Still have a rubbish car aged 29

[jimmy_2k]

what you worried about? I'm 28 and I drive a 9 year old Citroen Xsara that was someone else's trade in that I fixed up. Since i've had it, its had doors opened into it, its been rammed in the car-park TWICE. Full of dents and scratches which are not my fault and had paint thrown over it. My advice, get a 2 grand car with low mileage that's average. Parts will be cheap, insurance reasonable but sadly people will still scratch it.. arrgghh!

[cpjitservices]

I havent passed my test yet, nearly there though. Looking for something like A Mondeo for a car though, spacious, plenty of room in the boot for the pram and shopping, good engines and not too bad to insure for someone my age. Tax is a bit of a git though.

[bushby]

21 no car just a pair of roller skates.

do have a motorbike tho that has a nackered engine

[gmj]

My brother drives an SLK - nice, but it won't drive in bad conditions..TC on, power gets killed, barely moves. TC off, goes sideways. Makes me chuckle

 

He he.....oh yes. It no like the snow and ice thats for sure. Bought mine pretty much on a 'whim' to be honest...the Escort I had was near death and it was hot that week, really warm (about 3 years ago). spotted it, 1 owner from new 22k on the clock and thought "Hey, its hot and summer! Always fancied me a convertible....". Got it and then it promptly rained for the rest of the summer.....my mates blamed me.

[sted]

He he.....oh yes. It no like the snow and ice thats for sure. Bought mine pretty much on a 'whim' to be honest...the Escort I had was near death and it was hot that week, really warm (about 3 years ago). spotted it, 1 owner from new 22k on the clock and thought "Hey, its hot and summer! Always fancied me a convertible....". Got it and then it promptly rained for the rest of the summer.....my mates blamed me.

 

you arnt to blame unless you had a bbq as well in which case then all bad weather is your fault

[Gibbo]

New cars can be nothing but hassle. The worry of someone dinging it in the car park, expensive repairs, and so on.

 

Sometimes I think I'd be happier bombing around in a old Pug 205 GTI.

[caffrey]

True, this is the first new car i've owned and in 3 years had two non fault accidents, previous to that with old cars I didn't care about - not one...

I worry about scratching it all the time, in fact when the deal is up i'm going back to older cars!

[twin--turbo]

Sounds like you've got a friday afternoon mondey.

 

Im currently running and 06 plate Mondeo Estate TDCI Titanium X, with just over 92k on it.

 

Its had an exhaust and some tires (3 sets to be exact) in the 2 years and 50,000 miles ive owned it. Spot on.

And the best bit is i have a friend with a Porsche 928 (V8) and he can't keep up on country lanes.

 

It's in the sweet spot for a set of injectors. My garage was chatting with an associate who maintains a fleet of 2.0/2.2 TDCI transits for a customer. Injectors are seen as a service item by them and 85K-100K seems to be the limit on the Delphi Ones. and at £1000 a set it's eye waterign if you have to pay for them..

 

 

On the subject of mileage in general.. Most of my cars have been in the order of 150K-200K on the clock and general ran perfectly when disposed of, disposal was general due to general wear and tear and low value.

 

Production tolerances over the last 30 years have meant that wear on engine components is significantly lower than earlier designs.

 

Rob

[Danp]

Changed cars last week and it reminded me of this topic. I bought another 5 series BMW running lpg, 70p a litre fuel and a much more pleasurable drive to and from work

[CAM]

Anyone still have a cassette player in their car?

[sonofsanta]

Anyone still have a cassette player in their car?

 

My wife does. eBay is great for tapes on the cheap these days.

[superatticman]

All depends on what your priorities are in life. I've always had a nice car since the age of about 18. Am certainly not rich, in fact I'm probably pretty much your 'average worker'. But I don't really drink, don't smoke, don't spend much money on consumer electronics and don't have kids. My dough has generally gone towards having a decent motor and holidays. Have never had anything newer than 6 years old and have generally gone for bigger cars where you get a hell of a lot of car for the money. Currently driving a 1999 3 litre honda accord coupe. 1 owner, bought it with 45k on the clock 2 years ago. £2000. Its fully loaded, leather seats and drives like a dream. Yep, fuel bills are high, but when you are paying little for servicing thanks to good old tough honda parts and paying no interest to the likes of car giant, it works out to be economical motoring in the long run. Edited August 30, 2012 by superatticman

[Zoom7000]

I drive an X Reg Toyota Avensis S 1.6 Manual (2000), 4AFE Engine. I bought it for £2200 back in 2006. It's been through the wars through no fault of my own.

