Hi
the uk.rec.cars newsgroup doesn't seem at all active, so I thought I'd try here. Let me know if there is a more appropriate news group!
I've been a long distance train commuter most of my adult life, but for the last couple of years have travelled to and from the office by car, twice a week, which is a 260 mile round journey. So I've gone from the one car we used to run, and use on weekends, racking up not much more than 10thou miles a year, to about 35thou miles a year.
She Who Must Be Obeyed also has a car, and is also doing a lot more driving, about 15thou miles a year.
So I'm trying to work out the best strategy for buying and replacing cars. In the past we would buy a 4ish yr old Megane and drive it a couple of years, and sell it. The 05 Megane we bought in May has already got 20k on the clock, taking it over 50k.
So what would be the best kind of strategy going ahead to make sure that we aren't costings ourselves more money in depreciation than we need to?
Best to put as many miles on one care, or best to share equally.
Best to buy new on warranty and keep a year then trade in?
Best to buy new or nearly new and put on 100k in 3yrs and not worry that the car's value is likely to be less than nil?
Go for something like a VW that appears to hold its value more with high mileage on it?
Mike