How old is your car?

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

I'm looking for another new car. The 2 cars I've owned, so far, have been 10/11 years old. My BIL can get me a 9 year old one at a reasonable price but I'm wondering if I should get something newer. I don't have a huge budget and don't want to take out a loan but I have savings that I could use if absolutely necessary.

At the moment I have a 5 year old Fiat Bravo and DH has a 3 year old Focus. Before the Bravo I had a Citroën C1, bought new. I got a good deal on it, as DH pre-ordered a C5 at the same time (then cancelled his order and got his deposit back ). It was great having a new car as I didn't have to worry about MOTs, and it was under warranty if anything went wrong (which it didn't).

Over the years DH and I have had Renaults, Citroens, Toyotas, Peugeots and Fords with no major problems. The one car which was a nightmare was DH's Saab 93. It was a 1.9tDi and in the garage every other month with one thing or another, and as it was a Saab repairs cost a bloody fortune.

So factor in cost of repairs too!

DH's car has 04 plates, so 8 years old.
My car is a V reg, so much older. It doesnt get used that much as when we go out together we use DH's car.

11 years and counting...

when we bought it it was about 1 yr old

DH recently did some academic research on second hand car prices (really!) and he says that the 'sweet spot' for good value on the average car is three years old. That's when the fleet cars are sold so there is a lot of supply which brings the price down.

We have a Honda Jazz with 54 plates and a Ford Galaxy that was registered on May 30th!

We've just got rid of DH's Mitsubishi Colt which was an R reg.

The Galaxy is through the Motability scheme though.

I have a Freelander that is 15 years old (though he masks this well with DH's poncy private plate- a kind of botox for cars really)
I have owned it for years and prior to that it was clearly owned by somebody to whom money was no object so it came with a raft of main dealer service history. We have to consciously ensure that he is serviced at regular intervals to keep him healthy and now there is a myriad of small, not terribly irksome things that don't quite work as they should do but to trade in we would get next to nothing.
Having said that, we have just driven to the South of France and back in him with no problems. As far as possible we have a "contingency fund" for breakdowns, keep top level breakdown cover and try and have £300 or so aside come MOT time (though I cannot deny that every MOT sees me pacing round like an expectant father outside the delivery room) So far that has seen us right
Oh, and I bought a brand new car (pre DS, when I actually HAD money!) It had been out the garage all of 3 hours before some bastard body ran down the side of it- I actually sat on the concrete in the supermarket car park and cried

We have just changed both our old renaults for Volvo estates. Mine is an 03 plate sport and DHs is a Y plate with 40k on the clock. Both in immaculate condition.

I wouldn't buy French cars again

I have a 6 year old Saab. Great car but will change later this year. Thinking about low mileage Audi. Bit gutted that Saab is not around any more.

I have a 54 reg Mercedes and my husband has a 55 reg Audi A4 Estate - we're just thinking of getting another car to replace the Audi. My husband would never, ever buy a new car as he says that they devalue so much in the first 2/3 years, so we are looking for a car that is about 2/3 years' old. We will probably get a Passat Estate if we can find something suitable.

Remember that when you drive a new car off the forecourt it immediately drops hugely in value. I spent part of yesterday afternoon sitting in different cars in a huge car lot - it's a great way to decide what kind of car you actually like and feel comfortable with, even if you go elsewhere to buy something.

Thanks for even more replies!

I'd really love a Mazda bongo but most of the ones in my price range are at least 15 years old.

Mercs are actually a bit shit by the way (my one-woman crusade). People think they are great but they aren't really. We also have a few friends who have "saved up" and bought them as dream cars, once they got financially secure etc., only to find they were rubbish.

Age isn't necessarily the gauge. Manufacturer is.

Mercs were good, then they went shit, now they're getting better (or are better) again. Good manufacturers can make bad models (Lancia Beta, anyone?), sometimes there can be a few bad examples of a particular model.

Most Japanaese cars like ... Toyota etc. are really well made and engineered.

How quickly we forget the massive issues with sticking accelerators and the huge recalls.

Buy on condition, not age. A well-looked after car will run for a long time (especially if it doesn't have complex electrical systems such as in newer cars). This is why 50 or 60 year old cars (and older) are still running today and keep on going - they are mechanically fairly simple and are cared for by enthusiasts.

Buy a new car if you can afford it, and by that I mean the huge depreciation on new cars. Factor in resale value against purchase price and consider the total cost of ownership. A quick look at 3 or 4 year old Ford Focuses suggests the depreciation is in the region of £10K+. If you bought something at around £5K, assume depreciation is £2K over 3 years, you've got £8K to spend on repairs before you even match the money you've lost on a new car.

