Tony Soprano
Quality over quantity
Nearly doubled.
what can you do
What do you subbies all drive for work ?
- Thread starter Tony Soprano
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what can you do
Used vehicle prices seem to be getting more realistic too 
andy_spark
Senior Member
I've got a 2006 Combo with the Isuzu 1.7 cdti, which I've had since 2009. Euro 4 and does about 36 mpg with roof rack etc. Cost £3400 with 97k on the clock in 3 years. I've taken it to 162k and it carries a load of weight, tows stuff etc, couldn't fault it been brilliant really.
Other than a couple alternators £300, one timing belt change £500 and one clutch flywheel kit £700 it's been fairly minimal running costs.
Last financial year was about £220 of parts including two tyres and a battery. I do a fair bit of maintenance and all servicing myself. This is pretty much bang on average running cost per year.
For the last 3 years I've expected it to fail the MOT catastrophically but not yet! I had a patch welded this year which was the most expensive yet at £200 but that's it, plus servicing.
In my opinion it costs less to pay £250 a year on maintenance than the depreciation and finance costs of something newer.
It just depends what you don't mind driving.
Other than a couple alternators £300, one timing belt change £500 and one clutch flywheel kit £700 it's been fairly minimal running costs.
Last financial year was about £220 of parts including two tyres and a battery. I do a fair bit of maintenance and all servicing myself. This is pretty much bang on average running cost per year.
For the last 3 years I've expected it to fail the MOT catastrophically but not yet! I had a patch welded this year which was the most expensive yet at £200 but that's it, plus servicing.
In my opinion it costs less to pay £250 a year on maintenance than the depreciation and finance costs of something newer.
It just depends what you don't mind driving.
Tony Soprano
Quality over quantity
Mine is a petrol 1.6 Astra H 2010. I service it myself every 8k miles. Just changed ignition coil pack. I’ve only ever had work done on the usual stuff like brakes and tyres. People slate Vauxhall but I really can’t fault it. Never misses a beat. Runs like a car with half the miles on it. I keep expecting it to play up but it keeps going. Flies through MOTs every year. I’ll stick with it until a really pricey repair bill comes. I think you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you want. I think a repair bill of £500 to £1000 per year is better than £500 a month on finance.
andy_spark
Senior Member
The bloke who welded mine last November was unsure I would want to spend £200 welding a sill. I said if we don't it's perfectly fine other wise and it'll be scrapped for £200 as that's the only reason it failed the MOT. Then I'd have to spend much more replacing it!
It begs the question is it better for the world to keep older vehicles running, perhaps slightly less efficiently, or scrap them all and replace with new stuff and the masses of energy and environmental costs associated? To save 4 mpg???
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