To ask what you'd think of as an old car/old banger...

[LikeDylanInTheMovies]

I was talking to the security guard at work when a flash brand new Audi drove past. After talking about cars for a bit the security guard said something along the lines of II'll stick to my old banger'. I agreed and said my car was pretty long in the tooth too, P-Reg (1996) but still started every time, passed its MoT etc.

Thing is, his ''old banger' was an 09 reg. AIBU to think that this isn't even remotely old given the improvement in build quality and reliability of cars? I wouldn't think of any car on the new style plates as being particularly old.

wasonthelist
understand, but in 16 years time, your 'old banger' of an electric car would have caused less pollution overall than the 16 year old oil driven one.

But I suspect this is now a willy-waving competition for people to boast about how old and 'bangerist' their vehicle is.

I class anything that costs less than £800 an old banger. Not sure why!

My dad has a 13 yo Mercedes that he is rather attached to. He gets offended whenever I mention he should probably replace it and says that he will drive that car til he has to physically push it off the road.

I feel rather the same about my (older) bmw. It's only done 120'000 miles. I'm keeping it until the bitter end!

but in 16 years time, your 'old banger' of an electric car would have caused less pollution overall than the 16 year old oil driven one.
No, the overall effect of me junking mine and replacing it with a new electric one would be more pollution. The emissions associated with production, extraction of raw materials and transport let alone power generation, transmission losses etc can't be ignored. The longer I keep my banger going, the kinder I am being to the planet.

My 54 plate Peugeot has all of a sudden gone from "meh, it's OK, it'll do" to "old banger". It needs about £2k work doing (possibly more if it's not just what they think but also the turbo) having sailed through the MOT (excepting brakes/tyres/lights) for the past six years. It's not about the age of the car, more the state of repair.

My dp has my old 14yo freelander. It's only now starting to cost us with repairs and only has 60k miles on the clock. I bought it new and everyone thought it was a crazy purchase but it's the best car I've ever had.

My 03 A Class has done 50k miles and is in perfect condition, it's old but in great shape. My DH has a brand new Range Rover - not on finance, like most people's new cars.

Beat me too it was on , I failed hasn't accounted for the massively destructive environment impact of scrapping non life expired vehicles and replacing them. But, hey what does it matter when she can engage in a bit of virtue signalling and finger waging whilst simultaneously enjoy the benefits of motorised transport.

Pressed enter too early. People may think my car is an old banger but it's no indication of your general finances... Which was what I was getting at

DH's car, which he uses to get to work 20 miles away at a business park which isn't served by public transport is entirely fart powered.

failed I'm interested in what other things you do as a model citizen to ensure everything you do is pollution free..

I've just bought a yellow 02 Mini Cooper. I'd be very offended if anyone called it an old banger! It's in beautiful condition and very well maintained.

We had a budget and I could have bought something new, but not so fun. But I didn't!

To me, a banger is something that's not road worthy or constantly breaking down.

ifailed

Just out of interest, how do you suggest that the electricity for the electric cars is made?.....

Oh and I got rid of my Y plate focus this year when it died with 135,000 miles on it. Probably would have lasted longer if we had taken slightly better care of it in its last few years of life.
I've now got an 08 Reg Astra with 30,000miles on and it's like driving a brand new car. Sure it's an old banger to some though.

Given that the batteries on electric cars still have a very finite lifetime, I can't see them lasting 16 years. We do about 11,000 miles per year, often more when DH's job has been further from home. Aside from having a limited range, an electric car would need a new battery long before the bodywork fails.

The technology simplistic not yet good enough to provide a viable greener replacement, for people who need to travel a lot.
And where will those dead batteries end up? Probably polluting land and rivers in developing countries.

To be fair Ifailed may be advocating stopping all motorised transport and flying rather than loads of new electric cars - that wasn't really made clear. As for a bangerist willy waving contest - what's wrong with offering an alternative view? Almost everyone else turns up at DDs school in an identikit newish white Mercedes/BMW/Audi

20 year old Mercedes here, with 65k miles on the clock. It is definitely an old banger. Like PP, the mot folk will need to prise the keys from my cold stiff fingers

A ten second google:

www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/sep/23/carbon-footprint-new-car

Obviously best all round is to not own a car but that's just not practical for the majority of people.

I drive a '95 Vauxhall Astra in vintage faded red lol it's definitely what I'd consider an old banger but Vinnie (short for vintage) gets lots of admiration wherever we go.

class anything that costs less than £800 an old banger. Not sure why!

My car would pass/fail your banger test: 500 quid 4 years ago and never given me a moment's trouble. It is a Toyota which are known for their reliability and had been well maintained beforehand.

Mind you I thought karma had bitten me in the arse 20 minutes ago when I couldn't get it to start, I thought 'serves me bloody right' for waging on about how it starts every time' but I'd knocked it into Park without realising.

how do you suggest that the electricity for the electric cars is made?

Good question. Here's a possible answer:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34987467
or here:
inhabitat.com/could-the-entire-world-really-run-on-solar-power/

the entire Saharan desert could provide 18 x the current global power requirements. Currently the global arms budget is around USD 1.6 trillion, more than enough to get going with this.

For all those poor army types who might whinge about not being able to kill people, I'm sure we could scrap together a bit of cash to buy them a pair of sandals, a shield and a sword.

For all those poor army types who might whinge about not being able to kill people, I'm sure we could scrap together a bit of cash to buy them a pair of sandals, a shield and a sword

You say your are interested in conserving resources, but what are the horses going to sleep on given that massive straw man you've just constructed.

OP sorry if I offended!

According to ifailed my car is an old banger because it runs on diesel. My car is a 65 plate people carrier. I did look at electric cars but the only 7 seat electric cars have ridiculous sized very rear seats which are only suitable for small children and can't take car seats so are not really suitable for anybody unless you want to sit with you knees pressed into your chin.

Not at all fruit I am somewhat proud of my bargain!