Are people still replacing their cars regularly?

Kashkai

Ok, here's my situation with a bit of history thrown in for good measure............

When I left school in the mid 80's, the only way to get 4 wheels under you was to (a) take the Dad's car (with, or in my case, without his permission) or (b) steal one - not me HONEST:P. When you eventually managed to save a few hundred quid, you could afford to buy what was affectionately known as a banger, i.e. at least 8 - 10 years old with more rust than metal on it, which you subsequently spent another few hundred on repairing the damn thing every few months.

Now fast forward to the 21st century and we all have new(ish) cars that we like to replace every 3 years or so. But then along comes the recession/downturn/end of the world (take your pick) and its time to re-evaluate the car purchasing decisions. Now my car is now 3 years old and normally I'd be looking at changing it, especially as I could now have a large engined turbodiesel for several grand less than a week ago, oh and its "better for the environment too":rolleyes::P:D. However, with 4 kids in tow now, the wife giving up work (as it costs more to put 4 kids in a creche than she earns so down one wage) and mortgage/bills/food etc going up up and away, I have hadto resist the temptation to get the new car. So I'm at the point where if I don't change now, garages will start turning their noses up at a car that will at least be over 4 years old and won't be interested in taking it as a trade in. So in my case, I can see myself returning to the banger days when my car had more miles on it than the starship Enterprise. Will more people start to hold on to what they have now that money is getting scarce or will they keep on replacing their cars at regular intervals?

Kafer

I think garages at the moment do not want newish cars as tradeins thus giving very bad tradein prices for them. I had a similar thread a few days ago about changing my 2 year old car. I have the money there to do it but under the current economic conditions and state of the motor trade I am going to hold off and see how things are looking in 10 - 12 months time.

You seem to be in a different position with loosing one income and increased family living costs. There is nothing wrong with driving a 3 or 5 year old car. Depreciation has leveled off at this stage so holding on another couple of years wont make a huge difference.

S.I.R

buying 8-10 year old cars doesnt automatically mean your driving a banger... increasingly every mechanic i know is getting furious at the shabby build quality of current cars, not that they dont want the work or anything its just that when you fix one error there back the next week with another one, it never ends...

id rather drive a 1990 toyota carina or early primera then the majority of cars 8 years or younger.

quarryman

my car is 11 years old and drives better than ANY car I had before it including a:

2000 Peugeot 306 HDi (6 years old at the time)
1999 Fiat Punto (5 years old at the time)
1999 Ford Focus (6 years old at the time)

I prefer to spend the same amount of money on an older car in very good condition where I can get a higher model rather than a poverty spec newer car.

OP, why do you feel you need to change your car after 3 years? What is wrong with the one you have?

People seem too caught up with the year on their reg plate and moan about their old car with its '03 reg.

Look closely at the cost to change and the depreciation. Cars will depreciate slower as they get older. Buying a new car a changing after 2-3 years will incur the biggest hit on de-valueing.

snowman707

I was talking to a salesman yesterday & he told me '99 to '03 are flying out the door like hot buns , slowest movers at the moment are 05 - 07 . this dealer has over 200 s/h cards on his forecourt & judging by what he asked me for 04 focus he will have them for some time to come.

Ps, just as afterthought , we have 2 cars & a jeep here, their combined value is less than €20k , average mileage is about 150k miles , all 3 are realible & serve their purpose ,

I do not have 07 or 08 plates but also I not have monthly instalments to GE W*********R , went through that cra* years ago, never again.

Cyrus

i change my car every 12 mths if not sooner, have yet to buy one that was less than 5/6 years old

new cars = teh fail

alastair

Replacing a car every 3/4 years is terribly wasteful and usually done for all the wrong reasons. I've two cars - one is a 1989 runabout, the other a 1973 classic for entertainment/hobby purposes. Neither are bangers by any stretch of the imagination and maintainance costs on them are perfectly manageable. Buying an older car (I'm thinking pre-chip here) and looking after it properly for the long term will stop you throwing your cash at marketing people, probably be as kind to the environment as buying a Prius, enable you to stand out from the crowd, and, if you opt for an older diesel, allow the use of bio-diesel (which, in all likelyhood needn't be sourced from food crops for much longer).

