'Third car' dilemma. Thoughts please.

[T8]

I have a dilemma.

My wife and I need a car to be used simply as a spare for the odd occasion where one of us is out and the other might need wheels.

This requirement is currently being met by us having a 12 year old Jaguar XF 5 litre V8 sitting on the drive costing £695 a year in road tax and doing 22 mpg when put to local use.

When the occasion requires it's a great car to have as a spare but we've come to realise it's a bit excessive and have started considering changing it for a newer, smaller car along the lines of a Polo GTi, a 208 GT or a Hyundai i20N.

Financially speaking it's a straight choice. The XF is already ours and has probably fully depreciated whilst buying the nearly new hatchback will require an additional £10k to buy which will be lost in depreciation over 5 years. The comparative cost is balanced by the fact that the Jaguar would probably cost £10k more to run over the same time.

What would you do?

Stick with this ........

................ or twist :?:

NB: That XF pic is 7 years old. The car is a bit more 'used' now and has 71k showing.

 

[pzero]

First world problems Terry.
Get the bus.
It must be free for you soon.

 

[T8]

It is absolutely a 'first world problem' but fortunately, at this moment in time, it's the only one I've got that's relevant enough to share on here.

 

[FZP]

My view would be, why buy more depreciation :dont know:

 

[Alex]

Kirsty was out of work 18 months ago and needed a set of wheels for doing errands, etc. in. I bought this from a local garage for £1295 - 1.6 petrol Mini one cab. Cost about £120 for her to insure it with me as a named driver too. Road tax isn't much. The only thing I've had to do on it was a wheel bearing for about £25 and 2 reversing sensors for a tenner each. Car's flown through 2 MOTs now and never let us down.

She was going to chop it in when she got a company car a few months later but we both love it so much we're gonna keep it. Dog loves it too and because it was so cheap, we're not bothered about mucking it up, etc.

We are even contemplating going on holiday to St Tropez in it.


Not saying you should set you budget so low and get something in it's teenage years, but there's plenty of small fun cars out there you can pick up in mint condition for peanuts, that cost peanuts to run too.....oh yeah, forgot to say, we mainly use it for days out now and pull between 42-50mpg on a run out.

 

[T8]

Thanks all.

I put the 'bus' option to the missus as it's most likely to be her that would need 'the third vehicle'. I can't post her response without risking a ban.

The aspect of depreciation is always high in my list of considerations and is probably the biggest reason for my dilemma.

The idea of chopping the Jag in for a smaller and slightly newer car was dismissed quite quickly as we know from previous experience that having an old car standing around with only occasional use leads to more hassle than it's worth. We found that the costs incurred at MOT time and the unpredictability of it starting and running every time we wanted to use it a real headache.

With the Jaguar being such a great car to drive, and be driven in, it currently still gets a run out in place of our regular 'daily' especially if a journey is likely to be a 50 mile round-trip or so. A lesser car wouldn't get that use.

The thinking behind getting a nearly new small car is that it would share the daily duties, being a bit more refined, and ideal for popping to the shops.

 

[Gazc2]

I would keep the jag, will become a classic if you keep it long enough😁just watched a 54 plate v8 XJ go for 15k 😲

 

[Parsley]

I would buy something older that's a bit different/fun to own. If you buy right you would not loose a penny in depreciation, cheap running costs. Just as an example you could pick up a Renault Megan 225 for £1500. It's absolutely going to be worth more than that in a couple of years. Fun to drive and different. It's just an example mate. Lots of cars out there that are at the bottom of their arc and only going to make you money from now on. Here we go, E82 135i coupe. Get a cheap one and you will loose nothing in depreciation. Fast, fun and plenty of safety and comfort. Anyway, just some ideas.

 

[Alex]

Not just that, BMW have to be one of the most rock solid car manufacturers out there. They really do tower above the rest when it come to part longevity.

 

[T8]

I would buy something older that's a bit different/fun to own. If you buy right you would not loose a penny in depreciation, cheap running costs ........

