OT: For spotters of unusual odometer readings...

[JNugent]

:-)

I only ever buy new...

[PeterE]

This view seems to attract derision on this NG (uk.rec.driving) but I have to say that if you want peace of mind it is the best policy.

Every "pre-owned" car my family has bought over the past 40 years has been attended with significant problems.

--

"The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of civilisation in any country." (Winston Churchill)

[Clive George]

Only if you're prepared to pay the extortionate premium. And of course new car doesn't necessarily mean reliable - see many tales of woe indicating otherwise.

You'd be victims then :-)

cheers, clive

[Guy King]

The message from "PeterE" contains these words:

I prefer the warm glow in my pocket that comes from only spending a few hundred quid on a car which lasts me a few years then gets binned.

I last sold a car about twenty years ago - since then I've always run 'em into the ground with an average depreciation of - er - about £200/year. Not really had great reiability problems with them - though I had a head gasket go on the Montego on Monday. Less than £50 to fix including a new timing belt.

[krystnors]

I have never had a new car, and don't really feel the need for one. The two cars we have didn't cost £1100. As for the mileage they might both be correct. They both drive, feel and look (steering wheel, foot pedals etc) according to the mileage on the odometer. And if the mileages are not correct I didn't buy them assuming they were.

As for buying a new car I wouldn't feel good parting with a small fortune knowing full well that as soon as I drove it out of the showroom I could watch 10%+ of my hardearned disappear in smoke. Never mind that I would have to get it serviced at the dealers, at dealer prices, to make sure the warranty was kept valid. No thanks.

krystnors

[Tony Bryer]

My first car, back in 1971 was a £100 Mini - big mistake not to wait until I could get something newer. It went through about £400 worth of spares in two years and kept me busy every weekend fixing things.

My last five cars (and two earlier ones) have been new, changed at about 3 years so no worries about spares, repairs, tyres, MOT etc. As I run my car on my company the new(ish) company car tax rules mean that when I changed my £9K Suzuki Wagon for an £11K Honda Jazz my tax bill went down!

From a depreciation pov the best of the 5 was my 1995 Skoda Felicia: bought for £6800 (list price more or less) and sold to another Skoda dealer for £4000 cash three years later. Warranty work: one wiper arm replaced due to a snapped rivet. Other expenses apart from annual service: nil. I've reached that stage in life which I would once have thought sad: I want my car to get from A to B (well actually Wickes to home with a load of stuff), not to make me feel good or impress people.

[Tony Bryer]

The first 12 month service on my Honda Jazz cost £121+VAT including interior and exterior valet. Even BMW have decided they can throw in a

5 years servicing for £500 (IIRC).

[Guy King]

The message from "krystnors" contains these words:

I've only had 'em when the company's provided 'em. And not really liked 'em then, either. I prefer 'em broken in.

[Paul Mc Cann]

Which may reflect on your ability to buy second hand rather than the quality of what is available. (No offence intended)

[JNugent]

Always a possibility, such is the nature of human frailty.

But posts above seem to indicate that there are risks in buying s/h which will be deliberately hidden from the potential buyer by a determmined member of the s/h motor trade.

I had a terrible experience with the last s/h car I bought (a well-known UK-made model, about twenty years ago). After that, I was determined to take no more risks. I couldn't afford not to have reliability and predictability. And British cars (at least, ones I can afford) are OUT, after the frustrating time I had with that s/h car and with the first new car I ever bought, clearly built on a Longbridge Friday afternoon by a team with half an ear cocked towards the sayings of Red Robbo instead of concentrating on the folk who paid their wages.

Never again. It's French cars for me. So far, my eperience has been that you cannot beat them for value and reliability. On my current car (4.5 years old next month), all I have had to do in that time (other than for routine servicing, and in over 90,000 + miles) is fit two new tyres, reline the front brakes and replace the front discs.

I can't imagine a new Austin ever returning that sort of service, let alone a used one.

[Clive George]

predictability.

Thankfully in those intervening twenty years, things have got much better. With a few exceptions (at least one of which is french!), most run-of-the-mill stuff is fine second hand, and will last a very long time.

cheers, clive

[IMM]

You are correct Maxie, they did have days in 1973.

Maxie, what a baptism of fire.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If only this was true.

And you've not had any problems with new?

I always buy secondhand because I can't - or more to the point won't - afford a car of the type I buy new.

A reasonably recent secondhand quality make will carry the same warranty as new, and should also be as near as dammit in new condition - but at a considerable saving. And any 'teething' problems should have been sorted by the previous owner.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You've not read any of the many consumer surveys or check things like the guides for depreciation?

Whilst some French cars may well have their merits, reliability and low

*overall* running costs when bought new aren't among them.

[raden]

U woz ripped orft my first car was (1973 ?) also a Mini ... I paid £25 for it, sold it 12 months later for ....£25

Those were the days

(I didn't mention that my first job on a car was a Mini rear subframe, did I ?)

[raden]

In message , IMM writes

Baptism of underseal actually

>

[Guy King]

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

Quite. Let some other sucker carry the depreciation and niggly delivery faults.

[JNugent]

My experience has been different.

[AstraVanMan]

Even slightly older ones should be ok if you know what to look for when buying, or simply know what models to get and which ones to avoid (i.e. ones that are likely to have problems). I see buying a car with a fair few years and miles on it as a good thing if the owner's had it a long time, as it means that any little teething problems will have been sorted out, and the chances are if nothing's gone wrong in the last several years and several thousand miles, then it's fair to say that as long as things like cambelts are kept up to date, then the chances are nothing will.

My car was 8 years and 100,000 miles old when I bought it, and the previous owner had had it since it was 3 years old, and the first owner was a friend of his. Nothing major had gone wrong in all that time - only significant things were the remote C/L control unit packing up and the electric fan (to do with the rad, and also the a/c system) going wrong, both of which were sorted straight away, and possibly a wheel bearing. Hopefully with regular servicing it'll do me for several more years and a good 100-200k more (at least!) without anything major going wrong.

My van was 6 years and 50,000 miles old when I bought it - the previous owner had owned it from new (my mate's boss) and always driven the thing nicely (he's not the type to rag something about) and got it serviced every

6,000 miles. Nothing's ever gone wrong with it. I'm doing around 25k/year in it, so if I keep it for 6 years and nothing major goes wrong I'll be laughing. Won't be worth much at the end of that, but if it's still in good nick, probably about £500 or so, so that'll be £3k in depreciation over 150,000 miles and 6 years. I can live with that, especially if absolutely bugger all goes wrong in that time.

Peter

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Since even the worst cars have what would be considered reasonable reliability by the standards of a few years ago, it's possible you've just been lucky. But there's no getting round the economics.