My Panda is now 6.5 years old and done 25,000 but it has lived in the city and during the week gets used around 1-2 hours a day so it is well used despite the low mileage. The front discs are badly pitted so ordered new discs and pads which I will get fitted next week.
Today I decided to have a good look underneath the car, the back box is very badly corroded but not blowing (yet) and one of the rear springs has its paint flaking off exposing rusty metal underneath so the rear springs will need doing at some point in the future.
The rest of the car is very solid, the sills are spotless and the back axle is also still solid although could do with a bit of a paint for protection. The cambelt will also need doing as it is over due (but is a none interference engine) I reckon it needs around £500 spending on it to get it back into tip top condition (new belt, discs, pads, wheel trims, touch up paint, new rear silencer, new rear springs) I don't mind doing it if it means the car will last another 5 years without any trouble, but I don't want to spend the money only to have the alternator or clutch go a few weeks later.
I love my Panda but having had it for 6.5 years is I do sort of fancy a change, but I also love the fact I own the car out right with no worry about credit etc. So spending £500 on it over the next 6 months is fine, a lot cheaper than a new car, but a new Panda or i10 etc is only around £100 a month and that is what is tempting me.
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We all know the sensible thing to do is keep the car you've got. Indeed, if I'd heeded this advice myself over the last 25 years I don't even want to estimate how much better off I'd be. I justify to myself by saying that the money would only have been wasted on something else ;)
So you don't need a new car, but you might want one. If you can afford one and you want it, why not! Though I reckon your Panda will go on for another 6 years at least without costing very much at alll... I assume the £100 a month is with some sort of deposit and/or ballon payment?
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>> We all know the sensible thing to do is keep the car you've got. Indeed,
>> if I'd heeded this advice myself over the last 25 years I don't even want
>> to estimate how much better off I'd be. I justify to myself by saying that
>> the money would only have been wasted on something else ;)
We all know what George Best said, but for those who've forgotten "I spent most of my money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I wasted."
No point buying another Panda yet. Great little cars, but you've got one.
My son's 2005 1.2 Dynamic has had no special treatment and is still working fine after 11 years. All it has ailed is a battery and a semi-seized brake piston that needed freeing up.
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With my head I'd say you'd be wasting money changing the car. Rust on the springs is nothing, all four of mine have been like that since I bought the car three years and 60k ago. I've never never known a back axle rust through either. Discs and pads are an easy DiY job and a look somewhere like Eurocarparts will get you a complete set for around thirty quid. No reason the clutch or alternator should go anytime soon on a low mileage car, unless you abuse a clutch most now last the effective lifetime of the vehicle.
On the other hand, if you just fancy a change for changes sake.....
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I do fancy a change, but I still think the Panda can give me a good few more years service, I kind of love the fact it is now an old car and no longer care about the random scratches that appear on it over night etc.
I will keep an eye on that spring, I have already ordered the brakes, set me back £40 from ECP for a set of Brembos. Not sure what the labour will be but I am guessing it will be less than the price of a cheap night out.
Is just strange going from owning 4 cars within two years, then keeping one for over 6 years!
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Chuck the £100 a month a new one would cost you into a savings account until you're sure you do want to change. Who knows, you might end up with enough, when added to the value of the Panda, to buy a replacement outright :)
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Rattle, you've done plenty of DiY round the house so you are not an idiot when it comes to the tools. There will be plenty of Youtube videos showing you how to do a disc and pad change on your car and it is a straightforward job. The days when I was happy to crawl under a car outside my house have long gone and most jobs are now trusted to a garage, but one that I still tackle myself are brakes. It isn't difficult.
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Put it in for it's next MOT-if it passes or needs cheap work,keep it.I scrapped my last Panda at 176,000 miles-mechanically good but body was falling apart-all the non-galvanized bits.It never failed an MOT tho' it did go thro' three exhaust systems and two starters.
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JC2 are you the same JC2 from the Ford days? Was that Panda a MK3 like mine or a classic?
Robin Reliant it is strange, I am good with a multi meter and have done some electrical work on cars (sensors etc) put not so good with a spanner. I can do basic plumbing like changing taps or building a cistern but never been that good at spanneering. I am good at the diagnostic side just not so good at the tools bit.
I can just about use a torque wrench that is about it, I don't have a drive so that limits what I can DIY, and labour for jobs like brakes is very cheap anyway.
I should really learn do a bit more on the car though.
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How's the business going at the moment, and how do the medium term prospects look? If it's OK to good I'd definitely be changing now. Having had a few moderate gaps in work, I always preferred capital spending when I had a decent income rather than when I didn't!!
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A lot better than it was a few years back, but I am thinking about getting a part time job too just to mix up my CV a bit, the business is over 10 years old now. I am doing a lot better than I was a few years back but but it this way if I was to buy a brand new car it will be an A or B sector car.
I am thinking of keeping the car maybe till is is 8 years old and will still have some (if not a lot) value then change. I could afford a new car easily, I just prefer to spend any spare money on music and holidays.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sat 1 Oct 16 at 17:14
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Sounds like you have already come up with a sensible plan. A new car becomes just "the car" within days. Travel and experiences are what are worth spending money on
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We bought our i10 about the same time as you bought the Panda IIRC. Ours has now done over 50,000 miles, has proved reliable and reasonably cheap to maintain. Had a new clutch a while back (not worn out but had been contaminated with oil from a leak) exhaust is still the original and it looks good underneath, no advisories on recent MOT.
