When to change
Discussion
I have a 2003 Alfa Romeo, 82,000 on the clock, I have had it since 2007 and it has been a brilliant car, never let me down.
Recently it has had some paint flake off the boot and roof (what causes that?), I began to smell petrol and its timing belt needs changing. I looked around for something else
I had a look at several cars among them, a Suzuki 4 x 4 a 2018 i40, a 2015 Mazda CX5 a 2012 Mercedes C class with 62,000 on it and had the dealer been willing to give me more then £200 for my Alfa I probably would have bought a 2016 V60 Volvo
In the end I had it repaired, new fuel pump at a cost of £300 plus I still need to do the timing belt and maybe the paintwork.
Everyone tells me I am nuts, that it is not worth it, I think it is prudent OK the road tex is lot less but it still needs maintenance and possibly repair and it will depreciate at more than £700 per year
So the question is when is it prudent to replace the car and would you do the paint work on it?
Recently it has had some paint flake off the boot and roof (what causes that?), I began to smell petrol and its timing belt needs changing. I looked around for something else
I had a look at several cars among them, a Suzuki 4 x 4 a 2018 i40, a 2015 Mazda CX5 a 2012 Mercedes C class with 62,000 on it and had the dealer been willing to give me more then £200 for my Alfa I probably would have bought a 2016 V60 Volvo
In the end I had it repaired, new fuel pump at a cost of £300 plus I still need to do the timing belt and maybe the paintwork.
Everyone tells me I am nuts, that it is not worth it, I think it is prudent OK the road tex is lot less but it still needs maintenance and possibly repair and it will depreciate at more than £700 per year
So the question is when is it prudent to replace the car and would you do the paint work on it?
My mate kept his Ford Puma for 16 years but recently changed it.
His thoughts for a while were that if maintenance topped a grand a year he would get rid. I think what eventually did it was that rust issues meant it would be needing welding and he wasn’t happy driving his kids around in it.
A lot depends on the kind of use your car gets. Can you afford for it to be off the road and constantly having repairs done? If that doesn’t really matter then it’s probably not worth changing. Especially as you don’t seem to have a firm idea on what you would change it for. But if reliably is a priority then something newer should work better. I think it rarely costs less to upgrade to a newer car but it’s not always about the money. At least not for me.
His thoughts for a while were that if maintenance topped a grand a year he would get rid. I think what eventually did it was that rust issues meant it would be needing welding and he wasn’t happy driving his kids around in it.
A lot depends on the kind of use your car gets. Can you afford for it to be off the road and constantly having repairs done? If that doesn’t really matter then it’s probably not worth changing. Especially as you don’t seem to have a firm idea on what you would change it for. But if reliably is a priority then something newer should work better. I think it rarely costs less to upgrade to a newer car but it’s not always about the money. At least not for me.
If you like the car then its worth maintaining.
You'll be lucky to sell with the cam belt needing doing anyway.
Has it been changed before do you know?
You probably know this but if it has not already been done get the water pump replaced at the same time. They have a nasty habit of collapsing off their shoddy mountings and dragging the cam belt with it, causing significant engine damage.
You'll be lucky to sell with the cam belt needing doing anyway.
Has it been changed before do you know?
You probably know this but if it has not already been done get the water pump replaced at the same time. They have a nasty habit of collapsing off their shoddy mountings and dragging the cam belt with it, causing significant engine damage.
It is a 156 1.8, the Volvo was £10,500.
The cam belt has been changed twice before, due to be done for the third time. I know about the pump although last time I did not change it, I do such low millage (about 2000 per year) I decided to skip it. Will change it this year
The cam belt has been changed twice before, due to be done for the third time. I know about the pump although last time I did not change it, I do such low millage (about 2000 per year) I decided to skip it. Will change it this year
MK1RS Bruce said:
As long as its mechanically sound, then I would keep it until the body work needs rust repairs
Mechanically it is fine so far, rust wise there is some under the car but not much.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff