Our cars are disappearing so fast

[grivas]

Originally Posted by COLVERT

Quote by AndyNo1


Sadly, in reality, I think we know. My father was a toolmaker in a business supplying the aerospace industry so knew more than a little about tolerances and the needs for quality. He bought many Austin/BL etc. cars.

Niggles and breakdowns and component failures with all of them culminating in a brand new Allegro going back for at least one and possibly 2 replacement gearbox(s) and never ending water leaks.

Hi Andy.

I was a toolmaker working for Aviation Tool Co supplying bits for the aerospace industry. I also had several Allegro cars. Usually in bits.

The valves and valve seats used to burn out regularly and clutches weren't too good either. I replaced two at the roadside at various times.--

My brand new Allegro also had to have a replacement gearbox.

Compared to my R75 they were the pits.

I've had my Rover for 11 years now and it has had its faults.
I have had to replace one headlight bulb. Two stop light bulbs and needed to stop a water leak in the boot. NO OTHER FAULTS.---

Most reliable car I have ever owned. Not one single drop of water in the rad also. ----NONE.
11 years and no water leaks.----

Incredible design.

Hi, I had a 214, a 216, a 420, a 618 as well as a 75 (currently), they were and are very good cars, well made elegant, and reliable, Rover failed to convince the public to buy the cars, this is a management fault, it should have been identified very early on, and ALL incompetent managers, whether Sir this or Sir that, should have been sacked immediately, instead they were allowed and encouraged to waste millions on stupid, ventures. So the blame for the demise of the British car industry should be attributed to incompetent management, both of the work force and resources, as well as total lack of vision, and a good slice of arrogance for good measure.

[vacuman]

Originally Posted by bazyerma

I think with people able to pick up brand new cars on under £200 a month, with zero road tax, what's the point on keeping an old car on the road if every MOT cost £500 plus road tax?

My little brother bought his Corsa 5 years ago, with a service plan witch he just paid off, cost him a few pence off £200 a month, and the only thing he has ever had to do is top up the screen wash and a new front tyres.

I know he has probable lost 50% of the value, but as single father working for a coffee chain, all he want is a reliable car with no scary bills or road tax.
Plus it came with sat nav, heated seat, steering wheel, windscreen, cruise control and a DAB radio!

Mean while my MG is an intake failure and belt service away from the scrappy (if I was that way inclined!)

New Corsa vs old ZT - hardly fair comparison. £200/month scheme over five years is £12,000. Five year old Corsa's are worth perhaps £5k at the very best for well spec'd versions. More likely <£3k for trade-in. So aside from his service plan it's cost him £1,200 a year which should be more than enough to keep a good ZT on the road, including road tax. But as you say, he needed the predictability and if he's prepared to keep it another five years he might still get a few bob for it and yet cost of ownership will have been much much lower.

[bazyerma]

Originally Posted by vacuman

New Corsa vs old ZT - hardly fair comparison. £200/month scheme over five years is £12,000. Five year old Corsa's are worth perhaps £5k at the very best for well spec'd versions. More likely <£3k for trade-in. So aside from his service plan it's cost him £1,200 a year which should be more than enough to keep a good ZT on the road, including road tax. But as you say, he needed the predictability and if he's prepared to keep it another five years he might still get a few bob for it and yet cost of ownership will have been much much lower.

I was more referring to older cars in general, but as to the cost, its more he knows it was only cost £1200 and he can budget accordingly, He wont really see the resale value as once its starts to cost him money, he will trade it in against something new, and start the process all over again!

[AndyN01]

Originally Posted by bazyerma

I was more referring to older cars in general, but as to the cost, its more he knows it was only cost £1200 and he can budget accordingly, He wont really see the resale value as once its starts to cost him money, he will trade it in against something new, and start the process all over again!

Just nit picking...... Should that read £12,000?

It's the next sentence that sums up the general car buying public's psyche....."....once it starts to cost him money....."

What does he thinks it's doing now?

I wonder how many vehicles on our roads are actually fully "owned" rather than leased, PCP, bank loan etc. etc. etc.

It's so reassuring to know that all these people are so confident of their future financial status that they can and will be ££££££££££'s in debt for months and years to come for a rapidly depreciating metal box.

Maybe I'm just not rich enough not to care and/or put my priorities elsewhere?

On a different tack, I read somewhere that company "failures" are directly linked to management incompetence in about 70-80% of cases. Sadly close to home for several on here, think Carillion.

Perhaps that's because what "management" want (big wage, status, POWER etc.), or maybe or even more influence what shareholders want (quick mega money profit) has little to do with the long term interests of the company.

It's one of the reasons I like putting my business to small, local, long standing, independent companies 'cus they tend to be honest, reliable and good to deal with.

Cheers.

Andy.

[SCP440]

Considering how long since our cars left the production line I think they are doing well considering we have no manufacturers backup.

Who ever makes a car the average life expectancy is 7 years, this low figure is probably down to the high mileage a lot of new cars cover in there first few years. After that they are in the hands of there second of third owner the average mileage.

Once the value of a car is down to several thousand an accident that involves more than a dented bumper or wing will probably see it being scrapped especially if the airbags have been deployed.