The downsides are you won't be able to keep on top of the latest automotive fashions :rolleyes: and crash safety standards aren't so hot once you go back a few years. So... Ehh - just don't crash.

E92

Well it's good to see that dealers are starting to sell cars again. It's not good for the country when dealers can't shift anything.

Having an older fleet may not reduce the country's CO2 emissions, but it is ironically far better for the planet than buying new cars every third year because of all the damage done to the planet when people buy new cars. Plus for those who just have to trade up it also means the cost of changing will fall as there are fewer and fewer newer cars around the place, pushing up demand.

All cars for the past 5-10 years were designed with Euro NCAP in mind, so they're no less safe than something brand new either.

kluivert

I dont understand why people buy new cars every couple of years.

Financially its a waste of money.

I bought my 99 Astra in July 2004 for 6900e with 54k miles on the clock.

It now has 122k miles 4 years later and the loan was paid off last year so all it is costing me petrol tax and insurance. Compared to someone trading in, I am better off by a couple of hundred quid a month based on a person taking out a loan to trade in.

Its not a banger either and it will 10 years come January 2009.

Ok I need to get some work done to it.

Renew the Suspension Bushings 500e
New Tyres 300e
New Exhaust 180e
Change the brake fluid 100e

I service the car myself now as well every 10k miles.

I still reckon its good for another 100k miles although I originally thought it would only last to 150k miles.

I will get a newer car when this one goes bang and only then. GF is trying her best to kill I think lol.

I am an accountant and dont need to keep up with the Jones.

Zube

kluivert wrote: »

I dont understand why people buy new cars every couple of years.

Well, I'm not one to change after 2 or 3 years, but I do like to buy a new car.

[Financially its a waste of money.]

True, but it's my money to spend.

Kashkai

My reason to change the car after 3 years is that I've had to endure snooty car salesmen looking down their noses at my older cars, i.e. 5+ years and making smart arse comments like "I could offer you scrappage for it" when my cars were all looked after and in great condition unlike some of their second hand offerings on their tarted up fore courts. I just know that when a car gets to a certain age, garages don't want to know and then you're pretty much stuck with it.

I've driven cars that were in excess of 10 years old and yes they were actually reliable as hell apart from the rust when I've had the current car back to the garage for electrical problems. I was just wondering if more people will be hanging onto their cars longer now that the country is on the downslope for a while.

Cyrus

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

My reason to change the car after 3 years is that I've had to endure snooty car salesmen looking down their noses at my older cars, i.e. 5+ years and making smart arse comments like "I could offer you scrappage for it" when my cars were all looked after and in great condition unlike some of their second hand offerings on their tarted up fore courts. I just know that when a car gets to a certain age, garages don't want to know and then you're pretty much stuck with it.

I've driven cars that were in excess of 10 years old and yes they were actually reliable as hell apart from the rust when I've had the current car back to the garage for electrical problems. I was just wondering if more people will be hanging onto their cars longer now that the country is on the downslope for a while.

lol, if you change cars so as not to get some lip from a salesman there is something wrong

pburns

kluivert wrote: »

I dont understand why people buy new cars every couple of years.

Financially its a waste of money.

I bought my 99 Astra in July 2004 for 6900e with 54k miles on the clock.

It now has 122k miles 4 years later and the loan was paid off last year so all it is costing me petrol tax and insurance. Compared to someone trading in, I am better off by a couple of hundred quid a month based on a person taking out a loan to trade in.

Its not a banger either and it will 10 years come January 2009.

Ok I need to get some work done to it.

Renew the Suspension Bushings 500e
New Tyres 300e
New Exhaust 180e
Change the brake fluid 100e

I service the car myself now as well every 10k miles.

I still reckon its good for another 100k miles although I originally thought it would only last to 150k miles.

I will get a newer car when this one goes bang and only then. GF is trying her best to kill I think lol.

I am an accountant and dont need to keep up with the Jones.

I get what you're saying, I really do...

But at the end of the day we pass though this world for 60-90 years tops and there is more to life than saving a few quid.

