What motivates you to buy, how do you do it and how do you finance the whole thing? I’m always interested to find out – and, luckily, you’re always prepared to tell me. Now a report from Car Purchasing Process UK has added some interesting takeaways to what we already know.
Nearly half of UK car owners made their purchase in the past two years, says the report, making our marketplace one of the most fascinating and vibrant in the world. We like to change cars often and keep up with the latest trends, it seems. With over half of those surveyed saying they planned to buy brand new in the next few years and over a third saying they would buy used, that’s a massive turnover of vehicles.
So how do the majority finance it? Those newfangled PCPs? Well, some do. Actually, most dive under their beds, grab their piggy banks and tip out their personal savings. Oh, and is it fancy ads and motoring journalists that influence their buying decisions? Not always: they just fancy a change and most of them go to a dealer.
So how much do you spend? When it comes to used cars, I think there’s a case to be made for £2000 being the new £9999. The cars you can get for this price are outstanding.
How about a 2007 Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDI PD with 80,000 miles? It’s got a full service history and is as clean as they come. Want a lovely little hatch to run the errands in? A 2009 Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi Zetec with 124,000 miles, a full 12-month MOT and a clean bill of health is the perfect family runaround.
If you prefer something a bit more posh, then why not a 2004 BMW 525i SE with 114,000 miles and all the service stamps? They can be a bit troublesome at this age and are not as easily fixable, but at least this one wasn’t a hard-used diesel.
Then there was a “pre-loved” (their words, not mine) 2004 Rover 75 1.8 Contemporary, that includes 12 service stamps, a new clutch and just 57,000 miles under its wheels. Plus it was £200 under this week’s self-imposed £2000 cut-off.
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Mondeo
I run a 10 year old Mondeo and although it is no way glamorous, it is fantastic. I have another car which is newer and is what I adore but this car for work is unbeatable. Long motorway drives it is immense and returns around 50mpg. I've done 20k miles in the last 9 months for work and all that has gone wrong is a headlight bulb which cost around a fiver to replace. Good to drive, economical and reasonably priced to tax. Sure it doesn't match any of my colleague's lovely newish cars on finance but it does a great job and commands respect for what it is (considering it has only done 57k). It'll unlikely have a major failure and just eats up motorway miles. Yet counterparts in my industry would balk at the thought of driving a 10 year old Mondeo and especially for work...I do feel self conscious sometimes. They are missing a trick - reliable decent car for work and keep your nice car at home, all for you!
Ah yes the Peugeot 406
Ah yes the Peugeot 406 indicator stalks.
Bought one I thought was a bargain, indicator was a bit floppy, "oh it just needs a new stalk", shook hands.
Then realised why it was a bargain. Indicator was wedged with newspaper and cardboard painted black, took it out, it kept indicating left all the time.
It needs a whole control unit, COMM2000, a few hundred pound.
Airbag ECU disabled, pop the airbag off (Careful with the long screwdriver!), take connectors off, big socket to take the wheel off, then a few screws for the control unit. Extra complexity if you have cruise controls.
To be fair, a rank amateur like myself, it was a couple of hours work. Including taking the airbag on and off a couple of times as I had missed a connector.
It had rusty door bottoms because of a seals issue, and seemed to kangaroo when trying to maintain 30mph that I never got to the bottom of.
Otherwise it was a nice car, good looking in facelift form I think, the imposing black grille still looks fresh.
WallMeerkat wrote:
D'oh!
I guess they are cheap for a reason :-(
The 406 is one of the most handsome sedans ever IMO