AIBU to drive a banger?

[Ruleof72]

I don’t think I’m being unreasonable but I’ve had another comment today about my car and I need a sense check.

I own a 10 year old car outright. It’s a cheap and cheerful Nissan juke and is viewed as a banger by friends/ family/ colleagues. Someone pushed their trolley into the side so it’s scratched and doesn’t look great but mechanically, excellent, I have looked after it.

Quite a few people have made the comment that my car is essentially a banger and they don’t understand why I don’t just buy myself a nice new flashy car. I have no desire to do this, so long as it gets me from
A to B, that’s good enough for me.

YABU - you have the means to drive around in a nice car so ditch the banger!
YANBU - current car is mechanically sound and reliable. You don’t need a Porsche (insert other flashy car brand) on finance!

I feel the same about cars. I always wonder what jobs people do when I see them in flashy cars. I have a decent job but I'm not a car person, some people are.
If you're happy with your car that's all that matters.

I had a flash bmw years ago, not new but lovely looking. Used to break down continuously, parts were a nightmare to get. When I got pregnant I traded it in for the most unflash but steady and reliable Skoda. Reliability over looks always op!!

All those that comment are breathtakingly shallow. I have a 12 year old Skoda Octavia. It gets from A-B. Both my husband and I earn in the top 1% of UK salaries. Why waste money on a new car unless you’re deeply insecure about your image?

Same. I also drive a ten year old banger, bought outright. It's what I've always done; buy a three or four year old car with cash, then keep it until it begins to get unreliable. Mine's a bit scratched and battered but it's got a few more years left in it. I don't care about a car as a status symbol, and I don't do loans or finance deals.

I’d be so much more pissed off if someone smashed a trolley into my (imaginary) Bentley than I was when they did it into my actual 10 yr old juke 😂😂

A car is just a tool.

Oh yes. Carry on with your car. I had a Toyota for 10 years that I loved and barely cost me anything in maintenance. Drove lovely. Like a fast sofa. I loved that car.
ULEZ meant it had to go
I bought an Audi with all the gadgets - I fucking hate it. Today I got in and it refused to start. Probably just the battery but I had every error message it could throw at me.
I'm gonna go back to Toyota

I've got a 15 year old Skoda, mechanically it's pretty much fine. A few scratches on the bodywork but no real issues.

It does what I need it to do, and isn't a drain on my monthly budget. One of my colleagues pays hundreds a month for a lease car and although it's so new and shiny, it's such a waste of money

I’ve got a 13 yo car, and it’s totally fine. Can’t see why I need to change it!

I've always had cars that are around 10 years old. Owned outright so no debt. I don't much care for a new car , or even newer, top of the range or whatnot.
I have dcs who I allow to eat and drink in the car I don't want to feel stressed about the mess , likewise muddy shoes etc ( I regularly hoover and clean it) but what I mean is my sister has a much newer car 18m old. Stresses at every little bit of mess or Mark. Her dcs take their shoes off before getting in the car if they're messy.

I also wouldn't be bothered too much if someone opened the door against it in a car park or something

It just depends on your priorities doesn’t it. I’m the same, I buy a car outright when my old one has died and inevitably it’s not that great a car as I haven’t ever managed to save up a huge amount. But it’s mine and it’s cheap to run and fix. A colleague of mine takes great pleasure in having finance for a car she would otherwise not be able to afford. It’s much nicer than my car. However I’d rather put the money towards other things. She would rather put the money toward a nice car. As long as we’re both happy with what we’re doing with the money we’ve earned, there’s no issue.

You have absolutely got this right. Function over form. No stress about leaving it anywhere. Laugh at them. People prioritise different things so nothing wrong with needing the best looking car if that is what they want. My only add is that it is worth getting rescue cover if it is going to break down, and a few things in the car to be prepped (warm coat, bottle of water, phone charger etc) mainly not to inconvenience yourself but also to give them ammunition for why you should not drive a banger. Like OP we have massively enjoyed cheap motoring with no issues, despite our incomes saying we should drive something "far better".

My bmw is twenty years old with 240k on the clock, still going strong! It sounds like an old tractor but is still a comfy drive. I’ll miss it when it fails its final MOT.

YANBU at all. As a PP said, cars are just a tool we use. I have never seen the appeal of something that simply looks flashy. My current car is 6 years old and feels exceptionally new to me!

I've always driven old heaps. Couldn't give a crap what other people think. The amount of prangs and crashes round here-just not worth having a nice car.

I have a Toyota Corolla Verso - 21 years old. I hope to keep it for several more years yet. Starts first time every single time. I have it serviced at Toyota garage in accordance with service plan. Long may it continue to run.

As long as it's safe, it's often better for the environment to keep cars longer (even allowing for the fact older cars might be less environmentally friendly to run), and you can spend your money on something better, or save it! Plus you won't have to stress as much about it getting damaged or nicked, and if you have a teenager in the family who might drive it, insurance is probably cheaper.

The people that judge others on cars are the insecure arseholes who think status symbols make them a better person or the weak-willed who believe in "fitting in" above all else. Unfortunately there's a lot of the first type about. Nobody else cares what you're driving. The only problem with driving a banger is that sometimes these judgemental types aren't just having a different opinion, sometimes they're having different values entirely and you can effectively get bullied because some people who think they're better than you also think that this justifies them looking down on you and treating you like dirt. I suppose you could get a flashy car on finance (I don't think it's necessarily the type of car itself, it's mainly the new pristine shininess that's the issue with these types) to avoid their judgement, personally I take the option of distancing myself from such people because I just CBA with attitudes like theirs. It seems to be a common problem because over the years I've known many piss-poor people getting cosmetic damage fixed on the insurance (and losing their NCD in the process) because they're of the mindset that "you can't drive around in a beat-up car".

Totally agree. Most people I know are paying £500+ for car finance, plus silly rules like restricted mileage etc, absolutely ridiculous. I luckily have a company car now, but prior to that an 11 plate Alfa and before that an 06 fiesta. Each to their own of course but to me it’s not worth the money.

Mines a 13 plate, I'd rather save my money than pretend I own a nice new car on hire purchase and worry about someone driving a trolley into it. Though I still got annoyed about getting a ding from someone's car door.

If you dont like cars then don't spend money on them..

Does a 10yo car count as a banger?

I can elevenerife you here, OP. I drive a 15 year old Polo, which used to be on finance but that I bought outright a few years ago. It costs me peanuts to run and it’s only broken down once (which was my fault as the battery got run down, long story). It’s got dints and dings and my mum broke off one of the sun visors about 10 years ago, but it gets me from A to B.

I shall hang onto it for as long as possible.

Our cars are much older then that and its cheaper to keep repairing with a few hundred quid here and there than trying to scrape thousands for a new er car or finance etc.
We don't care at all about our cars one is being held up with tape.
Also I have enough in life to worry about than dents or scratches on cars

A 10 year old Juke isn't a banger.

A 30 year old ford Escort is a banger.