This is one of those questions when the answer ends up being "it depends" but when do you change cars?

I'm one of the types who runs a vehicle into the ground. ie I'm 43 and only on my 5th car...(most of my mates had 5 before they were 18!)

The Multipla has loads of miles and looks pretty rough but mechanically it gets what it needs and even though it's worth nowt I figure £500 on running costs is OK for 20K miles a year. My wife thinks I'm mad so what are everyone else's reasons to change?

The motor industry would like us all to buy a new car every three years.

This keeps us locked in to dealer warranties, dealer servicing, high depreciation, registration snobbery, and borrowed money - so they maximise the amount they can make from us. They can sell our three year old trade-ins for a good profit too. They prey on our lingering fear that an older car will somehow be inherently unreliable.

I would never get rid of a car just because it's reached a certain age or mileage. Pretty much all cars lose half their value every three years, so depreciation is easily the biggest cost on a new(ish) car. Run older cars and you've got a financial 'war chest' to (a) buy something more up-market/interesting than you'd get new for the same money and (b) to maintain it properly. It helps if you're able to do some of the work on it yourself too.

That said, I have bought lots of new cars, and used ones too. My current cars are 4, 12, 17, 35 and 42 years old - two of them bought new. My Stilo Abarth cost me one-tenth of the new price and is pretty-much faultless in every detail. I spent £200 on a registration that obscures its age, so I can turn up at a client and they have no idea it's a 12 year old car! I like that...

Paddynabs: I share your mindset.

My 1st car was a 2001 Daewoo Matiz, bought in 2007. I kept it 2.5 years, and sold it after it became apparent I was likely to have an ongoing battle with bodywork issues, despite its young age.

In 2010, I traded the Matiz in for a 2004 Punto, which I kept until it looked like I was facing a very hefty bill for PAS fault, and that combined with an oil leak lead to...

In 2014, I traded the mk2 in for my beloved 2008 Grande Punto. I have every intention of keeping this car until its 15 years old, and then if it's still in fairly tidy condition, and still running well, I'll possibly keep it longer.

It very much depends on what you want and what you want to pay.

One person will buy a new car every 3 years and that's fine with them, the next person will buy their 3 year old car and be happy with their 'new' car but maybe after 3 - 4 years they will buy another 3 year old car selling their now 6 year old car. Some one else will pick up that 6 year old car thinking they have a bargain, having avoided all the depreciation and be happy with that and accept the slightly higher cost of repairs on the older car.

I know someone who is happy just bought a 170k mile 15 year old car and they are very happy with it, where as I would never buy a car like that.

Basically when you replace your car is really up to you and only you can answer the question of when to replace it

It depends what you want from your car, the OH wants entirely predictable transport at a guaranteed cost. As a result she leases a maintained and insured car, and doesn't care she doesn't own it so that one is every 3 years.

I on the other hand like having my own car and don't mind putting a bit aside for bills. As a result I keep my cars as long as they work without generating bills too regularly. My uno Iasted 9 months and cost over a grand...my 1st mk1 Punto lasted 3.5 years and cost about 2k over that time (I couldn't afford anything newer so put up with it). My second mk1 lasted 1.5 years it cost about 900 quid in mainly elective work then the engine blew and that was that for Fiat. Bought a Suzuki and had that for 7 years and 75k years until my Tarmac terrorist driving style (at the time) started to bite me in the arse (the suspension was ruined and each mot was starting to cost money even at a none franchise dealer, that and I needed something bigger anyway.)

Finally had current car 2.5 years so far, it's 5 and well out of warranty but it's properly built as well so it goes to the (franchise) dealer once a year for its service and mot. It will stay as long as this is the case, yes franchise out of warranty may be a strange choice to some but it never costs anything between services so I don't mind keeping the main agent history rolling.

Basically as long as it works and I'm not in the garage so often they refer to me as Mr Punto...it's all good

Paddynabs said:

This is one of those questions when the answer ends up being "it depends" but when do you change cars?

I'm one of the types who runs a vehicle into the ground. ie I'm 43 and only on my 5th car...(most of my mates had 5 before they were 18!)

The Multipla has loads of miles and looks pretty rough but mechanically it gets what it needs and even though it's worth nowt I figure £500 on running costs is OK for 20K miles a year. My wife thinks I'm mad so what are everyone else's reasons to change?

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I could not agree more,I tend to keep cars forever,do a good rustproofing job when you buy it and keep it,better the devil you know,I just don't see the point wasting money on massive depreciation, get yourself a private plate which will last you forever and appreciate in value and no one will know,my van is 2003 ,14 years old next year,one of my neighbours has a new car every 3 years and thinks he's really clever as he has never had to buy a new set of tyres !

