Why do you change cars?

[andyoz]

MX5 ND1 Sport Recaro bought to replace the the above, I did a bunch of v.similar modifications and took this one on track too...

...sold it to WBAC a couple of weeks ago after 18 months ownership.

I'd love an ND to mod at some stage. Prices are firmer than I'd expected still!!

 

[andyoz]

One thing I suspect is happening is people may hold onto their cars longer than usual in this current cycle while they wait and see how the whole EV things plays out.

 

[Snufkin]

Of all the cars mentioned on this thread so far there are two that I have always admired; the 914 and the A2. However the experience of them was at opposite ends of the spectrum.

The A2 was a deeply impressive vehicle although its cost when new was a handicap. My short drive of one when they came out left a lasting impression of a truly exceptional vehicle and it’s a great shame Audi couldn’t make it pay. My brief ride in a 914 was one of the most disappointing automotive experience I have had. I have a long term love of air cooled vehicles and must have owned nearly 30 over the years but was so disappointed at how crude the 914 felt. I know it wasn’t fully developed as a model and they had issues but I so much wanted to like that car but didn’t and lost all desire to acquire one.

 

[Unregistered]

I'd love an ND to mod at some stage. Prices are firmer than I'd expected still!!

Yep, prices are crazy! I paid £12k in 2020 with 28k on the clock...18 months later with 40k on the clock WBAC gave me £15.7k.

 

[Nero]

Haha

I have never owned a car.

PS This is a lie. I actually had a 1/3rd share in an illegal Austin A30 three of us bought as school kids. It had a hole in the floor, the starter didn’t work (it was old enough to have a crank handle, which did, eventually). It was fun for the month or so until the council, police or whoever took it. We never got caught, it just wasn’t there one day (it was just driven around on rough ground etc, never on the roads).

that reminds me of my first car, an A40. I bought it for 50 quid with 6 months MOT left, and it earned its keep for that time. MOT time came round and of course the kingpins were buggered. I propped it up by the side of the road on axle stands and started to cut them off, but had to leave to go to some lectures. When I came back it was gone. Presumably the rozzers or the council took it away as the tax had expired. Left me the axle stands though, which was nice.

 

[Puggie]

I buy 'new' cars when I see something nicer/better than what I have now, which is not often because my definition of better is not just newer and I cannot keep anything I find boring.

My best car was a Honda Integra Type-R DC2 (Jap import, 1996), awesome car, superb handling on Toyo R888s with the factory option suspension upgrades, reliably did 33-36mpg over a tank, unless you are absolutely hooning it (I did manage single figures for a tank on a trackday with it). Very little ever needed doing beyond regular maintenance, sold it because kids and at 214k miles it was getting a bit smokey, new owner rebuilt the engine and its going strong.

Current family fleet is:

a little Honda Civic EK4 (Jordan, 2000), which was bought for the Mrs to get some NCB on her insurance and was oddly cheap to insure. currently on about 115k miles and just rebushed the suspension as it was getting sloppy, mid 30s MPG, get 2 kids in and it just works fine. engine spins to 9k so fun to drive yet not silly fast. We bought an audi to replace this as something a bit bigger to get the kids and crap in (civic does one or the other).

Four rings of the apocalypse! Needed/wanted something bigger, went looking at older Audi A6s, wanted to spend about 5-7K on something grown up looking. Ended up driving away in a 2004 Audi RS6, its behaved fine then was 'cuddled' by a lorry 2 weeks into ownership, bought another which has been nothing but trouble, engine has been out twice now, headgasket has gone again and will be coming out again. Its a matter of personal pride now, not rational thought, I will get the damn thing back on the road and reliable! then run it as long as possible.

Honda Insight 2002, this is my ultimate daily hack (I commute 88 miles round to work). £45 fills the tank, that gives you 550-750miles, road tax is free, parts are cheap (15" wheels, tiny brakes, 2.5l of oil in a change), its like a damn tardis inside, loads of room for my lardy 6'4" frame and its aluminium so (mostly) no rust! It is getting to an age (coming up 20yrs and 275k miles) where bigger jobs need doing beyond just servicing, brake and fuel lines, suspension bushes and dampers, The hybrid battery. These are all fixable though and not at insane cost if I do the work myself. I will keep this going until a cheaper suitable electric option comes along. I reckon it cost me about 12p/mile all in.

