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.

Yes, to those who drive pre loved Saabs. We are on our 5th and 6th, and you get so much for your money. Dh has a vintage kit car which he loves, and an environmentally friendly form of air transport, which is carbon neutral, to offset the petrol we use. This is the excuse he uses to go gliding anyway!!!

My current car is not a banger (03 fiesta) the old car (09 picasso) was a rust bucket piece of shit.

I'd say it's about condition, drivability and repair costs.

Laiste surely it's the BMW's driving up other cars bums?! I figured they must be fitted with some really strong magnet on the front?

I take great pleasure in scooshing BMW's (and Audis) driving two inches behind me with my windscreen washers. They usually take the hint.

at magnets. Not ALL BMW drivers are wankers. I don't drive up bums.

I do find that certain drivers do drive up mine every time i drive it though. That's with a baby seat in it and no flashy mods.

If it has a cassette player it probably qualifies... We have decided enough is enough with my 51 plate Landrover and will spend no more on repairs, I'll drive it till it finally dies. Sadly, this could be some time as it is quite head-turningly noisy. On the plus side, I never have to ring ahead to say when I'm going to arrive

I think my definition would be similar to yours OP. 20 years plus and a bit tired and wrinkly in appearance.

As for ifailed ....... I know a few climate change scientists in academia, they drive ...... Old bangers, on cost mainly. It isn't until recently that alternatively powered vehicles have been good for long journeys meaning that even if you could afford one you would need an alternative.

I think it's all relative. I drive an 08 Mondeo with 110k miles on it, the outside has lots of stone chips, and a great big dent in one door when my son fell out of another car and slammed the door into it. I call it the banger because the mileage is high, and it looks a bit rough around the edges. I do love driving it, it has got to the point where it has little value and I will keep driving it until it becomes expensive to maintain (costs almost nothing at the moment.) Our other car is a 65 plate Sorrento - the first car we have ever spent serious money on, and is our little slice of luxury

I stand by my opinion that most cars are old bangers, powered by outdated petrol/diesel engines. We know they cause pollution, we also know we can't trust the manufacturers to tell us how much, and we know they are doing little to address it - just look at any car advert. It's got Bluetooth! It comes in different colours! The streets are magically empty when you drive it!

We could move on, we could invest the money wasted on killing people, but reading most of the comments above, most people don't seem to want to.

We have a collection of vehicles in our family. One of them is an electric car.
I love it. Feels clean. Feels coo,l when you check under the hood & is cheaper to run.
We do have a gas guzzler too,so we aren't perfect! 😉

Thanks Ifailed, I've now realised I should stop driving my super cheap 03 plate car and go and buy a super expensive brand new Prius with all of the thousands of pounds I don't have. While I'm at it I'll stop driving to my volunteering with the elderly who don't see people for days on end, and not drive my chronically ill mother to the hospital once a week, just to ensure my grandchildren can live their lives happily as the planet won't explode with all of the fumes we pump into it. Sigh.

I have an "S" reg 18 yo Renault Megane. Cost me £349 a couple of years ago. 130,000 on clock - but..1. Never ever lets me down and 2. last MOT cost £95 and that incl cost of certificate.

Is it an old banger? Nope. It's a French classic car.

09 isn't old. But I'm often amazed at the expense in monthly payments that people go to in order to drive 'the latest' gadgeted car.

I do think some families want / like the latest safety features. Sometimes the only way to do that is with finance.
I can't blame them.

Oh I don't 'blame' anyone for how they spend their money at all. Just seems bonkers. And I suspect it's more to do with image than safety.

Indeed Pan - a five or ten year old car is probably no less safe than a new one.

You're doing well with the Renault too - in my experience French cars can be unreliable and prone to expensive faults so I now avoid them.

Cars are something I like to spend as little as possible on. I currently have a citycar on PCP. The tax and insurance are very cheap and because its only 2 years old, so far no repairs or MOT costs. I'm probably going to go back to a company car soon when the PCP runs out, because my company makes things very awkward if you don't have one and I just can't be bothered with the hassle any more.

I've also had older cars worth very little, but often they use more fuel, strangely can be more expensive to insure and tax is often a lot more (tax on current car £20) so currently I have reliable motoring for a predictable price that probably isn't a huge amount more expensive than an older car that needs repairing and costs more to tax etc.

I have a 1996 Nissan micra. I'm learning in it and if I pass next week I'll drive it till it dies which might be a while as dh is a mobile mechanic.

Downstairs - yep, a 96 Micra still on the road will outlast you!

I hope so! I'm a student for the next 3 years and it is cheap and cheerful to run!

Do you drive iFailed? If so, what? If you don't where do you live?

I have a '04 plate Land Rover Freelander. High spec, 2L turbo diesel BMW engine. She has done 150k miles and drives beautifully. Starts first time even if she has been stood for 6 weeks as she was this summer. I luff her. I can chuck the spaniel and terrier in it, I have horse gear in it all year round and as I work with horses am permanently covered in mud but I know when I hoover her out she will be immaculate.

It is easy to be sanctimonious when A) You actually have the money to upgrade to an electric car and B) you don't live somewhere very rural doing a very rural job like I do!

Forgot to add, I don't see her as an old banger but no doubt lots of people I know would! I don't particularly care.

Definitely about condition not age. DH has a 57 Focus and I have a 62 Focus Estate. When we bought the estate at Easter it replaced an 08 Vectra. 85k on the clock, only 8 years old but a complete banger. Kids and a series of small knocks had wrecked it. The older Focus is mint condition. But I confess I love my gadgets and my car has lots of them.

My 1967 VW is not a banger, it's a classic.

In 2001 I got a G Reg car so it was quite old at that point. But only 35,000 miles on it
Sold it in 2006. Last heard about it in 2015 and it was still going strong. Fiat Uno, refuses to die

1995 Toyota Rav 4 petrol, 2.0. Just passed MOT with minimal work. Has never let us down in 11 years. Body has a fair bit of sun damage but no rust (med country). Husband uses it as it's thirsty and he works locally.

2005 Ford Focus 1.6 diesel for me. Love it. I have quite a commute. I don't think I could do 200 km a day in an electric car.