Michael Dranfield said:

I could not agree more,I tend to keep cars forever,do a good rustproofing job when you buy it and keep it,better the devil you know,I just don't see the point wasting money on massive depreciation, get yourself a private plate which will last you forever and appreciate in value and no one will know,my van is 2003 ,14 years old next year,one of my neighbours has a new car every 3 years and thinks he's really clever as he has never had to buy a new set of tyres !

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"thinks he's really clever as he has never had to buy a new set of tyres"
[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

Run them down down down down!

last punto had HG, then new engine, several gearboxes - Even a new rear axle when i crashed it...

The mechanics were good and so was body work really - i spent **** loads on it
Eventually i had to say goodbye when the chassis was rotten and patching it up would only last a year....

Hence why i got my current car
And tbh i'll probably run this one till its death
I buy at like 7/8 years old and keep em till they die

hell my little punto's now 12years old! Sure its gearbox is showing signs again of dying... but meh - i'll put another in and KEEP GOING

Ziggy

Ziggy122: I've got to ask, what on earth do you do to those gearboxes, lol?! My parents old mk2 was 14 years old when they got rid of it, and they never had any signs of imminent gearbox issues!

My current car is a Punto Evo, will have had it for 3 years this coming April but I would desperately like something with more poke than 77 pony's.

Keeping up with milk floats can be a struggle.

puntofan01 said:

Ziggy122: I've got to ask, what on earth do you do to those gearboxes, lol?! My parents old mk2 was 14 years old when they got rid of it, and they never had any signs of imminent gearbox issues!

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There crap... ive had reconned onea fail within 100miles....
My current recon is also dying of a bearing failure....

Wow, that is unlucky! As I say, my parents never had any gearbox issues in 8.5 years, my old mk2b was fine, and so far, the gearbox in my Grande is absolutely fine.

To hijack my own thread...
According to a mate "No-one buys cars any more, you just get them on finance." He has a flash new Merc costing him god knows how much a month. My first thought was I wouldn't want this second hand, looking at all tricks it's got. Then I thought most new cars are like this and how much are repair bills going to be? I'll probably go for a 10-15 years old car next time rather than a 3 year old. Less scary! (Even though there is still loads of electronics to go wrong unless you go for 25+)

Years ago electronics were something to worry about but in the last 20 years the reliability of electronics have improved no end.

I remember the old tipo with digital dash that almost never worked, and the first seats after their break up with fiat in the 80s which were packed with gadgets that spent most of the time broken.

Modern cars are all digital including the dash and the warning light to tell you the hand brake is on, this isn't going to change any time soon now and largely they are fairly reliable.

The more gadgets on a car means there is more things to potentially go wrong but it doesn't mean they will and a 15 year old Mercedes S-class that is packed with trick will still usually all work reliably.

Most owners who buy on finance don't keep the car for more than a few years and it's off to the next owner to pick up those large repair bills after the warranty has run out

Paddynabs said:

To hijack my own thread...
According to a mate "No-one buys cars any more, you just get them on finance." He has a flash new Merc costing him god knows how much a month. My first thought was I wouldn't want this second hand, looking at all tricks it's got. Then I thought most new cars are like this and how much are repair bills going to be? I'll probably go for a 10-15 years old car next time rather than a 3 year old. Less scary! (Even though there is still loads of electronics to go wrong unless you go for 25+)

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Tbf it depends who built the car in question, I have no problem in running my car with its complexity out of warranty, it was built properly and as long as you aren't daft enough to buy a diesel they tend to just work with no more than regular maintenance.

The leased Citroen we have on the other hand I am very glad is leased..the second service involved welding FFS..it will be a money pit once out of warranty despite a full history and low miles.

Paddynabs, I like your attitude. I bought my first car, 2003 Punto 1.2 8V, almost two years ago. Recently I have been checking used cars ads and trying to figure out which car I'd like to buy (you know, people tell you that your Fiat is a crap car). However, I usually end up thinking "why do I need to change a car anyway? Punto looks good, feels good on the road, it's just as large as I need and cheap to run." The only thing which bothers me a bit is the weak engine.

Paddynabs said:

I'm 43 and only on my 5th car...(most of my mates had 5 before they were 18!)

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5 cars in 25 years. I think I can possibly beat that! I've owned cars for 22 years now and I'm on my second car (first car VW Polo, second car Fiat Panda). I've had it 11.5 years and it's got over 121K miles on the clock and do I feel the need to change - Hell NO! I'm sure I can get it up to 200K lol.

Wee Smurf , I'm aiming for 200k in my petrol Panda... yours is a diesel!!! You should be aiming for at least 250k ;-)

SB1500 said:

Wee Smurf , I'm aiming for 200k in my petrol Panda... yours is a diesel!!! You should be aiming for at least 250k ;-)

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Yeah, but I'm getting excited by the prospect that in another couple of months I'll reach the next magic number on the milometer - 123456...
I need to get over that first!