 

[ks.234]

I have an old Jaguar XType, it’s a Sovereign with some nice toys, done a few miles but still drives very nice and is rather a nice place to be in.

Nothing wrong with it so the sensible thing to do is to keep it till it dies, but….but…

…but I keep driving past a posh garage with an immaculate 2008 XJR with very low mileage and then irrational thoughts about the loveliness of a burbly V8 and lots of horsepower take over and I get a bit giddy

 

[-alan-]

@Puggie - I had looked seriously at an Insight in that wonderful mucus green colour the did, some years back. Could have bought it for buttons at the time - but didn't, as I was coming under pressure for never buying 'ordinary sensible cars'. It's still kicking around the area here. Genuinely sorry I missed out on the experience now.

On the original point, I have the toy car and a bike or two in the garage, and just run whatever else is out on the driveway until it gets a 'are you 'avin a larf mate' report from the annual MOT / NCT testers. Having moved a while back from mainly GM products to Japanese ( in the form of a little petrol Yaris Verso and a Civic with the 2.2l diesel designed by the guy responsible for their TypeR engines) I live in hope such traumas will be slightly further spaced apart than before

 

[gintonic]

in truth, i have "owned" very few of the cars i have had access to. We are on our 11th (IIRC) lease, and I am just interested in the monthly repayments and nothing else. I dont care about owning.

We have about 16 months months left on our 48 month lease for the 2015 911 Targa 4S. It is a lovely car - huge fun to drive, and fast..., but we are already looking forwards to our next choices. I think we want something newer or new, with access to better interior technology. Could be back to a Boxster or even back to the comfort of a Macan.

 

[Snufkin]

Despite liking older cars and still having a 1985 Beetle, I do like the functionality of newer cars. Having bought a new car at the end of 2019, I am now replacing it because the dealer has offered me an absurdly high part exchange. This is uncharacteristic of my normal behaviour re cars but second hand car prices are bonkers at the moment and it seems sensible to capitalise on that.

 

[Rug Doc]

Come for a ri

Of all the cars mentioned on this thread so far there are two that I have always admired; the 914 and the A2. However the experience of them was at opposite ends of the spectrum.

The A2 was a deeply impressive vehicle although its cost when new was a handicap. My short drive of one when they came out left a lasting impression of a truly exceptional vehicle and it’s a great shame Audi couldn’t make it pay. My brief ride in a 914 was one of the most disappointing automotive experience I have had. I have a long term love of air cooled vehicles and must have owned nearly 30 over the years but was so disappointed at how crude the 914 felt. I know it wasn’t fully developed as a model and they had issues but I so much wanted to like that car but didn’t and lost all desire to acquire one.

Come for a ride in another one! They are superb little cars, not crude imo. I had a brief swap recently whilst the 914 was being used by the BBC and a similar vintage triumph TR was left with me… The build quality and fit of everything on this was so inferior it was a real let down.. The German build quality and the size extensive design really shows.

 

[Snufkin]

Come for a ri

Come for a ride in another one! They are superb little cars, not crude imo. I had a brief swap recently whilst the 914 was being used by the BBC and a similar vintage triumph TR was left with me… The build quality and fit of everything on this was so inferior it was a real let down.. The German build quality and the size extensive design really shows.

I would love to and have my illusions restored.

 

[bor]

Every six months when I was using our employee lease scheme.

God forgive me for writing this, but picking up a new BMW twice a year started to become a chore...

We switched to a Cooper S, which we have owned for six years. It looks like new, drives like new. I can't see any good reason to change.

If there was an alternative on the market that offered something more, then sure, or an additional car that was desireable or interesting enough, then OK.

But never simply change for change's sake. You will never be happy doing that.

