I'm no economist or accountant, and I'm struggling with this dilemma...
If you are a high-mileage driver, is it better to spend more on a "better" car (bigger engine, more comfort, maybe better safety, maybe increased reliability,...etc) and swallow the inevitable higher running costs that go with a bigger/better car, but hey you spend a lot of time behind the wheel so may as well be comfy,... or
... buy something cheap or from a cheaper brand, run it in to the ground, and get away with cheaper maintenance/servicing until it's a semi-worthless clapped-out rattletrap?
I'm not talking about Bangernomics. Reason is I'm racking up the kms in a 12-grand Kia because I don't want the higher running costs of piling the kms on to a somewhat unsuitable 25-grand Beamer. I think what I really want is something in the middle of the two?!
To make matters more irritating, it now transpires that the BM now sits unused for days on end... What a waste!
Hump - didn't you turn down a fancy BMW to "make do" with a perfectly good Nissan instead? Ever regret the missing added power or comfort or feel-good factor that the BMW might habe brought you when you're on the M1 at 7am?!
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Not really. I've been lucky enough to own, or have the use of, a wide spectrum of cars from the utilitarian to the more indulgent. I seem to have gone past the stage of "wearing" my car and now look to what it can do for me on a practical level while retaining a modicum of comfort.
In recent years, while providing my own car, a well equipped Mondeo did me just fine, and as a company car a relatively low "bik" Nissan combined with a degree of cosseting is my main priority.
Not spending unnecessary chunks of money is a feel good factor in its own right. As for neighbours / peers opinions, I don't seem to have been very bothered about that sort of thing for quite some years now.
Don't get me wrong, I still adore good cars and am fortunate in that I still get the chance to drive some reasonably posh stuff from tiime to time but it's just not so important to me to have something like that on the drive permanently anymore.
Different priorities now.
As for power, it may be different in NZ but in the traffic infested part of Britain where I spend most of my time it wouldn't really make a great deal of difference other than to fuel consumption !
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For a "straw poll" it's actually quite interesting what the sales guys I manage choose to drive. They get a generous car allowance but run their own vehicles. Their needs are reasonably specific in that they need a lot of loadspace and averagely will cover 35k miles a year. They are all in the fashion business and some of the younger ones in particular are very trendy in their clothes choices. However, when it comes to cars they seem to take a pragmatic view.
A good number of them run either Mondeo or Vectra estates. One has a Navara with a roof thing over the loadbay. ( It has been fairly unreliable actually ). Another has an A6 Avant 2.0 diesel and another has an Astra van. The more office based ones and the girls seem to favour diesel Golfs for some reason despite them being a bit small for the job.
Point being, there are very few, if any, truly indulgent cars in that particular sample of people who do actually use their cars a lot and are in an environment which might be seen as image concious at some levels.
It might be a generation thing. When I was young your car was of of paramount importance. It just doesn't seem to be as much of a priority to the younger ones. They're almost certainly right but it's possibly a bit of a shame !
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Nick, I think the solution to your problem is to look at what the taxi fleets and commercial drivers in your area are running. They've already had to figure out what cars pay off for the kind of use you're thinking of.
Here in Ireland, the most common taxis are the Toyota Avensis - often second-hand petrols, or the Skoda Octavia, typically 1.9 diesels bought new, or second-hand 1.4 petrols. These have a good reputation for rlow running costs and fuel consumption.
'Sales rep' cars are most often Mondeo/Avensis/Passat sized 1.6 diesels, for lower purchase and road taxes. Here, VAT on diesel can be reclaimed by business users too.
If you recknon on any properly maintained Mondeo giving 8 years or 250,000 miles of reliable service (which is probably conservative!), whether you buy new, nearly new or older will depend on the local market. Again, here in Ireland, used prices are strong, but maintenance can be patchy, so buying nearly new or ex-demo and running the car to the scrapyard is the most cost effective approach for high-mileage use.
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I think the problem here is the phrase 'piling on the kilometres'. I'd argue that spending a lot of time in a car I'd precisely why it does make sense to pay extra for a good one. Far more of a waste to pay 30k for something to polish on the (block paved) drive or show off at the golf club, but seldom actually use.
Nick's wish for an in-between solution is at the root of my enthusiasm for Volvo and (less so recently) Saab, in that they make cars that are (I think) significantly nicer, by virtue of their interior design, to spend long periods in than their counterparts from, say Vauxhall or Toyota, even if the underlying engineering is not radically different. On the other hand, they have far less of the Look At Me associations of, say, a Mercedes. Volvo owners do not say "I'm taking the Volvo down to the coast today." We have no equivalent term to 'Jag' or 'Beemer', and would cringe at the idea of one.
But it's not really about brands, it's more to do with value for money. A BMW 5 used daily for six years and 100,000 miles (sorry, 160,000 km) looks to me like money well spent in terms of pleasure of ownership and use. Left on the drive for the same time, it might retain more value but will have cost its owner far more per unit of use. Conversely, travelling 20,000 miles a year - about 500 hours in the car - in a Fiesta or a Hyundai is a bit hair shirt and ringing ears for my liking.
I don't own a dinner suit because £600 seems too much to tie up in something I might use once a year. It's another area where I'd rather spend my money on the things I get most use out of, which is why piling kilometres on a car is about the best thing you could do to it.
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You pay your money and take your choice.!!
My mate buys old bangers the renualt Espace diesel with 100k on and 8 yrs old and will drive this to the ground.
Me i want 8yrs out of one buy it at 18 months and look after it but use it as it's a tool its not your child.!
Then there's my other mate with a mercedes c180 gets shut just before there 3yrs and buys another always on finance and less than 30k on clock seems a waste.
Everybody is different weight up want you want to spend the size you want how many miles you do and take it from there.
Biggest waste of money seems to be in new cars.
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The ideal amount is the smallest outlay to get exactly what you want.
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the conventional wisdom seems be be buy very cheap at less the 1k or buy new.
there does seems to be some good sense in that.
my neighbors bought a 2k fiat last year and dont seem to have a lot of spare income and its been nothing but trouble and in a yr they have had it running for less than 10weeks as they save up for more repiars.
in the meantime they have beed using my old merc 190 and they love it but i wont sell it to them as i adore the car and they will skimp on services.
it appears after a long search that stunorthants29 has found a very good car for little money that meets his needs perfectly
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>>it appears after a long search that stunorthants29 has found a very good car for little money that meets his needs perfectly<<
Ask me in a year ;-) But yes, on paper, could well be.
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At least 30K for a nice Jaguar XF
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I really want people to spend lots on a new car, even more in maintaining it very carefully and then lose interest after 6 years and sell it cheaply to me...
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I think Mr. de Beest has summed up my mindset perfectly!
The KIA is proving to be such a bargain that it's making the Beamer look like a real waste of money just sitting there, so.....
...SWMBO has agreed to try and flog it privately in the new year. We'll bank (most of**) the proceeds and just try running 1 car for 6-12 months.
**Part 2 of my plan is then to spend a small-ish sum trading-in the KIA for something a little "better" all-round, eg an ex-demo Golf. My thinking is that a 15-16 grand nearly new car will be a bit more pleasant all-round than a 12 grand KIA, or am I wasting money doing this...??!!!
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What is the ideal amount to spend on a car... - Runfer D'Hills
