General How Long Will You Keep Your Panda?

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General How Long Will You Keep Your Panda?

doctorchris

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Now, I like to keep my cars as long as I can. I seem to form an emotional relationship with them that lasts until they fail mechanically. Even then, I can't have them put down, sorry, I mean scrapped, so do my best to find a new home for them.
OK, I also admit to being a tight-fisted old sod who does not like seeing his money bleed away in depreciation so keeps cars for long enough to minimise the annual cost of depreciation.
So, slow as it is, I plan to keep my 4x4 for at least 10 years.
What do others on this site feel about this?
 
Good idea, I plan to keep my 100HP for at least 3 years but if it turns out anything like the last car I'll run it until it starts to cost me more than it's worth.

I guess it depends on situation though. At the moment I need nothing more than a Panda but if my work or personal needs change I might have to consider investing in something larger.
 
I rarely keep a car more than 3 years. I just like changing them! Haven't had to have an MOT for over 10 years!

Chauspain - what's the meaning of your moral re Aldershot? Just asking as the 100HP is booked in at Mill Lane Aldershot for its first service on Monday!:chin:
 
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I'm with the OP here. I haven't ordered a Panda yet, but I am planning to get a 100HP next year. I want to keep it at least 10 years really, although it's hard to predict 10 years into the future. Older cars tend to be better, so when it's 10 years old I'll probably want to keep it.

I got my Seicento to last until the end of uni (2 years), but I'm still driving it 5 years later :). I love it, but there are signs of rust (and a respray), which is partly why I'm considering getting rid of it. I'm really attached to it though, and the 100HP Panda is probably the only car that I've driven that matches it IMHO.

I would hate to get a new car every three years, it would be horrible. Every three years you would get a brand new engine that hasn't been run-in, and potentially a whole new set of faults. It'll burn a huge hole in your pocket too, not to mention the environmental impact.
 
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I tend to like to keep my cars for an awful long time.:eek: I didn't have the heart to sell my old car on so kept it and it's now driven by the hubby. It's been with me for 14 years so far. I can see the Panda staying with me for at least the same time. That's why I specced it up when I ordered it...

Maybe giving your car a name is a bad thing...:p
 
Chauspain - what's the meaning of your moral re Aldershot? Just asking as the 100HP is booked in at Mill Lane Aldershot for its first service on Monday!:chin:

Don't worry, nothing Fiat related, just something that happened a long long time ago!
 
We kept our previous car for 10years, so we'll see how this one goes. Certainly we don't have plans to change it quickly.
 
So good to see so many Panda owners planning to keep them for a good few years.
The high tech end of the car industry want their products to be replaced after 3 years, probably because that is how long some of the technology will last for before it fails.
The relatively low tech Panda will easily last 10 years, even if repairs are needed they won't cost a fortune and independent garages will be able to cope.
 
The longest I've kept a car is around 3 years but the Panda is my first new car. I have to have reliable day-to-day car (so I bought a Fiat :eek:) so mine will likely get chopped in once the warranty runs out which should be around the 3 year mark. Should be interesting as I have no idea what could replace it - my shortlist of cars that ticked all the boxes was pretty much a Panda or nothing when I bought it! :ROFLMAO:

However, 3 years is a long time and if my circumstances changed I'd happily keep it for longer - I suspect it would be booked in for a visit to GSR if that was the case too :ROFLMAO:

Chris
 
Not sure. I have been very indecisive over cars these past few years, changing financial position and all. Prolly keep this one quite a while, but it depends if a good deal comes up at the end of my finance contract.

.... not to mention the environmental impact.

You buy a new car which pollutes less than your old one, someone buys your old one, several steps down the chain a very old and much more polluting car goes to car heaven in an environmentally friendly recycling sort of a way.

It is an environmental impact, but it's a positive one. If we never bought new cars, pollution would increase - wouldn't it.
 
You buy a new car which pollutes less than your old one, someone buys your old one, several steps down the chain a very old and much more polluting car goes to car heaven in an environmentally friendly recycling sort of a way.

It is an environmental impact, but it's a positive one. If we never bought new cars, pollution would increase - wouldn't it.

When a new car is built the environmental impact is huge. They may be more environmentally friendly to run, but a large amount of the damage is done by the time you pick it up. I think the facts and figure vary depending on where you look, but I think new cars generally have a very negative impact (dispite of the government want you to believe).

In response to another post... It amazes me how people think that a car will be reliable just because it has a warranty. A new car is new, and untested so it is likely that there will be faults. A three year old car should have the faults ironed out, and is likely to be reliable for a good few years at least.
 
It amazes me how people think that a car will be reliable just because it has a warranty. A new car is new, and untested so it is likely that there will be faults. A three year old car should have the faults ironed out, and is likely to be reliable for a good few years at least.

I'm glad I amaze you ;) I never said a car will be reliable because it has a warranty but that I need a reliable day-to-day car. A car backed by a warranty will mean any repairs will be carried out FOC at a main dealer and I'll have a courtesy car for the duration. I would wager than most new cars are more reliable than 3+ year old ones however, or manufacturers would be offering longer warranties on their cars....

Chris
 
I would hate to get a new car every three years, it would be horrible. Every three years you would get a brand new engine that hasn't been run-in, and potentially a whole new set of faults. It'll burn a huge hole in your pocket too, not to mention the environmental impact.

Really are you serious?

You don't need to run engines in nowadays anyway, its practically a non-issue. It is nice when you drive away in your brand new car.

If you do your maths it need not cost you that much at all. My essential car user allowance and mileage covers at least half the cost.

Well i agree a new car has to be more environmentally damaging in terms of production costs, but when its running its better. Besides i think the environmental impact is much more media/spin doctors driven than actually worth of merit in itself, when you consider that there are very many other aspects to pollution which nobody is doing anything about.

I can't think of anything better than pondering over new car choices, my idea of heaven. I just really hope in 2.4 years time when i'm ready to part ex, i can actually afford something decent which i enjoy to drive.
 
I've never really understood why people think older cars suddenly fail. Statistically it may be that problems increase with age, however the overall number of problems still seems to be very low if you keep a car serviced. We have been running an ageing couple of cars for a number of years, as do a number of family members, and none of us have ever been left stranded or unable to get to where we wanted.

The only problems we've had are to do with increasing service costs and, eventually, bodywork issues. My experience is that cars generally just get to the point where the labour cost to keep them on the road becomes uneconomic and it's time to move on.
 
When a new car is built the environmental impact is huge. They may be more environmentally friendly to run, but a large amount of the damage is done by the time you pick it up. I think the facts and figure vary depending on where you look, but I think new cars generally have a very negative impact (dispite of the government want you to believe).

In response to another post... It amazes me how people think that a car will be reliable just because it has a warranty. A new car is new, and untested so it is likely that there will be faults. A three year old car should have the faults ironed out, and is likely to be reliable for a good few years at least.

Supply some evidence to prove that the buying of new cars has a huge environmental impact please.
Also please supply some evidence to prove it's more damaging than keeping older cars with less recyclable parts, higher emissions, higher fuel consumption, more frequent servicing and higher repair costs on the road.

Otherwise it's just conjecture.
 
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