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Which car to go for?
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hazel_leo



Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:24 am    Post subject: Which car to go for? Reply with quote

I am new to this forum.. I was confused where to post!! Need you advices.


Actually my husband and I are planning to buy a car..But, can't decide on whether to get a old one or a brand new car!! The budget is limited..Old car in a good condition could be fine. What we are worried about is, if after buying the old car, we are compelled to spent more money on it for renovation. If the service level is not satisfactory! Will then a little more pull in the budget for a new car will be desirable?
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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hi Hazel

What budget are you planning on spending?
Do you or your husband know about car maintenance?
How old is "old"? ie are you thinking of something 5-10 years old??

Rick
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ukdave2002



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4100
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi

For me its how practical you are.... modern cars are far more reliable and require less maintanance and are more tolerable to poor maintanace than say a 20 or 30 year old car. As I am typing this I'm looking at our 2 moderns which have done about 100k between them and I can't think of anything that has had to be replaced other than tyres, wiper's filters and oil.

Classic don't often suffer from catastrophic failures its often simple things that cause problems, electrical connecters and switches were not designed to work for 30 years, when they fail (like the coil connecter on my Stag did not so long ago!) they are easy fault to find a rectify if you are a bit "handy" if you are not it would be an AA job.

If you can live with this then a classic will be a great investment, a new car will loose 20% as you drive it off the garage forum, 3 years later its probably only going to be worth 30 or 40% of what you paid for it, tacking this into account you can spend more on a classic with out it costing more in the long run.

IMHO the worst cars to buy are the 10 to 15 year olds, they are going to go wrong and continue to depriciate, worst of both worlds!!


Just my view

Hope it helps!!
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Dirty Habit



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 398
Location: West Midlands, UK

PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 11:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Low mileage, good condition older cars can be found. If looked after they should last longer than some of the modern day cars. By that I don't mean that modern cars are rubbish, far from it. The modern body shell is very good with very little rust problems. And most engineered parts are superb, but....there are too many electronics. I have seen several 10 year old cars sent for scrap, not because of rust or mechanical wear, but purely because of faulty, expensive electronics that have failed.

I have recently bought a very low mileage 15 year old car. that is fast enough for modern traffic and has just enough modern features to make it both reliable and economical but with very few electronics. I am confident. that looked after, it will be around after I gone. Unless money was no object and I could afford to replace a modern car when things go wrong, I will stick with my "Oldie" thank you.
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hotrodjon



Joined: 01 Aug 2009
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I bought my current '77 AMC Hornet which runs on LPG last september and have done nearly 6000 miles in it. I do all my own repairs which makes a big difference, I had to fit rear brake shoes recently. Next job is to remove the rear springs and have them retempered as they are quite tired now. So if you don't mind doing your own repairs and regularly keep on eye on things in general owning a classic car can be quite rewarding, most important is to buy one with good bodywork / chassis as rust repair is both time consuming and very expensive if you have to pay someone else to do it.
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Nic Jarman



Joined: 05 Oct 2008
Posts: 1031
Location: Stoke by Clare, Suffolk

PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 10:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rick has covered what is important. How old is old to you. A 5 year old Ford Focus is a good buy if it has been looked after. A 30 year old MG B is a gamble if you do not take an experienced mechanic with you to see the car and servicing cost can be a fairly high. A friend asked me what it takes to run a classic car? My responce was" You have to be wealthy or a mechanic, I am a mechanic" I wish it was the other answer.
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