You're at one end of the spectrum. That MarkN guy who changes his BMW/Audi every few months is at the other.

There is a happy medium...:)

fricatus

Cyrus wrote: »

lol, if you change cars so as not to get some lip from a salesman there is something wrong

That's not what he's saying. Holding on to the car for a couple of years more means that instead of handing over the car fairly easily for €10-15k, he has a harder and harder time finding someone to take it as a trade-in, to the point where they're only offering €2k scrappage.

The trade-in is a key component in keeping the cost-to-switch low, and the optimum time to trade in from that side of the bargain may well be 3 years.

Then again, I've never owned a new car. I bought a '99 Mitsubishi Carisma with 50k miles on the clock back in '03 and I still have it now, with 121k miles. It takes me on a 70 mile round trip every working day and owes me nothing... and dare I tempt fate, it's driving better than it ever did.

Unless you've a few bob in the bank to spare; mortgage nice and low, no outstanding credit-card balances or personal loans, no kids about to go to college; the older car route is the way to go.

Cyrus

trade in isnt a key component in keeping the cost of anything low, you get screwed 99% of the time anyway

ednwireland

i had an 88 corolla bought in 1993 which i sold in 2005 and now have a 1998 primera which i bought 3 years ago for 2800 euro does this make me a cheapskate (i've only ever had 3 cars )

snowman707

Basically you have 3 categories

Cat 1. people who like myself cannot afford a new car,

Cat 2. people who can afford a new car.

Cat 3. people who can not afford a new car but buy it any how .

NewApproach

My Aul'lad buys a new car, but keeps it till its scrap (10 years roughly)

Gets a nice car, as he wants, and dosn't have to worry about depreciation.

245

I did a tour of a few car dealers recently as I was changing my car. The one thing that I kept on hearing is that they're seeing a lot more credit refusals than before which is having a major impact on their volumes. That one factor alone is bound to reduce sales. I suspect that there was a significant number of people who were financing their lifestyles by remortgaging to clear credit card and car finance before doing it all over again and that they are now out of the market.

I wouldn't worry about the value of your car - you can always sell it privately at some point in the future and walk into a dealership as a cash buyer. You'll be very happy with the way you're treated then. Most likely though, you'll look at what your car stands you, you'll look at the cost to change and you'll decide that you're very happy with what you have (assuming that its reliable and suited to your needs).

Edited:

If you don't like the attitude of the salesman then don't do business with him - there are some decent ones out there and they're worth dealing with. Why pay to be patronised?

Wertz

quarryman wrote: »

I prefer to spend the same amount of money on an older car in very good condition where I can get a higher model rather than a poverty spec newer car.

Agree 100%

Currently have an 8 yr old nicely equipped car that I paid cash for....no repayment BS, no worries about depreciation; the previous owner of my car got landed with that...now if anything, the value of the car will level off and perhaps even climb a little above what I paid for it (relatively rare sought after car in a high spec), not that I ever see myslef getting rid of it.
So I only have to worry about fuel, tax/insurance and maintenance.
I know someone's got to buy them but I can't for the life of me fathom why anyone would buy brand new, especially those that need to borrow heavily to do so...

dr.bollocko

Just bought me a nice 02 astra from a dealer in Limerick for 4200 with a warranty and all.

I think I would have to pull in a ridiculous amount of cake to even begin to consider buying a new new car. I just dont see the point. Certain models of cars from prev. eras just call out to you.

Like old Subaru impreza vs. new Subaru Impreza.
Old one, Only car that could ever pull off gold alloys from the 90s.
New one...
Hatchback.

Wertz

dr.bollocko wrote: »

J
Like old Subaru impreza vs. new Subaru Impreza.
Old one, Only car that could ever pull off gold alloys from the 90s.
New one...
Hatchback.

Yeah seriously...what the hell is up with the new Impreza? Saw one in the WRC the other night and was full sure it was a focus unntil the commentary put me right.

The 08 update of my current car isn't as nice as the old shape I have (IMO) and for the same spec ends up costing about 8-9 times the price I paid AND has higher road tax. Oh wait, it does have that all important big money feature...the recent numberplate :rolleyes: