subject: Driving an older car for longer could save you money in running costs book claims [print this page] There are more motorists driving about in their new year-10 plate cars thanks to the Governments car scrappage scheme, which saw car sales rise in 2010.
However, a new book, The Bangernomics Bible' tries to persuade vehicle owners to run an older vehicle, even if they can afford a new one, or keep the car they have for as long as possible and run it cheaply.
Author James Ruppert, a motoring journalist and former car salesperson said, "There has been a growing trend for car buyers to convince themselves that it is a matter of urgency to replace their cars every three years or sometimes less, with another new car."
A motorist from Portlaoise who owns a 1996 Nissan Micra that was purchased in 2002 for 3,500 with almost 40,000 miles on the clock, still runs it eights years on, now with 134,000 miles behind it, but running as smoothly as ever.
They estimate that is costs less than 600 a year to run in tax, servicing and motor insurance and have no plans to trade it in, despite the scrappage deals that have been on offer.
They said, "The way I look at it, it runs perfectly, does what it needs to and is worth very little to anyone else. That whole concept of why fix it if it is not broken', kind of fits the situation."
The author also points out that after a car has been on the road for five years or more, the vehicle has already lost most of its value and is close to the bottom of its depreciation curve'. This means the car will not lose anything near in depreciation value that a new car would.
One managing director of a car fleet provider said, "For my last three cars I have tried to buy it new and turn it around every year, which cost about 2,000 each time. However, the last new car I bought, in 2007, was a Range Rover Sport and it absolutely nose-dived. I am three years in now. I have about 45,000 outstanding on it and its now worth about 35,000 in the market. It is an interesting concept but it assumes that the motivation behind buying a car is purely financial. There is a lot of other emotional stuff that goes with buying a new car."
Driving an older car for longer could save you money in running costs book claims
