opt for a sensible approach and buy a new Rover 820....long since consigned to the crusher.
My advice, if its the last car enjoy it you can always buy a cheap run about for local shopping too.
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>>On the other hand, an old friend of mine advised his folks to opt for a sensible approach and buy a new Rover 820....long since consigned to the crusher.
Yeah, but how's the 820 doing ?
Oddly, I'm doing that calculation on myself, and I'm only forty-twelve. I figure that I've got about 15 years to go before I'm fairly codgered (inasmuchas I probably won't have the inclination- or money!? - to indulge or enjoy anything other than A2B fodder) so I'm taking a long-ish view . There might also be a great 'leap forward' in car design or configuration due to ever more constrictions on car emissions, so I'm thinking 'Do I want an expensive fossil fuelled car, or a cheapish durable one to get me to that design watershed?..then maybe get a spanking new-tech battery-hydrogen-whatever jobby...'
There are already signs that the big manufacturers are making great strides in that direction, and that the forthcoming 120g output CO2 per Km (mile?) legislation might be the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended)
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ays he smugly " A Yaris 1.4 diesel does 120g,, already"
madf
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ays he smugly " A Yaris 1.4 diesel does 120g,, already" madf
Or if you need more space there are Megane and C4 diesels that emit 120g as well.
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My dad is 67 and he inherited a 1993 Astra 1600 Auto estate which is now showing 97k.
He worked out it costs him £500 a year plus petrol doing 3000 miles a year. Doing such a low mileage, he doesnt find that its unreliable.
My grandfather originally bought it new as a retirement car so its proven its worth over the last 14 years with no breakdowns and its still in fine fettle.
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>>Oddly, I'm doing that calculation on myself, and I'm only forty-twelve. I figure that I've got about 15 years to go before I'm fairly codgered
So go out and buy the performance car you always wanted before:
a. you're too old to enjoy it
or
b. the powers-that-be legislate fun cars out of existence.
You're a long time in that wooden box and the teeny bit of extra co2 you produce will make no difference to the planet so have a couple of years of fun.
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>>Oddly, I'm doing that calculation on myself, and I'm only forty-twelve. I figure that I've got about 15 years to go before I'm fairly codgered So go out and buy the performance car you always wanted before: >> a. you're too old to enjoy it
have a couple of years of fun.
My thoughts exactly on the matter Nick..
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The main thing is to make sure it's comfortable. There's no point in having a "performance car" if it's excruciating to drive.
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L\'escargot.
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"Do I want an expensive fossil fuelled car, or a cheapish durable one to get me to that design watershed?"
Hi Woodbines, I tend to subscribe to ` The last of an old technology is better than the first of the new`
Regards
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>>so have a couple of years of fun
I can't find the 'fun' column on my spreadsheet when I do the calculations. Or maybe it's
it's a telltale sign of pre-codgeritis? You may well be right though!
cheers
woodbines
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why not go for an all rounder
bit of fun, comfy, roomy, room for others, something that will last, something you feel makes your life a bit more worth while..but won't get totally hammered by the CO2 Stasi
how about .........Jag S type diesel, BMW 530d, Audi A6 diesel, Merc E 270CDi.....or similar
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Not only comfort, you have to be able to get in and out!
Some random thoughts,
2 doors make it difficult in tight bays, altho disabled bays do give you more width!
The height of the Picasso ( for example) make it easy in and out.
The absence of a roof makes getting in and out a dream. Which is why the roof never goes up on my TR7.
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pmh (was peter)
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Go on, you know you want a Legacy Spec B. (Am I turning in to one of those people who recommend a Mondeo TDCi for everything, only with a Legacy instead?)
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2 doors make it difficult in tight bays .........
2 doors also make it more difficult to load/unload all the diy material you buy when you're retired!
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L\'escargot.
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OP, with that sort of mentality your chum won't outlast the car. He - is it a he? - will think himself into an early demise. He really should be more optimistic. Medical advances recently and to come could see years of life left in him.