 

Failures:

Gearbox failed (Replaced and clutch replaced - £350)

Driver side electric window mechanism failed (replaced - £50)

 

Vandalism:

I've had a key scratch done twice on the passenger side along the whole length of the car.

I've had the passenger side mirror kicked off (Replaced - £40)

I've had the mirror stolen from the driver side mirror (Partially replaced, but electrics don't work anymore - £10)

Just had my bumper yanked at from the passenger side, cracking the bumper (Fixed - £25)

 

Accidents:

Been hit in the back once. (No damage, told her to get lost!)

Been hit in the side once. (Slight scratch, there was no point claiming because my excess is £500, told her to go home!)

 

I now have 3 kids, so my next car will have to be a 7 seater, but haven't quite worked out how I am gonna afford it yet! When I do get round to working that out, I have 4 priorites:

It has to be an automatic

It has to have air conditioning

It has to be a diesel

It has to have reasonable luggage space for the bi-annual visit to the in laws in Preston.

 

Any ideas?

[markcuk]

I drive an X Reg Toyota Avensis S 1.6 Manual (2000), 4AFE Engine. I bought it for £2200 back in 2006. It's been through the wars through no fault of my own.

 

Failures:

Gearbox failed (Replaced and clutch replaced - £350)

Driver side electric window mechanism failed (replaced - £50)

 

Vandalism:

I've had a key scratch done twice on the passenger side along the whole length of the car.

I've had the passenger side mirror kicked off (Replaced - £40)

I've had the mirror stolen from the driver side mirror (Partially replaced, but electrics don't work anymore - £10)

Just had my bumper yanked at from the passenger side, cracking the bumper (Fixed - £25)

 

Accidents:

Been hit in the back once. (No damage, told her to get lost!)

Been hit in the side once. (Slight scratch, there was no point claiming because my excess is £500, told her to go home!)

 

I now have 3 kids, so my next car will have to be a 7 seater, but haven't quite worked out how I am gonna afford it yet! When I do get round to working that out, I have 4 priorites:

It has to be an automatic

It has to have air conditioning

It has to be a diesel

It has to have reasonable luggage space for the bi-annual visit to the in laws in Preston.

 

Any ideas?

 

Toyota previa/estima get an import with all the extras

[plexer]

Why a 7 seater for 3 kids? An estate would give plenty of room for all the stuff if thay are young.

 

I've got 3 girls and currently have a megane saloon diesel.

 

Ben

[twin--turbo]

Yes I have a tape player in Our Galaxy, but it's never used as there is a six disk in the back.

 

Although we only have 2 kids, having the Galaxy is fantastic being 7 seats.

 

We can take the grandparents out, we can take their freinds on a trip, we can move sofa's, I collected 3 engines in one go ( and not small 1L ones... We can get all 4 bikes in and the 4 of us (just).. Very versatile , just a shame it's not a Diesel.

 

I would get shot of my Mondeo but it owes me near £1500 of repairs in 7 months. But I may be in a position to cut my losses soon. Then it will be back to a Sierra.

 

Rob

[mossj88]

I would get shot of my Mondeo but it owes me near £1500 of repairs in 7 months. But I may be in a position to cut my losses soon. Then it will be back to a Sierra.

 

Did you do any research with the Mondeo, is that a normal maintance bill? I've been thinking about a Mondeo Estate (ST220) as my first "good" car but having read what you've put here not so sure now.

[twin--turbo]

Did you do any research with the Mondeo, is that a normal maintance bill? I've been thinking about a Mondeo Estate (ST220) as my first "good" car but having read what you've put here not so sure now.

 

ST220 will be fine, It's mostly items related to the TDCI engine that have caused me problmes. the 24V V6 is a good engine.

