What ever you do a car costs money.

It's value is changing usualy down

maintenance usual up.

What you try to do is get the long term average as low as possible, so you spread the ealy depreciation over the longer term and hope that the maintenance does not kill the numbers..

even is you were spending £1k a year fixing(over consumables) you would probably still be better of keeping this on cost over a newer one.

There may be other compelling reasons to change, economy, tax, insuance, comfort, toys, fun etc.

The best value (I spent a lot of time analyzing this) is to buy a small, very economical diesel brand new/nearly new as they hold their value very well. Use this for long journeys where you need reliability.

+1 I had a pre-reg Clio 1.5dCi (100hp), Bought for £9k traded it in 4yr and 80k later for £4700. That's pretty good I think for a 'orrible ****ty little frog car.

Bought the VRS for about £17k, 4yr and 50k later it was worth £5700 on a trade in :(

Dealers I've been to check with Glasses and CAP normally but they prefer CAP because it's based on actual auction sales (so they said). There can be quite a difference between the two. £1500 difference one dealer told me.

Well thanks for all the advice guys !

For the last 3 and a half years, I have had 2 cars that were less than five years old. My original plan was, to change my car before it was 5 years old, and while it still had some value, trade it in for a car that was 2-3 Years old and then just keep changing them when they get to five years old for a 2-3 old car.

I know I would then have the dreaded car loan for as long I keep changing the cars, but car loans are a fact of life if you want to run newish cars !

Is that not a cost effective way to do this or doesn't it work out that way in reality ?

I know this might sound contradictory to what I have been saying, but.....

I would be happy to drive my current car for another 4 or 5 years if it behaves itself ....

my only worry is when the time does come to change it, it will not be worth a lot so I would then need a even bigger car loan to buy a car that, was maybe not even 3 years old...

Edited 3 August, 201213 yr by studmuffin

My sensible head says to me - keep the car. When it's paid off even if you're paying £1000 a year in repairs that's cheaper than a new car.

My inner petrolhead says - The car is paid off, NEW CAR NEW CAR NEW CAR

So far the petrolhead has always won.

The trick is to save money, reduce the size of loans each time, get out of the loan cycle.

Even consider running something basic/economical for a couple of years to speed up the process

worked example

£20k car with a 2.5year 1/2 life

starting point £5k cash £5k loan

Buy at 2.5y £10k sell at 5y £5k, repeat new loan £5k so £2k year on year

Buy at 2.5y £10k sell at 7.5y £2.5k, £5k loan paid off in 2.5 years, £5k saved in the next 2.5y new loan £2.5k repeat next car no loan..

There may be some extra repairs reducing the £5k saved that one of the risks, .

Option 3.

The money you paid for the car is gone. Forget about it, it's not coming back.

Cars are not investments, they are money pits. The only way to feel good about it is to get more enjoyment from the use of it than the money could otherwise get you. I mean really, you're a lot further ahead than if you'd spent 9.5k on crack.

Just had my 2007 (57) PD170 vRS valued today. 52,000 miles.

Glasses Guide - P/X valuation = £7,800.

I paid £9,600 for it 10 months ago (with 33,000 miles on it) so it has depreciated £180/month in the time I've had it.

Or £2160 / year...

Or 9.5p / mile.

Just been offered £6,600 for the same car in P/X over the phone from Hayselden Skoda in Doncaster!

I went for option 3 2 months ago, as id decided my octy would be a 'keeper'. Honestly, I treat it like a new car now - dpf off and stage 1 has changed it so much performance wise and I get +10mpg on top too! The other question for me has always been "what's going to offer me better performance/space (it's the estate), value (mine has everything it's possible to have / mpg is 40-50 now if heavy footed/not). It out accelerates a 330d and im a derv fan so... What would be better? (it also had 10k miles on it when I bought it @4yo a year ago so I don't need to worry about trade in life I guess for the mo). But...I had a furby vrs mk1 which I traded in 18 months ago with 105k on the clock and only lost 2k on it having bought it 2 years earlier with 65k on the clock (approx 30% loss in value in 2 years). So - it's going to cost, but if it's a derv (and you do get the map done) you'll be smiling on the extra 'car' you've just bought, and the money you're saving (take it as anti-depreciation) at the pump.

