I'm retired too, I'm in agreement with all MarinaBrian says. One of the greatest advantages...is this great club, with all the expertise, knowledge, and willingness to help, running costs/repairs can be very significantly reduced.

That alone swings it for me, and I enjoy my 75 very much too. Keep it is my advice.

Only yesterday I was berating myself for what I did to the 75 Tourer cdti connie. I'd covered over 70k in it running it up to 160k. Serviced, parts replaced as need in a very long established local garage - rear springs and shockers, clutch+DMF+slave+ master cylinder, front spring etc etc.



When it need the diesel pump replacing I thought, altogether this will cost something like the market cost of the car. I bought a 67k SEAT Alhambra for around £4k. It's now just under 100k and struggling.


Fortunately, I'd kept the Rover in the garage compound for 18 months or more. That's not good. New brake lines, discs all round, tyres all round and other stuff it cost me over £1k to get through an MoT. I ended up doing the diesel pump and hydramount myself (thanks to all the help I received here).


I curse myself for ever doing that to the Rover.


The Alhambra sounds like a bag of hammers compared to the Rover. The Alhambra rides like a tobbogan. Including the air con work that didn't fix it the cost is nearly as much as I spent on putting right the neglected Rover.


Make your own choice. I won't get fooled again.



JohnnyBG


PS - Also "retired" but currently working two part time jobs at 1.5 days each as three kids at home.

I have never understood the logic of the British, throwing a car out because it is cheaper to buy another used car, than to change the belts, as an example.
If I had had a car for 10 years, I would give it a service if it needed, provided I like the car.
To sell it, because it's value is less than the repair cost, is not clever, because you are likely to pick another car up with other issues of some sort.
Sometimes it is better to stick with the devil you know, I think!
On the positive side, your driving is reduced, the time to do the service is increased, and limited funds?? what is new?. I have been on limited funds since I was born. The only thing you have to do is use less than what is available, and make a sport out of that!
Once retired you should be lucky to have a hobby and a quiet space in the garage! Otherwise you would need hearing protection and skills in knitting and baking.
Much nicer in the shed!:D
Enjoy your retirement!

Even though I'm on the other side of spectrum (young uni student) my situation is very similar being a student and a part timer my funds are limited. My first 75 was an 01 2.5v6 which I bought as spares or repairs and ended up doing 4000 trouble free miles until an Audi decided to write it off. my second 75 an 03 2.5v6 again although higher mileage it had one of the most impressive service histories I've seen but it ended it up being troublesome so the idea of replacing it with something newer and potentially more reliable got into my head. Though when I put things down even if the newer car is indeed more reliable I found it it's easier to digest maintenance costs of the 75 rather than the upfront cost of a newer car plus depreciation. additionally, I found that parts for newer cars can be significantly more expensive than 75 parts (a mate ended spending £1k on his 14 plate corsa to stop it from going to limp mode) and the club here is always willing to help with any 75 issues. Also being a student means I don't do many miles like many pensioners so fuel economy of the v6 is negligible for me and surprisingly the 75 is very insurance friendly. Lastly I would say there is no match for the 75 in terms of comfort driving enjoyment and practicality with most modern economy cars I've driven new Mercs and Jags and dare I say the 75 is up there with them and in most cases more comfortable

Effectively with no depreciation on our cars, what's not to like. I am no mechanic, and have to pay for any repairs, but they are always less than the modern car equivalent costs. I also hate the look of most modern cars, and their prices are astronomical! I have just bought another 75 diesel automatic with lower miles than my others, and shall continue to use them until they can no longer be repaired. My tame mechanic ( a youngster at 30ish) loves working on mine compared to modern cars with no soul.

I am just glad to have worked out that I should be old enough never to have to buy a electric car, which ultimately just use different rare resources.

I'm in the same situation as you being retired now for 7 years and have a pension that in real terms goes down each year as it does not keep up with inflation. I have owned two brand new Hyundai's and from new both had engine management issues that the manufacturer and dealer could not fix. They were the worst cars I have ever owned and worse than any unreliable Marina my company gave me. Sorry Brian.

I gave up on new cars and used my ZT-T and this proved expensive as it decided that now was the time to need those end of life repairs one after another with clutch hydraulics being the main reason in the end that I sold it. Someone is still using it so maybe I should have hung on a little longer, who knows. I replaced it with a Volvo V50 which hasn't been without the need to spend money on it but has without doubt in the last three years been much more reliable than the ZT-T (and the Hyundai's) and therefore cost a lot less overall to run. I do not include in that costing the fact that many of you will recall it was written off due to an uninsured Czech driver jumping a red light last year. I purchased the car back ( a class N ) and Big Russ fixed it.

Everyone's experiences with cars is different, my going away from the brand, with a lot of advice from Big Russ, was positive but I still miss the brand and now its unlikely that I would get another. However if one came up that I just couldn't refuse I may be tempted, not as a daily driver, but to join the Dolly as a weekender.

Well, the consensus is for me to definitely keep the car! It's going for its MoT soon so we'll see what that throws up! Should have done it before getting the cooling fan fixed and belts changed I suppose :duh: Thanks to all who responded to my plea!

Best of luck with your mot! I too would echo the sentiments of the other club members. We have a 2010 Renault Scenic for family duties. It carries the dog and kids perfectly. However it has no soul and drives horribly. It's of an age where auto electronic handbrake mean you need a diagnostic computer to change rear brake pads! Every thing on it is built to a low cost and finite life span, I think we're reaching it..... It's cost more in repairs over the past year and 6k miles than my diesel 75 has in the last 5 years and 40k miles. Come to think of it the cost of repair has exceeded the purchase cost of the 75 5 years ago too, and that's with me doing all the repairs not requiring diagnostic computers.

Modern cars are complicated things which aren't expected to last more than 7-10 years. With the support available within this club I honestly believe keeping a 75 going is cheaper than a car say 10 years newer.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Well, failed the MoT on unequal front braking (seems OK to me) and one of the suspension arm ball joints has too much play in it and needs replacing. More money to spend but once done, we're good to go for another year at least!