But to the matter at issue, there is no clear-cut answer. Does your mate want his 'last car' to be enjoyable? Or merely to be reliable, functional transport? Will his heart play any part in the decision-making? In pure economic terms, a good car from a maker with a reputation for reliability and durability should last 10 years, no bother. Whether your mate would want to continue driving it after, say, 5 years is another matter...
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it's got to have:
leather seats...... easier to mop up if your 'bag' spills
rear parking sensors........so you don't have to turn your neck
remote opening petrol cap..........so that arthritic fingers don't have to fiddle with much
electric front seats............easier to adjust to get that position right in front of the airbag
auto.....so you can launch yourself across a car park & provide entertainment to those you haven't already run over
power folding mirrors.........so you can continue to drive down the middle of the road & still keep your mirrors
electric windows.....etc,etc
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As someone who to my knowledge has driven RS2000, 911, M3 he reckons his reflexes now wouldn't really do justice to anything of this ilk. However, the conversation didn't really cover actual models, the query was more of a financial nature. Two mid-quality cars kept for 5 years each or a quality one kept for the full 10 years. Assuming equal mpg and insurance costs, over an estimated 80,000 miles in the ten years which route would work out cheaper?
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Whether cheaper or not, I'd go for two cars kept for five years each. Most of that time will be under warranty so less worries and the new car in five years time may be much more economical if the latest ideas in the press are to be believed. The tax regime may well be biased in favour of hybrids and alternative fuels in a few years too so what passes as an average comsumption car now may be a gas guzzler in five years (from the taxman's point of view).
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Now that does make a lot of sense. Thinking back 10 years we motorists didn't know how well off we were. Shudder to think how heavily taxed we will all be in 10 years time. Bring on the revolution...
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Bring on the revolution...
Apparently the revolution will have siezed! (Crankshaft)
MD
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My father in law is coming up to retirement age and has only ever driven basic spec diesels. His Golf TDI is getting a little tired, and he's talking about a last car to see him through retirement.
We bought him one of those "experience days" for his 60th and he spent a day blatting around an airfield in a Lamborghini Gallardo, and a Subaru Impreza WRX. Although blown away by both cars, he hasn't shut up about the Scooby ever since, reckoning it did 80% of what the Lambo did and was therefore more impressive because of the price difference and the fact it had an element of practicality. When I told him it also came in wagon form which would accommodate all his fishing gear comfortably, and £10k would get him a nice one, he got quite excited and has been caught browsing Autotrader on several occasions, much to mother in law's disgust.
I really hope he does it! Not only so I can borrow it, but just because I know it will keep him young for a few more years and he'll grin like a cheshire cat every time he gets out of it. Naturally, I'm continuing to incur mother in law's wrath by encouraging him at every opportunity. The day I go around there and see it on the drive I will be a very happy man.
Cheers
DP
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Good luck to your FiL, DP. It's great when someone discovers the joys of driving a good car. I'd recommend buying from a Subaru dealer, it'll be a bit dearer but you'll have more piece of mind, though a wagon is much less likely to have been thrashed. Bear in mind that the screen price is usually pretty flexible. Tell him to have a look at the approved car section on www.subaru.co.uk
Have fun!
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He reckons he's got 10 years of driving left before various bits of him will have fallen off ...........
What a pessimist. I'm hoping for (and expecting) more than 10 years beyond compulsory retirement age.
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L\'escargot.
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>> He reckons he's got 10 years of driving left >> before various bits of him will have fallen off ........... What a pessimist. I'm hoping for (and expecting) more than 10 years beyond compulsory retirement age. -- L\'escargot.
M Snail, there is no compulsory retirement age. You can drag your shell to and from work for as long as you or any employer see fit. There is a retirement pension age, at which older folk are entitled to some sort of handout from the state. IIRC, even that can be deferred.
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M Snail, there is no compulsory retirement age.
I apologise for my sloppy wording. To avoid ambiguity I should have said "more than 10 years beyond age 65". Never let it be said that I object to being corrected when I am in the wrong.
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L\'escargot.
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I'm starting to feel better now. Pedantry over.
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