The other element for me (especially when people ask me how I managed to find my car with high spec/low mileage) is to become as passionate about driving value from your new car purchase as you are about trade in values. I searched daily for octy vrs diesels for 6 months (up with my 2yo late at night does these things to you) - and I saw prices vary massively. Without telling people what they know, cars are like shares so I'd recommend tracking in this way - when a trade in price stays flat but purchase price drops then you're quids in as much as if you get more tradein but your new car is high. Also get to know about the car you have/the car you want. I deliberately went for a PD/pre-FL because I knew the book was devaluing it more than was warranted!

So - if it's a 57 PD I'd get the dpf off/stage 1 -less likely to be risk of an MOT fail in the future either from what I can gather, and I can vouch for cracking smile/£ value which is what it is really about in life IMHO.

So - if it's a 57 PD I'd get the dpf off/stage 1 -less likely to be risk of an MOT fail in the future either from what I can gather, and I can vouch for cracking smile/£ value which is what it is really about in life IMHO.

Regarding the DPF/MOT failure point, VOSA have recently confirmed that DPF removal is not an MOT failure, and also (as I had suspected for some time), they admitted they don't have any records of which cars were supposed to have DPFs fitted in the first place, which tends to rule out any future introduction of a failure point for this on current cars.

Regarding the DPF/MOT failure point, VOSA have recently confirmed that DPF removal is not an MOT failure, and also (as I had suspected for some time), they admitted they don't have any records of which cars were supposed to have DPFs fitted in the first place, which tends to rule out any future introduction of a failure point for this on current cars.

Maybe I'm just being thick but if they really want to stop DPF removal (if they care) wouldn't they just have to tweak/toughen the emissions test?

Maybe I'm just being thick but if they really want to stop DPF removal (if they care) wouldn't they just have to tweak/toughen the emissions test?

I'm sure they will toughen up the diesel smoke emissions test at some point for cars built from some current or future date, they have already for cars registered after 1 July 2008, but I was referring really to cars in current use and MOT test age. It was still legal for manufacturers to sell Euro lV diesel cars right up to late 2010. Some had DPFs, some didn't. The MOT emissions test is set to never be more stringent than the levels a vehicle was expected to meet when new.

Therefore they can't expect a 2010-and-earlier diesel to meet a blanket DPF-level smoke emissions test if some quite legitimately didn't have DPFs fitted from the factory. The really removes any possibility of VOSA ever introducing a yet more stringent smoke test for cars of that age. I might be more cautious removing a DPF from say, a 2011 onwards diesel if I was intending keeping it for several years, but with older cars I wouldn't worry.

Option 3.

The money you paid for the car is gone. Forget about it, it's not coming back.

Cars are not investments, they are money pits. The only way to feel good about it is to get more enjoyment from the use of it than the money could otherwise get you. I mean really, you're a lot further ahead than if you'd spent 9.5k on crack.

This is the only way to look at cars. Unless you are investing in a "now classic" or something that will become a classic in 20 years then you are always going to lose money.

Just forget about values, future values, trade-in's, part-ex's - unless you are desperately looking to buy a new car. It's the same as all these people in "negative equity" with the mortgages and houses - only a real issue if you actively want to move house or sell up.

This is the only way to look at cars. Unless you are investing in a "now classic" or something that will become a classic in 20 years then you are always going to lose money.

Just forget about values, future values, trade-in's, part-ex's - unless you are desperately looking to buy a new car. It's the same as all these people in "negative equity" with the mortgages and houses - only a real issue if you actively want to move house or sell up.

Yep, agreed....cars lose money !

Although there's still 5k left in my vRS at the moment...

Now this is where I'm stuck what to do ....

