Running costs

[WUMPSTER]

purchased mine for 500 4 years ago bought a donor car for 150 spent 380 in new parts over the years but sold the engine and gearbox out of the donor for 650 and still using the parts from that to keep mine going so very cheap motoring lol

[Foeux]

Originally Posted by Triple-S

I find it odd that there hasn't been much regard for the actual costs of running a mid-age car. My 740 was VERY cheap last summer as the elderly owners had to sell as both became disabled. However, I'm now considering selling it: why - its the ownership costs that are my main concern and therefore this pensioners wallet.
The sum of the tax, MoT, insurance, a service, cambelt and a small gatepost nudge by previous owner being corrected - and that has over doubled the cars costs to me before I even put any fuel into it.
Result - I keep my free-to-own Volvo 164 for local shows but cant keep up with the increasing cost of fuel in the 740 (and it isn't thirsty!) to visit my recently disabled son by car any more. This morning on the bus I saw unleaded had gone up to £1.34 per litre, so now intend to do all my visiting by bus or just using the 164. The 740 is a nice car to own though, but my pension simply wont go that far now. The ever-rising tax costs are a joke so must use my 164 for hospital visits sometimes now.
I bet it will get worse though, as BoJo wants to make up his lost income during the last year.

P

I do sometimes get a bit itchy about the latent costs of keeping one car running for a year, let alone a few...

I suppose there are 2 ways to think:

1) accept that to 'play the game' or enjoy the privilege of having a car, a certain annual fee is to be expected. Add to that an additional 'tax' if you will for driving cars that are interesting.

2) research the cheapest way of motoring. Find the most economical, lowest mileage, highest service interval, most reliable car and just use that. you'll probably find it is a small engined Japanese or Korean something. This is not to say they are bad or unworthy etc. However, I think that if you have two 'classic' volvos, frugality isn't your sole motivator.

Enjoy them while you can and then hope they go to someone else that enjoys them when you choose to move on to something else. See volvo cars as a hobby and then it isn't such a pain to spend cash on? Supplement pension by doing whatever until you cancel out volvo running costs?

[griston64]

I think your summing up at the end there is perfect ! They are indeed a hobby and thats precisely why I bought my 940. Shouldnt really say bought as she was given to me. I found £1.78 in loose change so started off a winner

I'm never going to work out my running costs as I have spent an absolute fortune on the car to try and get it as perfect as possible but that's what hobbies are about !

I do drive her a hell of a lot more than I thougt I was going to but I must admit for jumping about local at the weekend I steal the wifes little 1 litre Skoda Fabia. Now that is cheap motroring

[kiloran]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The values of the 7/9xx and first S/V90s has already bottomed and are on the way back up now. The S124 was the last of the "proper" Mercs IMHO and most of them have crumbled away by now. They were afflicted with German Measles of the metal eating variety.

The later V70/90 (inc XC) were surprisingly small inside. Before i moved here, my neighbour had an 05 XC90 and he'd very often have to ask me to do a tip run for him in my 740 because his was simply too small.

As you rightly point out, most people with new cars are paying £400/month on a PCP or similar plan, they will never own the car. That's near enough £5k a year to have it sat in the driveway without any other expenses.

As for the New Forest, my first thoughts when i think of it are :



Roads like that, no hedges or fences as they're illegal because of a centuries old hunting law so the animals are free to roam. I found a more rural pic of Bolderwood and still no hedges.



I think in more recent times, farmers have been allowed to fence their animals in (maybe with hedges) as long as it doesn't interfere with the normal routes the New Forest animals take but fairly sure those are few and far between where those exceptions exist. It's a while since i was in that neck of the woods so things may have changed but i'm curious about the hedges you mention?

Yep, most roads are still open like that, it's only the A31 that's fenced. But there are still narrow lanes with no verges, and the arms race that's resulted people buying massive SUVs and trucks to take Tabitha to school, plus land owners thinking hedge maintenance involves a tractor and a massive hair clipper that'll happily munch through foot-wide branches, means you end up getting close to very spiky bits of foliage sticking into the road.

Of course, by modern standards a 940 is a pretty narrow car with a low belt line so it's less of an issue but I look at cars in the car park and so many have got near-side scrapes from being whipped by hedges.

It's more of an issue heading out to the north and west (Cranborne Chase and south of Salisbury) - roads there are proper narrow with high banks and hedges Devon & Cornwall style.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by kiloran

Yep, most roads are still open like that, it's only the A31 that's fenced. But there are still narrow lanes with no verges, and the arms race that's resulted people buying massive SUVs and trucks to take Tabitha to school, plus land owners thinking hedge maintenance involves a tractor and a massive hair clipper that'll happily munch through foot-wide branches, means you end up getting close to very spiky bits of foliage sticking into the road.

Of course, by modern standards a 940 is a pretty narrow car with a low belt line so it's less of an issue but I look at cars in the car park and so many have got near-side scrapes from being whipped by hedges.

It's more of an issue heading out to the north and west (Cranborne Chase and south of Salisbury) - roads there are proper narrow with high banks and hedges Devon & Cornwall style.

I must admit i've not normally gone round Cranbourne Chase or into Salisbury that way except for once really, going from Fordingbridge to Salisbury but that was a one-off trip ~30 years ago and it was in the dark as well. Spent most of my time lurking on the A31 or from Cadnam west on the normal roads.

[Rversteeg]

940LPT LPG 1998 daily driver, 15K miles / year. Purchased 20 years ago for £11000 with 110K miles. Depreciation will have been mostly in the first 10 - 12 years with a steady residual value of maybe £800,-.
I spend an average of about £1100,- each year on maintenance, £1750 on petrol/LPG and about £1250,- on tax/insurance. All in all about £4100/year or £0.27/miles.
I guess I could be driving a Prius for about the same cost, but then I would miss all the fun of getting behind the wheel of a classic 940 every morning and listening to that old faithful redblock coming to life...!

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Rversteeg

940LPT LPG 1998 daily driver, 15K miles / year. Purchased 20 years ago for £11000 with 110K miles. Depreciation will have been mostly in the first 10 - 12 years with a steady residual value of maybe £800,-.
I spend an average of about £1100,- each year on maintenance, £1750 on petrol/LPG and about £1250,- on tax/insurance. All in all about £4100/year or £0.27/miles.
I guess I could be driving a Prius for about the same cost, but then I would miss all the fun of getting behind the wheel of a classic 940 every morning and listening to that old faithful redblock coming to life...!

Expensive tax and insurance !!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by griston64

Expensive tax and insurance !!

I was thinking that too Mark, could be why there are so many cyclists in Holland/the Netherlands?

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I was thinking that too Mark, could be why there are so many cyclists in Holland/the Netherlands?

It's forward thinking considerate drivers that encourage people to cycle in Holland. Completely different attitude to cyclists compared to most ( not all ) UK drivers

[Rversteeg]

Dutch road tax is £93/month for LPG and £62/month for petrol. No way of escaping, if you have a licence on your name, you are automatically fined if you do not have a valid MOT, insurance or tax paid.