Now a car that has got though this stage it is reliant on how much its owner values the car compared with what they could spend that money on. A new clutch, a set of decent tyres and/or an MOT failure could easily see the car heading for the crusher as a newer vehicle could be purchased for less than the above costs.

Once a car is over 20years old it usually attracts a different type of owner, they will probably do a lot of there own maintenance or have a mate who does the work and it probably only covers a few thousand miles a year and if it is lucky will be kept in a garage.

There are of course exceptions to the above but in general any car that has reached it teens and had a reasonably lowish mileage has a good chance of going on as long as it present owner can afford to keep it.

My guess once the cars that are struggling with there annual MOT and have been for the last couple of years are gone the rest will keep going. Most of the classic car magazines seem to like our cars and hopefully this will see a firming up of the values. If I had the spare cash and I had somewhere to store it I would be looking for a pristine low mileage 75/ZT to tuck away.

[bazyerma]

Originally Posted by AndyN01

Just nit picking...... Should that read £12,000?

It's the next sentence that sums up the general car buying public's psyche....."....once it starts to cost him money....."

What does he thinks it's doing now?

I wonder how many vehicles on our roads are actually fully "owned" rather than leased, PCP, bank loan etc. etc. etc.

It's so reassuring to know that all these people are so confident of their future financial status that they can and will be ££££££££££'s in debt for months and years to come for a rapidly depreciating metal box.

Maybe I'm just not rich enough not to care and/or put my priorities elsewhere?

Cheers.

Andy.

I did mean £1200, that's his only cost for the year, as he has no road tax or service costs, but to be fair he does now pay for the MOT, which he get half price.

As to peoples future financial status, with HP, once you are half way through the term, you can hand back the car at no cost (if its still in good nick) But I think for piece of mind, £1200 a year motoring is worth it, if you know, that a £500 bill would drive you to a pay day loan company.

Regards

Barry

[RoverDan]

Originally Posted by Rev Jules

Don't understand these statistics, no mention of LWB,s how many of them left on the road,

Rev

Comes down to pot luck. If you search on 'rover 75' on the howmanyleft site, you get pages and pages of various combinations, permutations, misspellings and truncations that have appeared on logbooks over the years:

75 1.8 LWB
75 2.0 CDTI LWB
75 2.5 V6 LWB
75 CON-SSEUR SE V6 LWB A
75 CONNOISSEUR CDTI LWB
75 VANDEN PLAS CDT AUTO
75 VANDEN PLAS V6 AUTO

etc.

Looks like the sole (?) 1.8 LWB expired last year...

Mine, however, is registered as 'ROVER DIESEL 4 DOOR SALOON (75 CONNOISSEUR AUTO)' so hides in the, erm, short grass

A tip I picked up ages ago is to search by reg. no. on www.national.co.uk and it states the registration details immediately - avoiding all of that click... click... click... click... to step through the DVLA checks.

[Comfortably Numb]

Yes, we 75/ZT owners are really just miserly sods who want to own and run a luxury classic on a shoestring. The costs for the Corsa example work out at £2,400 in finance payments + £1,200 depreciation a year. For £3,600 a year, I could afford to buy and scrap a very, very nice, immaculate, low mileage 75/ZT, every year. But I will probably moan at the £300 MoT bill next November for replacing some suspension parts, or £800 for a new clutch fitted in a couple of years time:-"WHAAT!! That's what I paid for the whole car!!"

[vacuman]

Originally Posted by RoverDan

snip:

A tip I picked up ages ago is to search by reg. no. on www.national.co.uk and it states the registration details immediately - avoiding all of that click... click... click... click... to step through the DVLA checks.

Are you sure that's the right link? When I tried it....

Tyre Search Results for FJ56UVX
Your vehicle has been identified as a 2007 MG PETROL ESTATE (ZT-T+ V6 190).
We've found 0 different tyre configurations for your vehicle.

Matches found may have been fitted as an upgrade by the manufacturer or the dealer.

Valid tyres could not be found in the system for this vehicle

Our tyre size data is provided by Experian. Experian are one of only four companies licenced to receive your vehicle registration data from the DVLA and they then match this to tyre size data from the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders). The SMMT database lists those tyres that they believe were fitted to your vehicle as original equipment.

Mine must be very special

[Lancpudn]

I SORN'd my Rover Conny a few months ago as an opportunity arose to get a new car for the first time in over 45 years of driving

I've been working on cars since I got my first one after leaving school, I've done all my own welding / fabrication, paint spraying & mechanics for over 45 years, I've had enough of lying under cars on a concrete floor I just want to get in a car,turn the key and drive these days.

It was getting to be a bit of a struggle getting in & out of it with the seating being low in the Rover, especially trying to get my old Dad who has dementia in and out of it.

I got a Kia Niro hybrid compact crossover, It's a lot easier to get in & out of that car.

They offered me £100 trade in value against the Kia which I declined, I'm fortunate enough to have room in my double garage to store it away for a rainy day or whatever but it's going nowhere.

I start it up every couple of weeks & keep a battery maintainer connected to it to keep the battery in fettle, It starts first time every time