I asked a similar question of Mrs HM a few months ago; since she uses the car most it's really her call, and she said that we might as well keep it till it becomes uneconomical to do so. She likes it, received wisdom from a friend with the newer i10 is that they're not as comfortable, so we'll keep it.
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>> Having had a few moderate
>> gaps in work, I always preferred capital spending when I had a decent income rather
>> than when I didn't!!
I recognise that feeling!
Given the stage of life I am at, I have for many years had enough in the bank to buy a new car, but of course I saved that for times like this (4 years after redundancy from well paid job, 2 years to go to retirement) not for unnecessary self-indulgence on what is inevitably just another used car the week after you buy it.
Nevertheless, I tended to change the car when things looked OK - on the basis that if it all went mammaries up, I'd at least have a decent car! - knowing that logically, it would have been better to have the money (and the choice) to buy one if I needed it but that I would never use it to buy a new car in those circumstances.
Funny thing, yuman nature.
The car is 5-6 years old now but I am unlikely to change it until finances stabilise at at secure level of income I can actually live on.
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I have had or had the use of, lots of cars. Some cost me a lot, some came with jobs, others were bought on a shoestring at times when prudence seemed to be wise.
By and large though, I've enjoyed most of them. I just like cars really. Although I have in the past done it, I wouldn't now spend more than I could easily afford on a car. Any car, provided it's suitable for your lifestyle is fine, and the best ones of all have more or less ignorable costs.
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What he said.
I say keep.
The cheapest car you'll ever own is the one you own now.
I've just been doing the man maths and it don't work. They are a money pit and despite man maths it just does not make sense (for my scenario).
Keep the money for a rainy day for as you get older you'll need it, trust me.
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Keep the Panda. It's still working fine and does what you ask. It's not costing you an additional £100pm. And that I assume is PCP with a balloon payment in the future.
For city driving the Panda as you know is great.
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Crumbs - this is supposed to be a motoring enthusiasts forum, and we're talking a member out of buying a new set of wheels?! This place ain't what it used to be ;-)
Fwiw, I say stick with the current Panda too. My logic being that you don't really do enough miles to warrant the expense. If you were driving 12,000 a year or more up and down the country then it'd be different. Not much point in having a newer shinier car if you're predominantly just crawling around the urban streets where scroats and eejits are more likely to damage it anyway!
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>> JC2 are you the same JC2 from the Ford days? Was that Panda a MK3
>> like mine or a classic?
Been retired now from Ford for 16 years but if you can do basic plumbing,you can certainly do your brakes.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 3 Oct 16 at 01:29
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Your Panda is worth nothing sad but true, you could just keep it and run it to the grave.
At 25k it's nothing if you put another 60k on and it takes you 10 years you will have had your money from it.
My Vectra is 8 years old not worth anything but at 59k miles for a diesel I'm keeping it passed MOT after changing a rear Spring & motoring costs are cheap.
Buy new yes it's nice and fresh but losing money you can spend elsewhere.
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I'll keep this brief. Thank god some say!
BMW 640d saloon. Specced to 76k new. Bought one year later for less than half that with 5k (certified) on the clock. Immaculate. I was only the co-pilot, but what a piece of kit.
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You don't like driving, so what has man maths got to do with it?(!) You seldom take it much above 10mph, so it's basically a shopping basket on wheels; the next one will be the same as the current one.
Why would you want to change a car you like?
The clutch won't go - assuming you drive with a suitable level of sensitivity; it's only done 25k.
And "Only" £100 per month hides the fact that it is £100 per month for 100 months (or whatever).
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Collected the new discs and pads this afternoon, hopefully they will be fitted tomorrow. And have decided just to keep the car unless it starts to become trouble.
I may decide if Brexit gets bad to get out of the UK and not been tied to a massive loan will help that ;D
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We'll all be buying EU passports if it's all going badly ;-) Maybe Bulgaria will offer us a lifeline.
I think you've made a wise choice regarding a new car. You like I know FIAT's can be reliable little runarounds. Yours seems okay for now so stick with it.
Our FIAT has had a few problems in the last couple of years but nothing that a few tens of pounds didn't sort out. I'm ignoring services, MOT, new tyres.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 3 Oct 16 at 19:21
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6.5 yrs old - hope you've changed the tyres in that time as they'll be past their best.
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I blocked out all this EU stuff as I wanted to enjoy the summer but that is for another thread.
Yep the tyres are all very good, the front two were replaced due to tread wear (I replaced them at 2.5mm) the rears were down to about 3.5-4mm but one had a puncture and knowing it was getting onto 6 years old I got them both replaced at the same time as the rubber was starting to look a bit past its best (minor cracking in the side wall not even an MOT issue but the limit is 6 years anyway).
The back box will be the next item on the list, but as it is still secure and not blowing I will leave it until it starts to blow.
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>> 6.5 yrs old - hope you've changed the tyres in that time as they'll be
>> past their best.
For a car that never leaves the traffic of Chorlton cum Hardy? Wouldn't worry about it myself.
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Oi I actually make at as far as Didsbury sometimes!
But in all serious although I do avoid motorways I do use plenty of 40-50mph roads and a blew out at 50mph won't be nice.
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Yes when I said ignored I meant not included in costs. My wife seems to get a puncture on a different tyre every year or so ;-)
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Man maths time - PeterS
