New Car v's Old Car.... How the figures stack up ?

[EB#]

One may often think that a new/newer car (maybe with a warranty) will
save you money over an older car that may require require a range
of repairs or additional maintenance.

Here are a couple of cases from my experience:
(Figures do not include fuel costs, tyres and servicing as these are common to both)

1. '92 EB Fairmont (figures are cumulative)
$1900 Purchase price in 2004
$3000 Additional repairs and rego
$6000 General repairs over 4 years (rough figure from memory)
$7200 4 years of insurance

$7200 Total outlay after 4 years
$1000 - Trade/sell price

$6200 Net loss

2. '03 BA Falcon (figures are cumulative)
$17000 Purchase price in 2008
$17500 Stamp duty and transfer
$18100 Repairs
$19900 3 years of insurance

$19900 Total outlay after 3 years
$10500 - Estimated value at present

$9400 Net loss

My figures tend to show, that for private ownership and cars purchased outright, it's
actually cheaper to have an older car and repair it from time to time rather than a
newer car where depreciation is the main value reduction ?

I spoze there are many variables than could play into this comparison, but it's kind
of interesting to just see the simple figures laid out....

[*rayman*]

I agree with you, BUT. your comparing a much older car with a newer car.

I always found my EB's cheap to repair and keep going.

I bought a VT clubsport a couple of years back, and it's been nothing but a problem and is much more expensive to fix. Had it been a newer car, i would say more expensive than the VT to fix again.

I'm looking to sell the clubsport and buy another eb to el car as a cheapy while i build a new house.

[aussie muscle]

yeah, you've got the EB at 8 years old and the BA at 5. i'm sure if you evened the field with both 8 yo cars you'd probably find they are pretty close. if you bought new, the only real big expense is depreciation. face it, unless you've got a genuine mint condition XY GTHO, you shouldn't view it as an investment.

[xisled]

I do not agree with that. In the past 10 years I have had 4 cars.
1980 TE Cortina
1989 XF Falcon
2003 BA XT Falcon
2004 BA GT

I bought my first BA in 2005 and since then, on both the the BA's, It has cost me around $420 for parts to repair the car's. Only thing that has gone wrong with my BA's is on the XT, split the exhaust pipe before the cat, welded $20 dollars, split radiator pipe $50 and a new radiator for the BA XT, $300. I have had the GT now for over a year and it has not cost me 1 cent to repair.

These prices do not included servicing or tires, plugs etc.

With the Cortina and the XF falcon, I spent well over $3000 on each getting repairs done. I owned both them cars for about 1 year each.

[mickyyyy]

E series are reliable when taken care of and AU even better again. Having seen this makes u wonder and going to pull out my receipts and see how much my car ows me.

I think u have come out of it cheap for both cars in regards to repairs and insurance is 3rd party from the price.

Im going to look at my receipts tonight and work it out, i think i might get a shock LOL but i replaced things on the car to make it super reliable and fussy hahaha

[ford lover]

micky,theres a ef in s,e,qld with 111 k on it.very clean one owner car.very hard to find a falcon that old with such low k,s.think its $4900.

[Raptor]

But don't finance types prefer to talk in % terms

Thus the EB has lost you 326% of the purchase price whilst the BA has only lost you 55% of the purchase price.

See, you loose less on a newer car

[/sarcasm]

[2011G6E]

We bought our 1957 Morris fully restored for $4200 and apart from some oil changes it hasn't had a spanner laid on it in five years of everyday use...

[GTP owner]

Yes I agree with your figures. It does not make sense to buy a new car. BUT (and this is why we buy new on a regular basis) - I don't have time to waste on a car that does not go every time i turn the key. I don't have time to wait by the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. i don't have time to waste while i organise repairs. And I hate the feeling of a car that i cannot trust (think kids and wife out late in the city).
The second reason is that it is tax deductable.
The third is that I like new cars!

[TheInterceptor]

I bought the subaru end of last year for $950.

New points, cap, leads and a carby rebuild: about $600
Insurance and rego, $1500.
New wagon door struts and somthing i forget $400
Rust job and new windscreen, $320
New lower ball joint and CV, $335

Theres another thing that cost $369 according to my bank statement too..

$4474. And thats without all the extras/aftermarket i put in.

At one stage there was something wrong every week!
When the front left wheel nuts gave up, and then the steering (ball joint quit, damaged the body too) i spat the dummy and bought me my ute..

Now sister drives the subie..hope she has better luck than I.

The new used ute cost me 17k in total so far (only had it for two weeks).

Already done bout 1300kms worry and trouble free! And i dont care for depreciation

[Ford_The_Win]

I bought my Ford 18 months ago for $5k. Was extremely tidy, immaculate interior, 100k on the clock.

