On Fri, 21 May 2004 23:13:19 +0100, "Stuffed" <
[email protected]>
wrote in message <
[email protected]>:
>I picked up an Escort for 100 quid off Ebay. Thought I'd run it into the
>ground, but then sold it. Thought the current owner would kill it quickly,
>nearly 6 months on it's still going! It's broke down three times in total.
Exactly. I bought our last car at six years old with 100k on the
clock, ran it for another six years and 60,000 miles, and it never
broke down once. I have replaced it with another six-year-old 100k
mile car of the same manufacture.
>Ahh, but that's the "rather", as in want, not need, so to speak. And who's
>to say your 500 quid car won't be comfy? Should be able to pick up a TD
>Monty for that sort of money, or a reasonable 800.
Would you like to do a side-by-side comfort test between a TD Montego
and my Volvo V70 2.5T CD (with leather interior, climate control,
cruise, auto, CD player, traction control and so on)? I am pretty
confident the Volvo would win ;-)
>> >IMO, anyone can afford a car, and anyone can afford to travel as far in a
>> >car as but public transport, if they are willing to use something less
>> >fashionable.
>> And comfortable. And provided they are able-bodied. And not
>> epileptic or diabetic.
>Well, depending on the disability, there's DLA payments for mobility, as
>well as the scheme for disabled people.
A new car is zero-rated for VAT if it's permanently adapted for a
disabled user. Some adaptations can be retro-fitted, but many are
doen through Motability or other schemes based on new cars. The
adaptations alone can easily cost more than some people pay for a car.
>True certain illnesses mean you
>can't drive, but that's steering away from the point slightly. Out of
>interest, how does diabetic come into it? I'm aware of epilepsy and other
>mental problems, but would never have considered diabetes as a problem for
>driving.
Neither would I, but you know what insurance companies are like, and
some diabetics have a higher than ususal incidence of hypo.
>> Our second car, the one we sold, was a seven-year-old Honda Civic, a
>> modest motor by most standards. We save around £3,000 per year
>> through not having that car any more.
>Good on you. I need a car, as in, for reasons I won't go into I cannot use
>other forms of transport often. And I like playing with cars. And I
>personally could never conceive running a 7 year old car for 3 grand a year
>unless it was something rather nice - How do people find themselves spending
>so much when it's possible to do it on so much less? Unless you used to
>drive long distances when you had the car, and now don't venture past the
>shops?
It's not the running costs, it's depreciation, finance (every penny I
don't spend is knocked off my mortgage), insurance, MoT and servicing,
petrol, tyres, the occasional exhaust, that sort of thing. The RAC
reckons something over £5,000 per year, so I think £3k for running a
tidy little car is not too bad. It was a Civic 1.6 auto with aircon,
I sold it to my neighbour who is still very happy with it.
I have rebuilt cars from the ground up. There was no single component
of my old Mini which I had not removed and cleaned or replaced
(including the springs in the synchro hubs inside the gearbox). These
days I have better things to do with my time and in any case prefer a
car which I know will start without spending every fourth weekend
fettling some minor component.
I am a typical cyclist: above average income. Part of what I buy with
that is the leisure of a car which just works. Which I hardly ever
drive
Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
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