Keep Old Car or Buy New One?

Life Cars & Motorcycles
1

My Suzuki Swift is now 5.5 years old. I’m very happy with it, and so far it hasn’t given me any trouble. But I’ve got a bit of spare cash coming to hand, so I’m considering replacing it with a new one. As I see it, the pros are:

  1. Having a shiny new car that is more of a joy to own and drive than the old one.
  2. Having a car that’s safer, because it’s less likely to suffer a dangerous malfunction while being driven at speed.
  3. Having a car that is unlikely to need much (if any) maintenance expenditure for at least the next couple of years.
  4. Not having to take it for the yearly inspection required of cars over 5 years old.

The cons are:

  1. Higher insurance premiums.
  2. Greater likelihood of it being stolen, and greater loss if it does get stolen.

So should I buy a new one or not? Are there any significant pros or cons that I’m missing?

My Swift is in pretty good nick, except for some smallish dents on the passenger side and the remote locking/unlocking thingy no longer working. I’ve done all the regular services, and replaced whatever has needed replacing whenever it has needed replacing. It’s got only 43,000 km on the clock.

I was checking prices this morning, and was very surprised to see that Swifts the same age as mine are being advertised for sale at around NT$350-400,000. For those who know about these things (especially Sulavaca), is there really a chance that I could sell the old one for as much as that if I replace it? Without knowing anything about the second-hand car market here, I was assuming that I’d be lucky to get much more than about NT$150,000 for a car that cost NT$520,000 when purchased new.

I also found that I’d have to pay about NT$620,000 for a new one now. Is there much room for negotiation on that price these days? And would I be likely to get a good price from the dealer through trading in the old one for a new one?

Lots of questions, and I’ll much appreciate any input on any of this, or on swapping old cars for new ones in general.

2

Modern cars are not considered old at 5 years. At ten they should still be functioning fine and most now happily live on to 15 years or more. If you are worried about reliability at this stage then the car is a lemon.

3

Agreed. And with only 40 000 odd km on the car I would say do not sell. If you have your car properly serviced following the manufacturers requirements the car is perfectly safe.

I got a new Yaris a few years back. There are so many dents, scratches etc all over (mainly due to the wife), I would have to spend 1000s before I could sell it.
From what I understand the used car market here is pretty crap. My wife is convinced the second hand dealers change out parts. Also seems the second hand prices here are low.

Back home I would keep a car for 5 years. The only reason I would sell is that the warranty was usually for 5 years, and it would cost a shitload to extend.

4

I think the bottom line is that any modern car will last decades, even if you barely do much to maintain it. So the only real decision as to whether to get another car is whether you want to upgrade or you get bored with your current car.

Some people keep a car forever (my folks drive the same BMW they did in 1993) while many car enthusiasts own multiple cars for multiple purposes or just for the variety (I personally simultaneously had three cars, a truck and a motorcycle at one point). So, the threshold of whether a car can keep you interested or whether you even need your car to be interesting is different for every person.

Whether you can do some or all of your own maintenance will also affect this. One of the reasons my parents still have their old BMW is because I usually end up spending an afternoon working on the thing every time I visit them… lol. If you don’t do your own work, then the warranty & any “free servicing” period becomes more important.

5

I bought a 2000 Cefiro brand new, 180 K km right now-11 years old. Done normal maintenance on it. Drive the scooter to work-the wife uses it to drive around the little one. Great on maintenance-still on original brakes…first car I’ve had that the brakes have lasted more than 70K!. It’s not how old it is, it’s how you drive it! If you look around, there are still a lot of cefiros on the road, why? People are happy with the reliability, why get rid of something that ain’t broke?
No plans on selling, waiting until 250K and then I will consider something. But at the amount of mileage we put on it every year it will be a while.
The blue book value on my car is about 60K so there is no use trying to sell it.
You will be surprised how long a car can last now-although suzuki doesn’t have the greatest track record. Sorry. I would never buy a suzuki to start with. I would recommend you get rid of it and buy a more reliable jap car. Second hand Toyota Altis? The Corolla keeps on going and going. Perhaps a Civic? Tiida?
Don’t buy any American 4 cylinder car.
I was in a cab the other day and it was a 2007 Teana(Cefiro’s big brother) with 450 K-again-the driver just did normal maintenance over the life span of the car.
A lot of people will tell you that depreciation is the biggest factor in buying a new car. But if you do your homework, and find a reliable one, you can keep it for 10-15 years, you get your money’s worth.

6

Again not one to make a long story short (rather the opposite). Allow me to share my personal experience with one ford telstar.

The first five years, nothing went wrong, just changed tires as needed and shocks as needed . Taiwan roads have a habit of being very smooth then all of a sudden you hit this mofo of a frickin crater that takes out your shocks and strut ends or whatever you call em.

1st year drove it 60,000km. two sets of tires and one set of shocks and oil changes every 3000km (which i find now was totally wasteful…totally unneeded. Should have been 8000km or at the very very least 6000km with regular oil, 10,000km with synthetic).

subsequent years less miles per year and less costs . First five years everythign pretty much ok.

Had a chance to pick up my sisters unneeded 3 cylinder subie and sell my five year old telstar. Didnt do it. Shouldve probably.