If you've got the cash to splash and must have the latest and greatest, go new; if you don't want to look after your complex, painstakingly-designed and engineered car capable of travelling over 100mph, prepare to pay someone else lots of money to maintain it, or lose loads of money when it dies due to a lack of mechanical sympathy.

You mentioned not wanting to take out a loan, and potentially using savings: this is the cheapest option. Never borrow if you have cash, you will end up worse off due to earning less interest on the savings than you pay on the loan.

Both are 10 years, a Fiat Multipla and a Discovery, one seats 6 and the other 7

Have a new 61 plate, had from New i mean, we had 0 to put towards a new car so finance only option, and they gave us 2k part ex for DPs 11 year old car, where as we had been offered 500. Will keep this one until paid off, so at least 4 years, then part ex for something a bit meatier, i want a focus

irregularregular Is your DH's research viewable somewhere? At risk of coming over too geeky, my DH and I were just discussing this, we would like a new car because it would be exactly as we wanted and hopefully last for well over a decade but know this is a bit silly economically. I could probably spend a happy evening reading your DH's research [saddo emoticon]

I have a 1997 3 series bmw, 80k on clock and it's a wonderful donkey of a car. Previous MOTs have been clear except the odd bald tyre and a replacement exhaust last year/

My husband has a 1994 oneand again nomajor issues in 6 years. Amazing cars. If you want cheap hey are great. Also they don't guzzle as much gas as you'd think.

I just bought a 1997 vauxhall corsa. Fingers crossed!

Lancias! Thank god you don't get them in the UK any more. We had a hire car on holiday in Italy last autumn and it was a Lancia Weirdo. Christ what a pile of crap that was. It was a bit like a Fiat Mito a small MPV, I think, but not really one thing or the other. Really awkward gear change, other instruments counter-intuitive, rolled alarmingly on bends and seriously underpowered. If you're ever offered one as a hire car, decline! (I just looked it up, it was actually a Lancia Muso.)

Ten year old Yaris, which I ve had for three years. Only had to replace tyres and battery, she just keeps on running.

I've had a succession of sub-£500 cheap cars all over 10 years old and really, I can't see much to force me to get in debt to buy something newer. My current one's done 143,000 miles and is 13 years old. It's not perfect, it has had issues (it failled the emissions last year and had to have a £100 new part in the cat,converter for example). But really, how serious is an issue going to ever be when you know you can go out and get another car for £350?

Breakdown cover is essential with a cheap car, but the £30 bog standard cover will do. Recently a bit came away from my exhaust and was dragging the road. I knew it wasn't a well car and I should have rested it, but my daughter needed A&E an hour away, and we drove it hard, so I have to take the fact I broke it on the chin. The RAC had it drivable again in under 20 mins at the hospital carpark and with their bodge-job it was still running OK 2 weeks later. The garage bill to fix it properly was under £70 in total for parts and fitting.

Breaking down will happen with older cars. You need a zen-like acceptance that this is all just tomorrows tales over coffee.You need a spare nappy and a book in the boot. You also need a friendly mechanic who understands you are skint and will talk real-world options with you about when to keep it running or when to send it to scrap.

Getting a loan to get a car which you don't know is better, you just know it's younger, is, in my oppinion a lot more of a risk than taking on an older car. If your car dies the scappy will give you about £100 for it (depends on world metal prices that month), so you face each bill one at a time. Your loan still demands to be paid no matter what else you need that month, so with a £2000 car you could potentially be looking at a £400 bill, plus a loan repayment (lets say £100) and STILL not be on the road because you are waiting for parts, whereas I would just have another car within a day or two.

6 months old - it's on a lease (DH & i have our own company) so it's more tax efficient.

Mine is 3yrs old, we got a newer car so it would last me longer

SaffronCake - we think the same. Have a 17 yo car, cost £550 this year @ 144,000. Wind up windows and a cassette player. Body really gud and has been serviced to within an inch of it's life by previous owners. Worth a fortune to me! Would never spend more than £1,000 on a car now.

I have an N reg corsa so 17 years old. I bought it for £350 2 years ago with £50k and one previous owner. I love that i own it outright and if it dies it won't be too difficult to find the money to replace it. I can't imagine paying out in finance payments every month but each to their own.

Mine is 43

No tax and £100 a year fully comp, what's not to love?!

we always have old cars - atm its an R reg micra which we use to get to work and back, and a T reg galaxy which is used by whichever of us has the kids that day. they've both been fine, still passing MOTs and run fine except for a couple of little bits. we do want to replace the galaxy but only because it's a gas guzzler and so very expensive on fuel and tax, and now our youngest is out of buggies we just don't need the huge boot anymore. We're looking at finance options - I know vauxhall do 0%, does anyone else?

old micras are super reliable really, they go on and on. ours cost us £700. the galaxy was £1800 4 years ago.