James Ruppert Perfect times to ditch your wagon
When you should offload your motor – and what to buy next
Motors are out there, primed for another 100,000-plus miles
Comfy seats. That topic proved a popular column, probably because it was all based on reallife scenarios. Everyone wants to complete a journey without a pain in their rear ends. So here is another FAQ from the used car buying masses: should I keep or sell?
There is, of course, no definitive answer to this, because I’d need to know all the background details. In this case, the dear reader was running a 1999 Audi A6. Not only that, it was a 2.7 T quattro, with 94,000 miles and full service history. The mitigating factor is that it is due a full-service-and-cambelts-withwater-pump visit to the garage. He’d had the car for 13 years, but its value is now rather less than the cost of popping to the garage for all those bits and bobs to be done.
It all boils down to how much you like your motor. Some become bored after a year or so and fancy a change. After a dozen years, I would bet that he is rather attached to the old girl. In that case, sorting it all out has to be regarded as something of an investment. Having wrung full value out of the car, this is simply prolonging its life, which has to be the green and Bangernomic way forward. The sheer hassle of finding anything as good will always be tricky. However, let’s see if we could take on some old nail without it causing us any serious financial fallout.
I do fancy a coupé at the moment, or maybe just something with compromised rear head room, because I never sit in the back, but still four doors. That would mean a Mercedes-benz CLS with 120k miles. A 2007 CLS 320 CDI with a full history and a year’s worth of MOT at £5000 seems like a good buy.
Long term I ought to think petrol, like the Audi mentioned earlier. In that case, a 2009 Volkswagen CC 1.8 TSI should make sense. Less posh badge, but it still seems very contemporary and has just two previous owners and a fresh service up to 70k miles and the dealer was even backing it up with a warranty. That’ll keep going for a bit at just £5k.
How about a proper coupé? BMW 645CSI. I had a close encounter late last year and it was even cheaper than the £5000 being asked for this 2005 car with 107k miles, four owners, a fat file of receipts and a fresh full-on service. All very reassuring and what a way to travel in the coming decades.
They are out there: motors, primed and ready for another 100k-plus miles. So if you fancy a change, then just part-exchange and move on with any of the above.