 

My big costs were a Flywheel and clutch £650, 4 Shocks ( as the ride was appaling and still is! needs springs) £400, A tyre got damaged £70, Disks and pads had to be done as a pad broke up , I forget what that cost... It's also had 2 Injectors but fortunatly they were under warranty.

 

 

I only got the TDCI as I thoguht I would be doign big miles, but only done 6K in 8 months. Should have stuck with my previous car.

 

Rob

[Zoom7000]

Why a 7 seater for 3 kids? An estate would give plenty of room for all the stuff if thay are young.

 

I've got 3 girls and currently have a megane saloon diesel.

 

Ben

I'm not planning to change cars until absolutely necessary, so I meant when we have the next child, I will need a 7 seater. Right now the Toyota is sufficient

[twin--turbo]

My Colleague also has a Galaxy, He has no Kids....

 

he does have a 5 person band though and a load of gear

 

Rob

[TheCrust]

T Reg Ford Escort MKII

 

My first car was a '79 T-plater Escort. A 2-door, in various shades of white. Bought it within a week of passing my test at 17 and spent the summer chasing the rot around with an angle grinder and Arc welder. Loved it, wished I'd kept it now (would be worth a mint to the classic rally boys).

 

After that it was mainly all Sierras - pretty much like @twin--turbo - current car is still a Sierra: a 1990 2.0 GLX Sapphire.

 

It's not really cost me anything in the four years I've had it. Sure, tax and test is a given, and service items like oil and filters, but that's about it. I've got no plans to get rid just yet - it's something different / individual on the roads now, and was in a photoshoot published in June's Classic Car Mart along with with a Montego and Cavalier.

 

Mrs C hates it. My kids hate it. It's easily the oldest thing in the carpark at work. Do I care? Not one bit.

[twin--turbo]

My first car was a '79 T-plater Escort. A 2-door, in various shades of white. Bought it within a week of passing my test at 17 and spent the summer chasing the rot around with an angle grinder and Arc welder. Loved it, wished I'd kept it now (would be worth a mint to the classic rally boys).

 

After that it was mainly all Sierras - pretty much like @twin--turbo - current car is still a Sierra: a 1990 2.0 GLX Sapphire.

 

It's not really cost me anything in the four years I've had it. Sure, tax and test is a given, and service items like oil and filters, but that's about it. I've got no plans to get rid just yet - it's something different / individual on the roads now, and was in a photoshoot published in June's Classic Car Mart along with with a Montego and Cavalier.

 

Mrs C hates it. My kids hate it. It's easily the oldest thing in the carpark at work. Do I care? Not one bit.

 

@Crusty ... My Bro has just indicated he may be Buying a YB powered 4 dr in the spring

 

Me: I am possibly hopefully, maybee... Ditching the Mondeo and Buying a 3L V6 jag LOL... I miss my V6 cars ... I may even stretch to the V8.. It just depends on this next month.........

 

Rob

[TheCrust]

So you've not had enough shelling out for injectors on the Mundaneo then that you feel you have to force feed unleaded into the Jaaaaaaaaaag? :-)

 

Mind you, if my numbers ever came up, an XF would def be on the shopping list at some point.

[oalcock]

Owning a house and spending money on your house is more cost effective than a new car! I drive a newish car but nothing Ferrari like, just gets me from A to B, but I know that I should have bought an older one and spent less money (mistake I made), but sometimes an old car is false economy especially when garages are offering such low finance rates. You can get a Peugeot 107 now for £99 a month, but does 65mpg and £20 a year road tax, and group 1 insurance - so I would say the £99 a month outgoing would still be cheaper than the running costs of an older car.

[pcstru]

You can get a Peugeot 107 now for £99 a month, but does 65mpg and £20 a year road tax, and group 1 insurance - so I would say the £99 a month outgoing would still be cheaper than the running costs of an older car.

 

I think you are kidding yourself (or not doing the sums). You would need something particularly unreliable to be spending £1200 a year on running costs (ignoring petrol). And your 107 depreciated in resale value by £1800-2500 as soon as you left the showroom. I think you would struggle to find a (reasonably sensible) older car that would be more expensive to run.