Cars, cars, cars...

rakkor

At 6'6" I don't fit in them, even the long version was too tight for me (that may have been a westfield though)

shirley_basso

Back to very boring car chat, still struggling with what to do with current car.

Current situation: '18 plate Skoda Superb. Very comfy, fits all my stuff in (plus 2 kids, bikes etc), does 50mpg+ for the 600 mile drive to scotland or 150 miles to my parents. PCP contract is £285 per month and expires end of this month, I owe £10k. Has 46k miles on the clock.

The dealer I bought it from has agreed to buy it back for £18k, so I get £8k towards a new car, delivery date unknown (I keep the current car at the same monthly cost). The new car, once delivered will be £335, so £50 more, but it's basically the same as I have now, except with front parking sensors.

I can borrow £10k over 4 years for £220, so £65 less than I am paying now, and £115 less than the new car, so about £1,400 per year difference. Call it £800 after service and MOT.

Main reasons for keeping:

• My car mainly does motorway mileage, so doesn't have a hard life - I got in an Uber the other day with 145,000 miles and the driver said it's been faultless so long as you keep the oil changed (easily done).
  
• After 4 years I will own it outright so no more monthly payments.
  
• I'd rather pocket the different and put towards energy price hikes
  

Anything I'm missing?

pblakeney

I'd keep it until it is a financial write off as that's what I've always done. (Assuming you are happy to begin with). Others don't seem to mind coughing up for new and shiny.

shirley_basso

Think that sounds like the best plan. The finance only costs £500 over ther 4 years.

My wife doesn't like the colour, though...

pblakeney

shirley_basso said:

Think that sounds like the best plan. The finance only costs £500 over ther 4 years.

My wife doesn't like the colour, though...

All other arguments are null and void. 😉

First.Aspect

. What colour is it?

shirley_basso

White

First.Aspect

Dull but inoffensive. And if you get another Skoda it will be dull but a different colour.

Keep it.

focuszing723

shirley_basso said:

White

Well, it does show up the dirt.

pinno

Get a brown one.

morstar

I’d stick unless you want to keep updating every 4 years.
Too early to buy electric.
In 2030* when the supply side is totally electric, petrol will start to become increasingly expensive due to economies of scale.
At this point, you are seeing less of a depreciation acceleration on a 12 year old car than an 8 year old one.

*2030 seems unlikely in my mind but the supply will still be heavily skewed to electric regardless. Manufacturers will want to turn off the ice supply side asap once they are running an extensive electric vehicle manufacturing process.

shirley_basso

First.Aspect said:

Dull but inoffensive. And if you get another Skoda it will be dull but a different colour.

Keep it.

Exactly. Doesn't set your emotions alight but is extremely practical, which is all I care about. Not really in the market for an RS6, but even if I was, what would I do with it? I'm hardly doing track days with 2 kids in the back.

I was more thinking about the economics of what to do next. I also agree with Morstar's assessment of switching to EV. I don't really see the point in a hybrid for my driving as the weight of batteries on the motorway would more than offset the MPG saved by my limited city driving. A large Tesla would be fun but far more expensive than the Skoda - and ultimately, I have exceptional practicality at a good price right now - so mainly wondering if it's worth cashing in my £8k equity and slightly upping my monthly cost, or just get through the next 4 years payments then own it outright...and save the difference thereafter.

Stevo_666

shirley_basso said:

Think that sounds like the best plan. The finance only costs £500 over ther 4 years.

My wife doesn't like the colour, though...

edward.s

Keep the Superb. if you chop it in you'll have a mildly shinier version of the same thing for much more money.

I have a friend with an 18 plate superb on 100k miles and its still faultless and cost nothing other than servicing and brakes.

My own Superb combi is also an 18 plate but with much less miles and I plan to keep it for many more years - maybe in 10 years electric will have matured enough that it would work for the kind of motoring I do and I'll swap it then.

Pross

I’d be tempted to keep it, you know the car and it’s history which is usually the risk of an older car. Doesn’t sound like you’ve racked up massive mileage.

Having had company cars for nearly 20 years it was lovely having a brand new car every 3 years but after a few months they were just another car. When I joined my current company they couldn’t offer me a company car but the boss gave me his old (3 year old) personal car which I still have 5 years on with 180k miles on the clock. It wouldn’t have been my first choice of engine or colour (it’s also white) but it does the job nicely.

veronese68

edward.s said:

Keep the Superb. if you chop it in you'll have a mildly shinier version of the same thing for much more money.

This, very much this. But then I'm a lot more aligned with the bangernomics theory of car ownership.

shirley_basso

Stevo_666 said:

shirley_basso said:

Think that sounds like the best plan. The finance only costs £500 over ther 4 years.

My wife doesn't like the colour, though...

Those two dealerships are too close to each other - we'd never make a decision.

focuszing723

Ah, one other thing. Don't forget older diesel cars haven't got all the eurocap b0ll0cks, so you don't have to keep filling and spending money on Adblue. A right pain in the ar$e.

Wheelspinner

shirley_basso said:

White

Keep car. Get it wrapped to change colour with savings.

orraloon

Agree, keep it and run it until it fails and gets too costly to fix.

My 'recent' purchases:
Saab 9-5 Aero estate, bought 2000, lasted 13 years
L200, still going after 17 years though the end may be nigh
Octavia, acquired in May, will see me to the end of ICE times.

shirley_basso

All makes good sense. I think I need to think of it as the short term savings, but outright ownership in the next 4 years.

Even if the seller can match the monthly price I don't think it's worth it, as I will be debt free once the loan's repaid, vs another balloon payment if I renew.

pblakeney

Of course you realise that you are now partially culpable for the recession. 😉

shirley_basso

I am just glad I am smart enough to be one of the early savers before I realise I really can't afford to buy stuff.

veronese68

shirley_basso said:

I am just glad I am smart enough to be one of the early savers before I realise I really can't afford to buy stuff.

I always thought I was just plain tight, this kind of reasoning makes me look like a genius

rick_chasey

Yeah the flipside of being captain cautious with your money is that when this stuff happens there's no drama.

shirley_basso

Doesn't make it any less depressing seeing your savings sitting in a current account waiting to get hammered for heating bills.

pinno

shirley_basso said:

Doesn't make it any less depressing seeing your savings sitting in a current account waiting to get hammered for heating bills.

...or loosing value because of inflation.

rick_chasey

pinno said:

shirley_basso said:

Doesn't make it any less depressing seeing your savings sitting in a current account waiting to get hammered for heating bills.

...or loosing value because of inflation.

Markets have been pretty shocking this year too tbf.

pblakeney

rick_chasey said:

pinno said:

shirley_basso said:

Doesn't make it any less depressing seeing your savings sitting in a current account waiting to get hammered for heating bills.

...or loosing value because of inflation.

Markets have Everything has been pretty shocking this year too tbf.

FTFY. 😉

pinno

Shameless plug attempt number 2...

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1489171