Could either trade my vrs now, for 5k and get a affordable loan of say...5k on a 3 year old vrs or,

Have tremendous fun in my vrs for the next 3-4 years, ( and it would be fun because its a vrs ! )

But when the time comes to change, a 10k plus loan for a 2-3 year old car,it would be impossible for me to finance.

So it would have to be back to cars that are 5 years are older.

I know cars are moneypits, I have had plenty of fords and found out the hard way !

Just to put it simply....I could possibly afford now to keep changing cars every couple of years for cars that are 2-3 years and get rid at 5 years old because my vrs would be worth about 5k in a part ex...

Or run the vrs into the ground and it worth Nowt and then go back to olders cars because I could not finance a newer 3 year old car..

The chances are,I will go for option 3, have fun and keep the car for a few years more and try to save some money now..

Now wheres the best place for a dpf delete + stage 1 remap !

Edited 5 August, 201213 yr by studmuffin

Now wheres the best place for a dpf delete + stage 1 remap !

Shark?

Dave

You car won't loose all that much in the next 2yr. Plus it's cheaper to borrow more money when you have to.

Also you've now discovered that a car can last more than 3yr without costing the earth so you might be happier paying less for longer on the next one.

VRS was my first new car, it'll be the last but I'm glad I've done it once.

Yep, agreed....cars lose money !

Although there's still 5k left in my vRS at the moment...

Now this is where I'm stuck what to do ....

Could either trade my vrs now, for 5k and get a affordable loan of say...5k on a 3 year old vrs or,

Have tremendous fun in my vrs for the next 3-4 years, ( and it would be fun because its a vrs ! )

But when the time comes to change, a 10k plus loan for a 2-3 year old car,it would be impossible for me to finance.

So it would have to be back to cars that are 5 years are older.

I know cars are moneypits, I have had plenty of fords and found out the hard way !

Just to put it simply....I could possibly afford now to keep changing cars every couple of years for cars that are 2-3 years and get rid at 5 years old because my vrs would be worth about 5k in a part ex...

Or run the vrs into the ground and it worth Nowt and then go back to olders cars because I could not finance a newer 3 year old car..

The chances are,I will go for option 3, have fun and keep the car for a few years more and try to save some money now..

Now wheres the best place for a dpf delete + stage 1 remap !

but you have an extra 3-4 years to save money less the EXTRA costs of running an older car and the car will not be worth nothing.

If you can pay for a £5k loan now you can save that amount now.

If you are taking loans out for more and/or longer than the depreciation then you need a rethink.

How long would a £5k loan need to be.

Yep, agreed....cars lose money !

Although there's still 5k left in my vRS at the moment...

Now this is where I'm stuck what to do ....

There's a distinct difference between thinking you have 5k left in your current car and having a 5k offer on your current car.

There's a distinct difference between thinking you have 5k left in your current car and having a 5k offer on your current car.

Am a little confused here !

If I was to sell or part ex my car now , that would be 5k off my next car ??

Edited 8 August, 201213 yr by studmuffin

Am a little confused here !

If I was to sell or part ex my car now , that would be 5k off my next car ??

Like houses, cars are worth nothing until you have a buyer. All values are simply guesses until the money is in your hand. Trades part/ex are different as they can load/discount the value of the other car to make you feel better/worse.

Like houses, cars are worth nothing until you have a buyer. All values are simply guesses until the money is in your hand. Trades part/ex are different as they can load/discount the value of the other car to make you feel better/worse.

Agreed...although I was offered 5/ half k part/ex on a new Citroën ds3 on a pcp plan, about 8 weeks ago ( when my vrs broke down ) but again I wasn't too happy with the payments......so to keep myself loan-free, for a few years more....I have decided to keep my vrs for a couple more years at least...

It's having 2 new tyres on sat and as soon as I have the pennies, I will be having a dpf delete and stage 1 remap.

Gunna still try and save some cash though over the next couple of years so its a bit easier when I do have to change..

Edited 8 August, 201213 yr by studmuffin