If it was solely down to me this is the route I'd probably take but I wouldn't get the idea past swmbo as she'd say - using similar reasoning - that we might as well just keep the Jaguar.

The choice really does come down to (a) keep the XF or (b) change it for something a fair bit newer, 2017 at the oldest, and smaller than our A250 daily driver.

 

[Zingari]

The aspect of depreciation is always high in my list of considerations and is probably the biggest reason for my dilemma.

There are no pockets in shrouds so why compromise yourself in the latter years of life :dont know: The majority of us on here are going to snuff it with loads in the bank and never spend it saving it for a 'rainiy day' that never came.

Life's short as sadly we have recenty seen on here and as I approach 60 with luck I expect to have only another 15-20 summers left in me and that final period will no doubt be reduced motoring. Although I was buoyed by a recent episode of Banger & Cash with Alf a motorcyclist and still riding in his 90s :worship:

So, in short, buy the third car you really want or keep the Jag.

For me I'd buy an A2 but they are old now and finding a good one is hard. If I had to sell all my cars tomorrow and keep one the A2 is the only car I'd keep.

 

[Parsley]

The aspect of depreciation is always high in my list of considerations and is probably the biggest reason for my dilemma.

There are no pockets in shrouds so why compromise yourself in the latter years of life :dont know: The majority of us on here are going to snuff it with loads in the bank and never spend it saving it for a 'rainiy day' that never came.

Life's short as sadly we have recenty seen on here and as I approach 60 with luck I expect to have only another 15-20 summers left in me and that final period will no doubt be reduced motoring. Although I was buoyed by a recent episode of Banger & Cash with Alf a motorcyclist and still riding in his 90s :worship:

So, in short, buy the third car you really want or keep the Jag.

For me I'd buy an A2 but they are old now and finding a good one is hard. If I had to sell all my cars tomorrow and keep one the A2 is the only car I'd keep.

Amen to that :thumb:

 

[T8]

...... There are no pockets in shrouds so why compromise yourself in the latter years of life :dont know: The majority of us on here are going to snuff it with loads in the bank and never spend it saving it for a 'rainiy day' that never came.

Life's short as sadly we have recenty seen on here and as I approach 60 with luck I expect to have only another 15-20 summers left in me and that final period will no doubt be reduced motoring. Although I was buoyed by a recent episode of Banger & Cash with Alf a motorcyclist and still riding in his 90s :worship:

So, in short, buy the third car you really want or keep the Jag .......

You're preaching to the converted Brian. My 'rainy day' fund was converted into Stuttgart metal a long time ago. :floor:

I'm a 'Bangers & Cash' fan too.

I half fancy the idea of a classic car but with absolutely no ability or inclination for spanner-work it'll never happen. In many ways it's the classic thing making me lean towards keeping the Jag' rather than going the newish super-mini route.

Not only is it fully depreciated but it's been maintained regardless of cost in the 7 years we've had it - including a new engine (under warranty) at 44k miles - so hopefully there's no big bills on the horizon and a likely 10k miles total over the next 4 years shouldn't be too much of a risk.

 

[easternjets]

Hold on, did I not just recently read Terry's write up about travelling to Germany and getting some fast laps round the Nurburgring in a Hyundai i20N?

Fast forward a few weeks and Terry's been on the tinternet and realised that a Hyundai would make a great 'run around' for himself and the wife :hand:

Nice one Terry I like your style, go and get the Hyundai you only live once mate, sod the depreciation, most people seem to be selling S/H cars for more than they paid for them a few years ago!
I'm seeing them at £25,300 new and £22,700 with 25k miles on them, that's cheap motoring at about .10p a mile.

 

[Yellow]

Bit of a left field choice... I'd buy something like a Fiat Panda 100HP - cheap enough that you really dont need to worry about it, parts are cheap. Fairly fuel efficient and fun to drive.

You would have plenty of money left over for another toy afterwards too, or buy a classic of some sort.