The next five years in short ended up costing me (over the five yaers) the price of the telstar all over again. New car price was 500,000nt dollars ( i picked it up for half that because it was my company car…on an arrangement). But the next five years costs me roughly 50,000 a year in replacement parts, repairs and regular maintenance.

So 50,000 a year for a high mileage car driven bout 36,000km per year.

Do your math, see if it pans out to keep it or let it go.

I became of the opinion that cars should be let go after five yaers… But …all is not lost. My current rSX Acura is a 2003 , which i got in 2005 second hand with 20,000miles. And its now got 115,000 miles and its 2011 so the car is on its 8th year and is still really good. Iv repaired the aircon under warranty. And replaced the alternator on my own (normally bout 450 dollars here in the USA, i got away with 300). Have changed oil every 5000 miles at a cost of some 45 dollars each time. Have bought 2 complete sets of tires and not replaced any shocks.

And thats it so far. Well besides one set of new pads and two air cleaner elements and one cabin air filter adn other smaller stuff.

So a good car can be kept longer then five years (motto) but perhaps many cars should be let go after five if you get a good price for it and have something you want thats also affordable.

7

Answering one by one…

  1. I can’t comment on the first advantage as everyone has a differing opinion when it comes to styling and levels of “shininess”.
  1. Dangerous malfunctions shouldn’t occur in a car that is well serviced and checked at regular intervals. Bring it to us if you need a good checkover.
  2. The cost of owning a new car will only be much higher generally speaking than having an older car, even when an older car needs irregular, minor repairs.
  3. A yearly inspection is hardly a huge inconvenience. One hour of your year taken out to complete the regulated inspection should neither be here nor there.

In my opinion, and baring in mind I know nothing about your car, you should stick with the car you have, assuming it is in safe working order. With good maintenance it should be cost effective for at least fifteen years based on average mileages.

8

Generally, the cost to maintain it will be far less than replacing it with a new one.

9

I think it’ll all boil down to this:

Everything else is pretty irrelevant and trivial. In other words, just how vain are you, Omni? :wink:

10

Check. You ain’t fooling anybody. We know what you are going to do: The Wrong Thing.

Most of these posts translate to "Whee! Lookit, everbody. I’m buying a SHINY NEW CAR! And it SOOO SHIIIINEEEEEEE! :discodance: "

:aiyo:

11

As someone who owns and drives an almost 11 years old volkswagen Bora with just under 100km on it, I know what my answer is.

I bought the car new and have kept up with regular serviciing and it has given me very little trouble in the time that I have owned it.

But on the other hand, everytime I see a spanky new Scirocco drive by, I face the same dilemma as you. :slight_smile:

12

If one has a wee bit of trouble with an older car it might well be bad servicing. Wife insisted we went servicing our Nissan X-Trail at little corner shops instead of Nissan when it was 4 years and 110.000km or so. Then breaks made a bit of noise, motor started ringing and stuff like that. Changed the corner shops several times and finally all problems went away (break noise was because a spring to pull back the break lining was forgotten etc.). Cars is now at 185.000 km / 6 years and running like new (well, replaced the suspension a few days ago as wife complained about missing comfort and noise, comfort is still the same -pretty low in a SUV- after replacing).
Wife however is crazy about getting a new car and fighting her off gets more difficult every day. No, don’t take the car brochures from the car shop! Where you think you are going with the car papers? No, that scratch on the dashboard does not mean we need a new car… :smiley:

13

Thanks for all the responses - they have been very helpful.

I have now switched from being 60:40 inclined toward buying to being 80:20 decided on keeping.

Actually no, you’re way off the mark.

Vanity has nothing to do with it. If I wanted my car to be some kind of expression of achievement or financial status (or whatever else the word “vanity” is supposed to signify), I’d be looking at buying a BMW or Porsche or other pretty, expensive and eye-catching trophy drive. I would hardly be looking to replace a Swift with another Swift. :laughing:

I have actually been quite concerned about the mechanical reliability and safety issues, and the age of the car has been putting me off making longer journeys in it, especially on the killer freeways (where I feel stressed enough driving even in a car I have no worries about). Various comments here have put me a lot more at ease about that.

The pleasure of owning a shiny new car would be the pleasure of looking at it in my garage far more than the pleasure of anyone else seeing me in it. You don’t gain face from driving a new car unless it’s one of the recognized luxury makes.

So I’ll probably just have the old car checked and serviced again, get it cleaned and polished inside and out, see if I can get the remote locking function fixed, maybe think about getting those little dents and scratches worked on, and keep the old gal for at least another year or two.

14

Car dealers love people like you, because soon as you pull up in your old swift (preferably one that you are making a car payment on) they get you out driving in the latest one. Then they tell you they will PAY OFF that car that you owe money on and you can be driving your new INVESTMENT with just a little bit more per month !

If you resist, they will drop their pants and the manager will come out and say “what if we kept the payment the same?”

You think bout the registration needed to be paid for another year, that set of pads you need, the chip in the windshield. While you are still on showroom high, you say YES, YES YES YES YES.

And now instead of paying off that car in just 2 more years you now have a new car to pay off in 5 years !

But its 3 years younger ! Yes sir !!

I finally fell out of that trap and finaly i OWN my car. YIppeee I hey !

15

tommy, that last post was like wading through Ulysses.

16

Reason has prevailed??? Jings! You don’t see THAT very often! :slight_smile: :bow: