Most cost effective way of buying and owning a car.

[Sortumn]

We've always followed the model our grandparents and parents used for car owning which was to buy a slightly used car and keep it until it becomes unreliable or beyond economic repair. However we might have to rethink that as cars seem to have changed.

Eg. I owned one car for 16 years, costing me only servicing, brakes and tyres and we let it go when it needed welding. Purchase cost per year eventually worked out at £687.50.
Since that car we've got a much newer car that at 8 years old developed an electrical/computer fault that no one seems capable of fixing and we're about to scrap it. Such a waste as it is mechanically sound. It feels like we've hardly owned it two minutes.

I'm wondering if with all the electrical bells and whistles and eco attic that' are now added to cars, they just don't last as long.

We're wondering if we should be scrapping our old habits? And now be letting go of cars while there's a lot of value still in them, but I really would hate making car decisions every few years..... Or is there an alternative? Old bangers with less electrical stuff to go wrong? Lease cars?

What is everyone's expectation of cars longevity these days? (that makes me sound old) And do you have a system that works?

This is what I mean. It was computer says no on my husband's car. Though it is absolutely mechanically sound it's going to have to be scrapped.

My current car just broke and I'm traumatised by the experience with my husbands car and really worried it's going to be the same story.

I'm wondering if that's the computers on new(ish) cars and I'm better off going for old bangers

I e always done the same as you. I'm not fussed about cars, they're only to get me from A to B, and if this is your attitude then there are still basic models without whistles and bells being produced.

I've got a 6 year old Dacia Sandero basic model, bought new from the dealer but unsold stock from previous registration year, officially a year old but only 50 miles on the clock. Big discount. Been perfectly reliable so far cost me only annual service at a local garage, 2 sets replacement tyres, replacement lightbulbs x 1, that's it. Worked out to about £300 a year. Parts are cheap. Basic features but nothing to really go wrong. I was going to run it right down as usual, probably another 10 years at least. Now I'm thinking replace it with similar before there's nothing but EVs.

I buy small cars that are 5-6 years old with low ish millage, currently driving a Hyundai i10 and previously had a Toyota aygo.

I still think this is the most cost effective way to own a car, they cost very little to run, hardly any tax, very reliable etc.

My aygo I part exchanged for almost as much I originally paid for it so it cost me almost nothing.

I do what you have been doing, current car is 13 years old and showing signs of age as some things have failed quite recently.

For me it's difficult to find a car I want that isy hybrid petrol/battery and I wouldn't want to own one without the backing of a long manufacturers warranty. Financially there's little difference between buying an almost new car (2 years old) and running it for 12 years, versus buying a 6 year old car and replacing it after 6 years.

I'm considering a 2 year old Toyota and having it serviced by Toyota to maintain the 10 year warranty, and possibly continuing the services to obtain the up to 15 year warranty on the hybrid battery system only - it'll be costly but hopefully will provide a reliable car for the next 13 years?!

Currently leasing. It’s just so convenient with no unexpected costs. Plus I like driving new cars.

But don’t you end up having to get a new (to you) car at regular intervals? So you are always paying a monthly payment? Whereas if you get a car on normal finance you can pay it off over 3 or 4 years and keep it for another 10 and have ten years of no monthly payment?

Agree with others who say buy nearly new (or as new as you can afford) for cash. Keep 5 years then sell & repeat. This is probably the shallowest slope down the depreciation curve, unless you buy very old, but then repairs become a much bigger factor.

PCP is the most expensive way, followed by HP, followed by bank loan. Paying interest on a depreciating asset is very costly. Alternatively, lease, especially if you have an own business you can legitimately use to lease the car, and subject to getting advice on the tax position.

I've just bought a 2nd hand, 72 plate, Dacia Sandero. They get good reviews, and I had one as a hire car for 10 days in Spain last year so knew that I liked driving it - and over the hire period I drove it on a mixture of motorways/dual carriageways, twisty mountain roads and through scarily narrow Spanish village streets!

It has a proper handbrake (hurray!) and fewer of the irritating modern features that more expensive modern cars have - and which many people switch off anyway because they are irritating.

I traded in my old car, paid part in cash and put the rest on credit card with 0% interest for 2 years.

I have a 13 plate Honda CRV with 100k miles on it and agree with you completely.

I am driving a 2016 Toyota Auris hybrid. Leased from new through work, then when left that job, bought it outright with bank loan. No option, had no savings and needed reliable car quick for new job. It has been utterly brilliant, now has 134k mileage , as reasonable work commute, plus like to go on driving holidays.

i was worried about the battery, but i got an uber recently, got chatting to driver, who was driving a Toyota Corolla, and he told me his previous taxi was an Auris and did 250k before he changed to the Corolla and had no problems with the battery. Sadly the Auris has been discontinued, we had estate and chose it for the massive boot, which was largest in small estate class at the time. Might get a Corolla next . . . Well after another 100k plus miles hopefully! Toyotas really run and run.

I have had “reliable makes” before, a nissan x trail, that the engine went on and a Honda crv, that the clutch went on in under a year. Though once replaced, the CRV was a very reliable car.

The Toyota has been the most reliable and cheapest to run in terms of needing virtually no repairs.

We have a 70k+ Landrover on a business lease and a £900 toyota from the 90s from eBay with 150+ on the clock had them both 2 years which one do you think has caused the most drama!!

I’ve owned so many cars and it’s really the luck of the draw, the big landie is lease to offset tax, so it’s a luxury hybrid and is a bloody nightmare, god I’d be fuming if I owned it.

Ive always owned.. and feel much better knowing even though the value falls that I own it.

I have a 12yo Honda, I got it at 3 years old to replace another 12yo Honda.

that said I am looking at a lease car for my next one - we have a salary sacrifice scheme at work and financially the numbers seem to work for me - especially as I’m not far off the the £100k tax trap, it will bring my taxable income down.

@Sortumn the main problem these days is that many garages don't actually investigate and diagnose faults. I ended up buying an OBD2 reader so that I could see what the car's computer says and diagnose myself to some extent.

Modern car's have all sorts of gizmos to reduce emissions which need to be managed properly to maintain engine performance.

Pcp is an option but the thing nobody has mentioned (that I noticed) is the the whole value stays on your credit rating as a liability.

We bought a Toyota on interest free credit and it is now 9 years old and still going strong.

This is what I've always done. On my 3rd Toyota in 23 years. My first one needed a new exhaust round about 120,000 miles but nothing else other than the normal (tyres,brakes, pads, discs etc.).

I have a ~14 year old petrol Mazda that's never failed its MOT and has around 160,000 on the clock. Bought it at 1 year old and 9000 miles for £8000. Unless my hand is forced, I'd buy another second hand petrol car when I replace it. Maybe a toyota. The infrastructure and reliability isn't there yet for electric cars.

We've got a 19 year old VW Touran, and bought it outright in 2010. DH and I had a car related business for years so fixing it is generally stuff he can do.

It's a diesel turbo, so due to doing shorter miles than previously it needs the good fuel and fuel treatment put in to keep it running clear. We generally do low miles, but in the last 8 days I've done about 1200 due to a sick family member and, touch wood, it's been fine.

Every year we have a discussion about getting rid and getting something newer, but we haven't got round to it yet. It does feel like borrowed time now to be honest, so we're at the research stage.

Next car will be second or third hand, bought outright and hopefully, fingers crossed, last a good while. I'd have another VW or Skoda, our Fords have been less reliable though.

Is this about research and prioritising the cars that are known to be the most reliable? If reliability is an important factor to you, buy a car that is known to be highly reliable.

That's what I did. I made a spreadsheet. That helped me prioritise.

Toyota, Citroen etc. V reliable.

Read reviews to see what common faults are.

I do the same as you and now also have a Volvo V40! I always buy cash, always buy reliable makes - VW, Audi, Volvo and keep them until they’re done. I buy diesel as they go for miles! Last two have had 150K on the clock before they went. Volvo currently has 66K on the clock, I’ll have it for at least 5 more years. I drive long distances for work so diesel is much better for me as I’m on motorways a lot.

I bought a v old 2014 car (in 2022) but with a good service history, only 12k on the clock, one vicar owner! Has been good so far. Just needed a new battery at cost of £150. Hyundai I10. Was about 7k.

Would prefer an in built Sat nav, and the cigarette charger has never worked to actually charge anything! Always need a portable charger.

For various non-car related reasons, I got a brand new PHEV 5 years ago.

Firstly, the battery hasn't degraded yet - although I will say that the difference in mileage I get from the battery in Summer (when I don't have any school runs :( ) vs winter is massive. I feel like battery heaters might need to be a thing.

I actually think you're doing it the best way. When this car finally kicks the bucket (the internet thinks that it should be happy to about 160k miles, when it'll start getting more troublesome - I do about 20k/year, so I've got 3 more years) that's exactly what I'll do.

I do see the appeal of a lease - although I live in the countryside on lanes, so I wouldn't do it myself, the left-hand side of my car will inevitably get scuffed as I have to regularly brush against hedges to pass other cars which would cost me at the end. I think vs. a brand new car bought with a loan, a lease is probably the better deal.

The second thing to take into consideration is how bad an unreliable car will be - at the moment, we're a one car house in the middle of no-where, so I need that car to work. In a couple of years when eldest starts driving, we'll have 2 cars, so a little bit of unreliability will be more workable.

I think you need to look at individual models. My first car was a 106. The exhaust pipe rusted through and fell off (on the motorway) at 2.5 years old. They said it wasn't covered under the warranty as a replaceable part!

We have always bought old bangers for a few hundred pounds and just run them until they die. We don’t do any major repairs. This has always worked well for us and I think it has averaged about £500 - £1000 a year. However second hand cars have become much more expensive in recent years, and I’m much more reluctant to gamble £3000 + so might have to change the game plan.
My current car is a 2013 Zafira, I paid £2500 for it a year ago and it’s just gone through its MOT with no issues so we’ll see!

I also check to see if my previous cars are still on the road!

I follow what you do OP, however two cars we go brand new as the cost was £1000 difference so it was a no brainer at the time. We then sold then around 9-10 years mark.

The second hand mark is more expensive than it ever has been since covid so I do wonder if we might need to change our approach?!

I’m still going with your old model to be honest. My little car is 13 years old and I’ve had it for 7 years. It’s barely cost me anything in that time. Though there are a couple of bits that need sorting out before the MOT. it was under £4k when I brought it and it’ll hopefully go in for several years yet.