I have my lovely 11 plate Estate Elegance, 170 TDI DSG which has done 65k now. I do around 30k a year and I'm in a conundrum. Recently decided I was going to keep it until it died, mostly after being in a taxi which had done 450k, made me think it will go on forever.

However, chatting to a few colleagues they all thought that now was the time to sell up and trade in for something newer. I bought mine brand new which I now think was a mistake as I've lost so much money over the last two years but is it worth trading in for something with 10k on the clock?

How would the figures stack up at the moment?

Anyone done anything similar??

Personally we keep cars for the long term. Like you we are fortunate enough to be able to buy new. As everybody knows the first three years are the worst for depreciation. I have only had my Ele for 6 months but expect to keep it for many years. My last car I had for 11 years (and got my moneys worth out of it), my wifes for 12 years, (with Stellar mileage!) It also allows us to save a regular amount of money every month as there is no HP+ interest to worry about, so when it is time for a change we have enough cash available. Long term ownership has always worked for us. The money we save each month is regarded as 'spent', so it just keeps growing. With this gap between changes means that the motoring world has moved on so we are never changing like for like, its always something completely new.

Keep it - and enjoy it.

+1

However, chatting to a few colleagues they all thought that now was the time to sell up and trade in for something newer. I bought mine brand new which I now think was a mistake as I've lost so much money over the last two years but is it worth trading in for something with 10k on the clock?

So in two years time you are going to have the same car with 70K on the clock, not 120K. How's that dramatically better?

I bought mine brand new which I now think was a mistake as I've lost so much money over the last two years

So you bought yours roughly around the same time as me, when it was roughly 4-6 month or more wait for new. In view of this I looked at used as well as new, as I wanted one sooner. At that time all were less than a year old and used ones with 7-10K on the clock were only about £1K off list. In the end I managed to get a new 4x4 one online for less than this available immediately.

So given cost of used estates at that time, you wouldn't have saved much money.

If you want to change to have something new, that's a different matter, otherwise personally I can't see a logical or financial reason to change now.

Cheers

Steve

Thanks for the comments.

I'm thinking extended warranty from Warranty Direct and keeping it for at least a couple more years.

I was thinking of the buy at one sell at three constant turnover but I do also like the idea of trying to run it for 8-10 years. I'll save a fortune so long as it's reliable.

Thanks for the comments.

I'm thinking extended warranty from Warranty Direct and keeping it for at least a couple more years.

I was thinking of the buy at one sell at three constant turnover but I do also like the idea of trying to run it for 8-10 years. I'll save a fortune so long as it's reliable.

A Warranty Direct policy certainly gives a measure of comfort. I had one for 4 years on my 2005 Mondeo TDCi, which I traded in for my Superb soon after it turned 100K miles (and 7.5 years old).

I never had any problems with Warranty Direct on the two occasions I made a claim, but the total pay-out came to no more than £250, when I had in fact paid over £1200 in premiums.

If you're the sort of person that values the security of having a policy in place, then Warranty Direct is as good as any, and in my experience, better than most. However, others will suggest you should simply put aside what the premium would be each month, with the likelihood that any needed repairs will cost less than what you would have laid out in a warranty premium.

Once you get to 100,000 miles Warranty Direct only pays 50% for parts but 100% for labour.

A Warranty Direct policy certainly gives a measure of comfort. I had one for 4 years on my 2005 Mondeo TDCi, which I traded in for my Superb soon after it turned 100K miles (and 7.5 years old).

I never had any problems with Warranty Direct on the two occasions I made a claim, but the total pay-out came to no more than £250, when I had in fact paid over £1200 in premiums.

If you're the sort of person that values the security of having a policy in place, then Warranty Direct is as good as any, and in my experience, better than most. However, others will suggest you should simply put aside what the premium would be each month, with the likelihood that any needed repairs will cost less than what you would have laid out in a warranty premium.

I've signed up over the phone. Got it for £550 for two years payable quarterly over the year. Air con is bust so I'll see how I get on. Did you go for the independent garage or the dealer option. I'm personally not a fan of my local dealer in Chesterfield as they've been no help whatsoever to me and charge an extortionate amount for servicing. Loyalty seems to have fallen by the wayside somewhat.

I had my car serviced recently by a local garage. £90 for the lot, seems pretty good to me :-)

I've signed up over the phone. Got it for £550 for two years payable quarterly over the year. Air con is bust so I'll see how I get on. Did you go for the independent garage or the dealer option. I'm personally not a fan of my local dealer in Chesterfield as they've been no help whatsoever to me and charge an extortionate amount for servicing. Loyalty seems to have fallen by the wayside somewhat.

I had my car serviced recently by a local garage. £90 for the lot, seems pretty good to me :-)

Went for the franchised dealer option. Ford main dealer on my door step, who I had always been happy with. Also did all my own servicing, but let them do a £69 service very 12,500 miles - that way, my service book was all Ford stamps.