drive a pre 1980 car full time

valleyoftheunos

Do-more wrote: »

I don't know what the statistics are but the average age of the car fleet must be considerably older here in Sweden compared to Ireland. The same probably goes for many other countries in Europe I've certainly seen lots of older daily drivers on trips to France and Spain.

I'd hazard a guess that the very late introduction of the National car test in Ireland is a major factor. Also despite the historical high cost of cars in Ireland a large portion of the public maintain their cars with a bare minimum of servicing.

Their is no VRT on cars here so in the past they have been considerably cheaper to buy new than in Ireland but there isn't the same turnover of cars here people keep their cars for longer and generally keep them well serviced, also cars retain their value better here.

Another thing that I would say has a big influence is the car tax trap where in Ireland at a certain point in a car's life cycle a years road tax can cost more than the value of the car, that doesn't happen here as car tax is generally pretty cheap and as said before cars retain their value better.

The state of many Irish road surfaces over the last 40 years probably has a major influence as well.

I live just outside a town of approx. 20,000 population and there is an ocean of older cars in daily use. Not all Saabs and Volvos either, off the top of my head I regularly see at least 5 Mk 1 Audi 100's, there are 3 Mk 1 Granada Coupes unrestored and driven daily and a couple of Mk 2 Granada's, loads of Mk 2 Golfs and Jetta's and a few Mk 1 Golfs lots of other stuff as well, here is a photo of a '79 Opel Kadett I was behind on the way to the supermarket today, I see it regularly and he drives it on, I was hardly able to catch up to him to get a snap.



On a quick glance around the supermarket car park there was a Mk 2 Opel Ascona, a Mid 80's Honda Prelude and a slightly newer Accord along with the usual selection of Volvo 240's, 740's and 850's.

Yeah unfortunately the Irish Attitude towards motoring was to buy a cheap car, never service it, not worry too much about the bits that fell off it and just drive it until it would absolutely drive no more. Its for that reason that there is such a dearth of classics or even just well kept old cars here, they were all driven to destruction.

Its an attitude that still prevails today, just earlier this week a colleague was bragging about how he drove his Yaris for 10 years without ever having it serviced until the engine blew up at 250K Miles. He was laughing and saying it owed him nothing, I didn't point out that had he looked after it a little he could probably still be driving it for another 10 years.

aidhan

I have a daily driver 1979 w123 mercedes 200 diesel (converted from petrol with a 190 dsl 2.0 engine) . It covers 15k mls a year and is totally reliable returning up to 44 mpg also running on veg oil at E.1.00 per litre.
I had an audi 80 tdi before this and have no regrets whatsoever

Kenny Logins

aidhan wrote: »

I have a daily driver 1979 w123 mercedes 200 diesel (converted from petrol with a 190 dsl 2.0 engine) . It covers 15k mls a year and is totally reliable returning up to 44 mpg also running on veg oil at E.1.00 per litre.
I had an audi 80 tdi before this and have no regrets whatsoever

I was considering that route myself, have had VWs for years but could go for a W123 now. How easy/hard was the conversion?

dr.fuzzenstein

Kenny Logins wrote: »

I was considering that route myself, have had VWs for years but could go for a W123 now. How easy/hard was the conversion?

No need to most of the time, plenty of diesel ones out there.

Capri

Do-more -

People panicked when the NCT was introduced, the govt. basically said 'your car WILL fail the NCT, now be good little citizens and go down to the bank for a big loan for a new car, and go off and put yourself back into debt'

In my eyes now the NCT is a great thing, for €25 (retest fee IF you fail) they'll tell you more than your local 'Pre NCT' test place ( €50+ ?) will - and all you have to do is fix the offending fail item

Also, Irish people ARE lazy, they prefer to drop thousands by swopping for a newer car rather than pay €100 for NCT plus fix if necessary - I even know a great mechanic who just threw in the towel and bought a newer car rather than face an NCT test that his older model would have flown thru.:mad:

Dades

I'd say it also has a lot do with people not wanting to pay the same in car tax as the value of their car.

Older 80's and 90's cars might be much more common if you weren't forking out huge tax compared with newer models.

SilverBell

Do-more wrote: »

I don't know what the statistics are but the average age of the car fleet must be considerably older here in Sweden compared to Ireland. The same probably goes for many other countries in Europe I've certainly seen lots of older daily drivers on trips to France and Spain.

Very nice Kadett btw.

I notice the same on regular trips to Brittany France. They have loads of old 80's yokes that are collectable in Ireland now. They still keep them on the road, regardless of mileage, its servicing that counts there. The bodies are in good nick. The French are a sensible bunch in general, and dont seem as likely to go out on a limb purchasing new cars when their Renault 25 or 104 still does what its supposed to do. The Spanish and Italians seem to make do with older cars too, but I dont think they are as keen on taking care of them like the French do.
We have a bit of "keepin up with the Jones" in us, having to get a new Mondeo with the updated bumper vinyl, or Astra Plastissimo (us Irish, not generally this forum). The Germans buy new expensive cars, but they can afford them, and they are a nation of car lovers anyway.

All generalised ramblings and observations....sorry.....:D

macplaxton

Capri wrote: »

In my eyes now the NCT is a great thing, for €25 (retest fee IF you fail)

Since 3rd January 2012, a full test is €55.00 and a chargeable retest* €28.00.

*a chargeable retest being a retest that involves going back on the test lane, as opposed to a free retest that involves wandering out to the car park.

dr.fuzzenstein

People here don't sell their cars because there's something wrong with it, but because "the numberplate ran out"
In Germany you don't have the year on the plate, so people don't feel they have to buy a car because the neighbours are laughing and pointiong at your 4 year old car and they have just pre-ordered the new reg for next year, so they get as close to 13 D 1 as possible.
As everyone knows, a new reg Boggo Paddy Spec Yaris is ALWAYS better than a 10 year old 5 series Beemer with all the toys.:rolleyes:

Sam Russell

The NCT rules are not supported by their statistics.

28% of 4 year old cars failed the NCT in 2011. No 2 year old cars were tested but how many would fail? Tyres, lights, brakes - all are serviced/changed within 4 years for most cars. For all cars, 49% fail.

A 10 year old car has to be tested every year, but a test is not available 'on demand' and an appointment could take 4 to 12 weeks. The first test was 8 weeks away, and the car failed on an iol leak. I was offered a retest with just one time available to me. The tester passed the car, saying it looked as though the oil had just been wiped off. I was charged the retest fee so he could have a look. [The oil had been spilled bringing the level up to the mark - there was no oil leak].

The certificate only lasts until the next test due date, even if that is only 4 months away. There should be a minimum validity for the NCT of 12 months.

If you wish to sell a car, you cannot get a NCT for it that will last longer than the current one, unless you are with 3 months of the end of the cert.

Road tax for cars over ten years should be reduced to compensate for the extra testing. Old cars do not go very far, in general. Most do less the 5,000 miles per year, and some a lot less than that. What proportion of cars that you actually see on the road are older than 10 years?