My father has admitted that his Mondy (2002, 1.8) is too big and expensive to run for his infrequent use (he has a company van and only uses the Mondy to drive my mother to the supermarket, and to take my grandmother shopping). With the road tax exceeding 200quid, he wants something 'more reasonable to tax, run and insure'.
He has to take my grandmother's wheelchair out occasionally, and has recently got a dog... and is now trying to tell me that he's thinking of a 1.4 "Fiesta or Focus" (as you can tell, he seems to stick with what he knows).
My immediate thought was 'Jazz'. He's not sold on the idea, though... (nor is my Mother, who despite not driving seems to think that Japanese cars are 'expensive to maintain')
Mind you, this is the gent who once decided he was buying a Fusion, until he sat in the thing. He's 6ft3 and not small, so he needs a car with enough space to fit him and everything else in.
Plus it must, apparently, "not cost more than 100quid, or thereabouts" to tax, must be cheap to insure and service.
I offered him my 2004 Almera, which he half-considered, but apart from that, what else would you suggest; style really does not matter (!)
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Skoda ! It is the new Mondeo. dunno if a Roomsters in his budget though.
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The only Skoda he wants is the Fabia VRS - he doesn't drive more than 4000 miles a year!
Should've said that his purchasing budget is 5-6k...
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Should've said that his purchasing budget is 5-6k...
At that sort of budget, his best bet (economics wise) is to stick with his current Mondeo.
Your Dad needs to do his sums carefully to add up what he is gaining/losing, at what overall cost, and he may then understand that his plan could lead to being "penny wise, pound foolish".
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Unfortunately you can't persuade him any other way.... the way both of my parents view car ownership is that it's the day-to-day costs that are expensive and not the overall cost over ownership.
The way dad sees it is that it's expensive to fill up (but what car isn't?), expensive to tax (if I hear my mother grumbling about it one more time I'll send her out to get driving lessons and see if she can do better), and expensive to insure. They're the only costs they seem to take into consideration.
Oh, and don't get me started on the 'cost of tyres'. We live in Milton Keynes, where shoulder wear is quite common for those who can't negotiate some of our dear little circular points.
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Citroen Berlingo? Renault Kangoo? Fiat Doblo?
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Skoda Octavia is the logical choice, however once he's offered £800 in part ex on the Mondy then he should realize that its not cost effective to change to a "cheaper" car.
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If he only does 4000 miles a year I cannot see how anything is going to be noticeably cheaper for him to run.
With this low mileage, fuel costs are negliable anyway and any difference in MPG will be, in monetary terms, very small, especially as a 1.6 Focus or suchlike isn't THAT much more economical.
Insurance wise, I'm guessing he's not that young, therefore even insuring a Ferrari isn't going to cost him more than a few hundred a year so again, I doubt there is much if any saving to be had with a smaller car.
Infact the only real saving will be road tax and again, £100 a year, tops.
Plus he needs to shell out to BUY the new car - this will eat into and probably exceed any savings he makes. A new car may also bring with it new problems.
Keep the Mondeo. Doing a mileage like this means that Motoring is, fundamentally, very cheap. The fact I only do 5k a year is probably why I don't find running a 530i that much of a hardship, even whilst at Uni. It only costs me 20 quid a month or so more in petrol than my old Mondeo and the tyres I fitted last August still look new..
Edited by MichaelR on 02/06/2008 at 03:01
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With a Dog or wheelchair - will need a small estate or 300+ litres of Boot space.
Fiesta and other size cars will mean constant folder down of back seats.
Since low miles per year , road tax, insurance and servicing costs are the main cost.
However any newer car will mean digging into savings- if you need a loan, not worth it as will be an additional cost.
The only cars that are £100 or less to tax will be 1.4 diesels or small petrols. the only one with enough space will be things like Fabia estates, or Kangoos or eqv. They will cost maybe £5000+ for a recent second hand one which is more than the Part ex value of the Mondeo.
The extra cost to change of the newer car will have to be balanced with cost of running current car. My advice would be to stay with the Mondeo until it starts to cost more for repairs as it gets older and parts fail, then think of changing.
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>>With a Dog or wheelchair - will need a small estate or 300+ litres of Boot space
Having a dog doesn't necessarily mean dog in boot, unless the OP's dad is very prissy about keeping his car immaculate.
My dog keeps a duvet in the back seat to of the car, which is more comfortable for him to sit on that the unadorned seat, and it also keeps muddy paws off the seat. He has a safety harness which attaches to the seatbelt, so is he quite safe.
It all works rather well: luggage stays locked away in the boot, out of sight, and dog can talk to his driver and admire the view.
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NW - you are right in one sense, dogs can be kept on back seat with a harness, but there are some minor issues.
The Dog may feel restricted in the harness or get tangled up in it.
How do you stop him falling into the footwell unless harness is very short.
It is easier to wipe down the back of an estate than wash a muddy doggy duvet.
From experience some dog owners don't like a warm slobbering dog tongue at the back of their neck when driving.
But you are right, it is possible to have a dog on the back seat safely. But I feel it is better to have the dog in the estate load area and have bars fitted across the gap for short journeys where you are not taking luggage.
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Dad's a 'dog in the boot' man; he does only have a lurcher but he's still not allowed actually 'in' the car.
I have put the suggestions to him here; including the "keep it" option... and I'm shocked; for once I think he's going to listen to me (you)... for the time being he's sticking with the Mondy as he's realised that the alternatives are (to him) quite abhorrent (he loathes French cars and 'postman Pat vans').
I thank you for your input; the only thing he has actually swung towards (if he decides to change) is a Jazz. I give up... who was it who said that parents are always right?
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I give up... who was it who said that parents are always right?
Parents.
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And they were quite right too, or so I realised when I had been one for a while...
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for once I think he's going to listen to me
Well done! But beware that you may be now be entering a new phase of family drama, in which the tables turn. Instead of your parents reproaching you for your folly in not following their sage advice, they can now reproach you for the unforeseen consequences of the advice which you have given them.
I hope that your family is one of those where you can all laugh about it together :)
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