 

[Woodface]

I was looking at a BMW 4 series, rather like them, a bit different but £40k plus for a decent nearly new one. I can afford it but not able to justify it given how little I currently drive.

 

[tiggers]

I like cars, they are a bit of a hobby, but I also need cars for various mundane uses. I prefer buying older cars rather than new or nearly new as I feel you get more for your money and even if you get a big bill you're still better off than the horrendous depreciation on most vehicles in years 1-5 of their life. To be honest change cars all the time just because I like trying different vehicles. Currently have 5 cars (or between myself and my partner we have 5).

2007 BMW X5 - load lugger/kid mobile
2014 Honda Civic - new to the 'fleet' - good all rounder and relatively economical
2004 Audi TT - written off (financially after truck hit it when parked), bought back, being repaired - the car that will not die
2005 Mercedes AMG SL55 - mental performance - in the process of being fettled to be sold
2009 Honda S2000 - newest addition to the fleet and hopefully a keeper, iconic Honda sports car

Fun fact: I worked out the other day I have owned 81 cars in my life and not one of them has been a diesel.

PS Next car will be electric. Well maybe not the next, but soon...ish

 

[SteveG]

If I like a car then I tend to keep it for around 10 years, unless there is another reason to get rid. My current car Merc c-class estate was bought to replace a Mazda CX-7 which I liked but it was quite expensive to run as it was very thirsty and was also in the maximum tax bracket - plus the reason I'd bought it (to replace a C-class coupe) was because I needed a 4x4 for all the trips I was doing from Edinburgh to Aberdeen right through the winter, but I'd since stopped doing that.

My wife's SLK we've had for 6 or 7 years and it might get replaced in the next year or so - but only because Edinburgh are bringing in an emissions zone and it's not Euro-6 so wouldn't then be allowed into the city centre. If not for that then I'd also expect it to have been kept until it was 10 or more.

 

[Beobloke]

How often do you change cars, and what's your rationale for doing so?

What do you drive now, and what are you contemplating next?

I've been obsessed with Range Rovers since I first travelled in one when I was about 7 years old. My recent car history has basically been Range Rover - sensible car - Range Rover - sensible car - Range Rover. I've got rid of the Range Rovers when either their thirst or repair bills wiped me out financially and I've got rid of the sensible cars in between when I go bored of them for not being Range Rovers!

Currently I drive a Range Rover 2005 4.2V8 supercharged petrol (so big fuel AND repair bills - it's cost me the thick end of £2000 so far this year in servicing/repairs!) and a 1995 Marcos LM400 spyder for weekend fun. I have no plans to change either any time soon.

 

[cj66]

My reasons for changing car have been different most times with the exception of;

I owned 4 Orions on the trot , each time a later mark but always a late Ghia of each mark to get the maximum toys!

Later, a string of company cars.

Right now I don't even own a car, just a very convenient scooter that covers 95% of needs here. When current income improves I'm planning an actual motorcycle and a small saloon on the lines of Yaris, Jazz or Swift.
It's not worth having anything nicer here with the crap roads and extremely high chance of some local lunatic smashing into you.
Some acquaintances have gone for nice Beemers and Audi's and really regretted the decision after only a couple of years with cars suffering unearthly waiting times for failed parts brought on by high wear and tear and woopsies on pot holes, invisible speed bumps and rta's.

 

[Joe Hutch]

We've only owned three cars since 1986. (VW Polo, Skoda Fabia, another VW Polo), plus shared use of our daughter's Vauxhall Corsa. We were car-less for about three years. The first two cars we bought new, and drove to destruction. The second Polo was bought secondhand, but with low mileage.

 

[tones]

Since I bought my first car (1970), I have owned 4 cars - and the ownership time has been going up. The first, a Fiat 850 coupé, lasted 6 years (totalled in an accident), the second a Renault 12, 15 years and 207,000Km, sold as a going concern when we came to Swizzieland, the third an Astra Caravan, 20.5 years and 346,000Km. We've had the current Volvo V40CC 7 years, so it has to last another 13.5 years to beat the Astra. Thing is, at 74, will I last the necessary 13.5 years?