Change of car? Maybe.

[Walkingthedog]

I used to work with a guy called Steve who when ever he purchased a a car it was a terrific bargain, immaculate and only had 2000 miles on the clock etc.
One day he came to work and once again he had done this very thing , only 15,000 miles on the clock, driven by an old lady to shops once a fortnight and great condition. A week later he was waiting for his wife at Reading Station on a Friday when a bloke got in the back and said usual place Fred. Steve turned round and said who are you and the bloke said sorry mate, two weeks ago this car was a taxi, I’ve been getting in it for 5 years on a Friday.

[Jsa274]

As with most Japanese cars surviving into their third decade, rust is the bane of my/its life. Japanese car makers didn’t bother with rust protection even as late as twenty years ago, which is fine in Japan where the roads aren’t treated with salt, but is disastrous in the U.K. As long as it keeps passing it’s MOT I’ll keep running it. Despite being 22 years old it’s my daily commuting car, and covers the 530 miles per week without a fuss.

That was certainly true of early Japanese cars, the reason was that there was not much of a second hand market in Japan due to the compulsory requirement to replace certain components whether they were Ok or not after a number of years so cars were scrapped much earlier than here. Therefore, manufacturers did not feel the need to make them last. I do not know if there have been changes to the replacement part regime since but their cars certainly last better now, last Japanese car I owned was a Nissan Bluebird and it looked almost new when sold after we had it a few years followed by my eldest daughter.

Currently I am driving a Kuga PHEV which is the latest in a series of Kugas we have owned and I have been very pleased with all of them. The thing I like most about SUVs is the ride height and the ease of getting in and out, I could never return to a standard saloon now.

Richard

I’d like to say things had improved since 2001, but when I went to look at a particularly shonky smoked-in Galant at a Mitsubishi dealer in deepest Worcestershire, the much newer Shoguns, Outlanders etc on 10 and 11 plates on the forecourt were already bubbling around the number plates and wheel arches! I’ve never heard of Hondas suffering so bad for rust in recent years, but apart from the Civic Type R there’s very little in Honda’s range that excites me as a fast car enthusiast.

I can see the appeal of a tall vehicle for ease of access, but it really grates on me that all these tall, aerodynamically inferior inverted TARDISes on stilts that weigh two tonnes are marketed as ‘environmentally friendly’ because they have an electric motor! Not criticising the choice of buying a SUV/crossover but more in the manufacturers for misselling.

Forgive me, as a dour Scotsman I love a good rant. We’re all doomed!

[bulleidboy]

This was probably the best car I ever owned - a real Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. I bought the car new in 1975, a Ford Cortina 2000E Estate. I then had John Young (he raced Ford Anglia's back in the day) of Superspeed in Ilford, fit the car with a 3-litre Ford Essex V-6 mated to a 5-speed gearbox, it had Bilstein gas shock absorbers and uprated springs, a bunch of bananas exhaust manifolds - and it sent like "s*** off a shovel". I eventually parted company with it some years later, but did get the chance to buy it again for £150 - but the powers that be said "Don't even think about it" - biggest mistake I ever made. It would hold a Golf GTI to 100mph. I now drive a Volvo XC70 Estate - and have considered having a PoleStar upgrade.
IMG_1143 by Barry Clayton, on Flickr

[Mountain Goat]

I used to work with a guy called Steve who when ever he purchased a a car it was a terrific bargain, immaculate and only had 2000 miles on the clock etc.
One day he came to work and once again he had done this very thing , only 15,000 miles on the clock, driven by an old lady to shops once a fortnight and great condition. A week later he was waiting for his wife at Reading Station on a Friday when a bloke got in the back and said usual place Fred. Steve turned round and said who are you and the bloke said sorry mate, two weeks ago this car was a taxi, I’ve been getting in it for 5 years on a Friday.

That was low miles for a taxi. They normally do more than that just in one year, let alone five years. There are a few taxis that don't do much milage as I heard of one driver who only did one or two pre-booked trips a day on a continual basis, and all he wanted was just enough work to survive, but it is rare. Most taxi drivers will want to do more as they want to earn more funds for a "Better life". (Not easy to get the balance right).

[Walkingthedog]

That was my point MG. This guy was always boasting about his low mileage second hand cars but this one had probably done 115,000 not 15,000 miles.

[sandy]

Mine always have delivery miles on the clock.

[Tricky Dicky]

Mine always have delivery miles on the clock.

It can be quite surprising how many miles are on the clock at delivery. The lowest I have ever had was 4 miles and well over a hundred when we lived in Manchester and the only available model in the spec I wanted was up in NE somewhere.

Richard

[brian1951]

Speedometers were also disconnected in some cases.

[sandy]

Iv never had more than 9

[sandy]

Speedometers were also disconnected in some cases.

Can they do that in cars with computer dash and everything.