OT: For spotters of unusual odometer readings...

In message , JNugent writes

I must start reading these posts more carefully because I thought you said "Viva" as in "Vauxhall Viva" and I was full of admiration that this

I had a Bedford HA van - pretty well a Viva, although made for long after the car had stopped production, which had done over 150,000 miles by the time it finally died. It was a great little van - just big enough for most things a DIYer is likely to need to carry, but small enough for easy use. One of the easiest vehicles to drive, too. Brilliant gearbox and incredibly light non power steering.

My last car, a BMW 525, was traded in with approx 135,000 miles. And absolutely covered in stone chips at the front. Good otherwise, though, with full MDSH. While negotiating the new car, the salesman phoned up presumably a local specialised who agreed to buy the old one. Dunno who they were.

A few weeks later I saw it in a car park looking immaculate - the whole front resprayed, and several other dings removed. The new owner was sitting in it so I had a chat. He complimented me on how well I'd kept the car. I could read the mileometer, now 60,000...

I didn't say anything - he was so proud of it.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Do you know if the engine had been overhauled/rebuilt in that time?

I don't think so - I bought it from a pal who'd bought it at about 40k. It had two stripped oil pump drives while I knew it, though. It was using vast quantities of oil by the time it was scrapped. I would have sorted that, but it had terminal rot too.

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)" saying something like:

Odd front suspension that seemed to work most of the time, but yes, they were good little workhorses. Mine didn't get to 150K, somewhere around

The message from Grimly Curmudgeon contains these words:

Always fill in the mileage box on the V5 and the tax application- it makes clocking so much harder.

:-)

I only ever buy new...

This view seems to attract derision on this NG (uk.rec.driving) but I have to say that if you want peace of mind it is the best policy.

Every "pre-owned" car my family has bought over the past 40 years has been attended with significant problems.

--

Only if you're prepared to pay the extortionate premium. And of course new car doesn't necessarily mean reliable - see many tales of woe indicating otherwise.

You'd be victims then :-)

cheers, clive

The message from "PeterE" contains these words:

I prefer the warm glow in my pocket that comes from only spending a few hundred quid on a car which lasts me a few years then gets binned.

I last sold a car about twenty years ago - since then I've always run 'em into the ground with an average depreciation of - er - about £200/year. Not really had great reiability problems with them - though I had a head gasket go on the Montego on Monday. Less than £50 to fix including a new timing belt.

I have never had a new car, and don't really feel the need for one. The two cars we have didn't cost £1100. As for the mileage they might both be correct. They both drive, feel and look (steering wheel, foot pedals etc) according to the mileage on the odometer. And if the mileages are not correct I didn't buy them assuming they were.

As for buying a new car I wouldn't feel good parting with a small fortune knowing full well that as soon as I drove it out of the showroom I could watch 10%+ of my hardearned disappear in smoke. Never mind that I would have to get it serviced at the dealers, at dealer prices, to make sure the warranty was kept valid. No thanks.

krystnors

My first car, back in 1971 was a £100 Mini - big mistake not to wait until I could get something newer. It went through about £400 worth of spares in two years and kept me busy every weekend fixing things.

My last five cars (and two earlier ones) have been new, changed at about 3 years so no worries about spares, repairs, tyres, MOT etc. As I run my car on my company the new(ish) company car tax rules mean that when I changed my £9K Suzuki Wagon for an £11K Honda Jazz my tax bill went down!

From a depreciation pov the best of the 5 was my 1995 Skoda Felicia: bought for £6800 (list price more or less) and sold to another Skoda dealer for £4000 cash three years later. Warranty work: one wiper arm replaced due to a snapped rivet. Other expenses apart from annual service: nil. I've reached that stage in life which I would once have thought sad: I want my car to get from A to B (well actually Wickes to home with a load of stuff), not to make me feel good or impress people.

The first 12 month service on my Honda Jazz cost £121+VAT including interior and exterior valet. Even BMW have decided they can throw in a

The message from "krystnors" contains these words:

I've only had 'em when the company's provided 'em. And not really liked 'em then, either. I prefer 'em broken in.

Which may reflect on your ability to buy second hand rather than the quality of what is available. (No offence intended)

Always a possibility, such is the nature of human frailty.

But posts above seem to indicate that there are risks in buying s/h which will be deliberately hidden from the potential buyer by a determmined member of the s/h motor trade.

I had a terrible experience with the last s/h car I bought (a well-known UK-made model, about twenty years ago). After that, I was determined to take no more risks. I couldn't afford not to have reliability and predictability. And British cars (at least, ones I can afford) are OUT, after the frustrating time I had with that s/h car and with the first new car I ever bought, clearly built on a Longbridge Friday afternoon by a team with half an ear cocked towards the sayings of Red Robbo instead of concentrating on the folk who paid their wages.

Never again. It's French cars for me. So far, my eperience has been that you cannot beat them for value and reliability. On my current car (4.5 years old next month), all I have had to do in that time (other than for routine servicing, and in over 90,000 + miles) is fit two new tyres, reline the front brakes and replace the front discs.

I can't imagine a new Austin ever returning that sort of service, let alone a used one.

predictability.

Thankfully in those intervening twenty years, things have got much better. With a few exceptions (at least one of which is french!), most run-of-the-mill stuff is fine second hand, and will last a very long time.

cheers, clive

You are correct Maxie, they did have days in 1973.

Maxie, what a baptism of fire.