Including $380 for rego and two lots of insurance, plus servicing, repairs, a new head unit and a set of tyres, it has cost me $2,951 on top of the purchase price.

Not too bad I suppose. I could probably still get nearly what I paid for it if I wanted to sell it, it is still immaculate and with 115 on the clock now. But depreciation doesn't come into it, the car would have to burst into flames before I consider selling it at this stage.

And for that I have airbags, ABS, cruise, electric windows, all the basic mod cons you'd expect in a new Hyundai.

[prydey]

if you 'upgrade' your car to 'save' you money, then maths isn't one of your strong points.

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by prydey

if you 'upgrade' your car to 'save' you money, then maths isn't one of your strong points.

[Streets]

I don't want to know what having a 25 year-old daily driver is costing me.

[Quicksand]

With all due respect, a 2003 BA is not a new car when purchased in 2008. Yes it is newer than an EB, but it isn't as simple as that. Factor in inflation and a number of other factors and the BA is probably ahead. Also, your example is just one case. There are many BA's that have done better and worse than that. It just isn't that simple.

Its more convenient for me to outlay a bigger some of money upfront and get a new car with warranty than to have to find big chunks of money at random times.

[Quicksand]

Originally Posted by GTP owner

Yes I agree with your figures. It does not make sense to buy a new car.

If people stopped buying new cars then there wouldn't be any to buy second hand hehe

[Powdered Toast Man]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

yeah, you've got the EB at 8 years old and the BA at 5.

I'm hoping your not a civil engineer or something

'92 EB bought in 2004 isnt 8 years old, it's 12.

I agree with your post though.

I'm actually about to step backwards and sell up my BA in a year or so and make my EB my daily drive. But I will have spent numerous thousands of dollars fixing and improving the EB by then so it's not going to be more cost effective.

[duaned]

Originally Posted by Quicksand

If people stopped buying new cars then there wouldn't be any to buy second hand hehe

Yeah, I like to let new car buyers wear the bigger chunk of depreciation!

[TheZHLANE]

Spent about 11-12 grand all up on my zh including purchase, new motor etc etc just needs paint and will be sweet

[RAREV8]

Our TX5 from 1993 cost $2500 18 months ago with 120k on the clock, $580 pn a new AC condenser, $1000 for 4 new tyres and $1600 on paintwork to tidy her up and $200 for solar tint so it owes me a shade over $5300.
Most wouldn't have bothered with the paint but it looks far better for it and I am quite fastidious with it as it's the wife's and bubs daily driver.
Having said that, it was a one owner car and we knew the owners and our mechanic reckons it is mechanically perfect.

When working out your on road expenses, tyres are a disposable item and I factored in that cost at purchase......we got 6 months out of the existing tyres nonetheless.

[jpd80]

My new EF GLi in 1995 cost $32,500 + ORC, I added XR6 5-spoke wheels for $1000
and being a demo, I got $4700 off the price which was $29,900 drive away.

Fast forward 16 years to XR6s now costing $32,990 drive away for ABN holders,
no wonder Ford isn't making the profits on Falcon it once did....

[Paxton]

I bought an EF, so we could afford an X5. The EF replaced a 2006 Mazda6, which was an average car, but costing more a year in repayments than the EF did outright, or so we thought at the time.

In the three years that I punted the EF over 400 Kms a week, it cost me the purchase price over again to keep it on the road. We could have kept the Mazda another year, and still come out in front.

The EF has now been replaced with a BFII on Gas, but I'm keeping the EF for another year at this stage, mainly because I'm yet to see if I actually like the BFII. I won't replace a relatively new car with Factory Warranty for an old car again - especially when you don't know about the previous owners tendency to get things fixed.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by prydey

if you 'upgrade' your car to 'save' you money, then maths isn't one of your strong points.

so buying my new XR5T wont save me money, now you tell me this

[rag top]

Not all old cars depreciate. I had a daily I bought for $14,000 and sold it for $22500 8 years later.
Wife bought an AU wagon for $14,000 around the same time, sold it 5 years later for $3,000. AU was also more expensive maintenance wise (thanks to a blown gearbox).

[munners]

You pay for ABS, airbags, bluetooth, MP3, ESC, improved NVH, more power, less fuel etc. which you get with newer cars.

Its hard to put a price on what the improved safety of a new vehicle is worth unless you actually have a crash and it saves your life. But its nice to know its there. And new vehicles are generally cooler than the ones they superceed, aren't they?

Munners

[svo supporter]

I'll stick with my pre-computerised cars. That way if something breaks, I can fix it. (Dollars in my pocket)

Cars made 30 years ago, tend to appreciate in value, even if they're not desireable. ala GT's. It might only be a few bucks a year, but better than loosing a few a year through depreciation

[93EB_SXR6]

I love being able to fix my own cars without having to worry about everything being controlled by a computer.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Professor_Evans

I love being able to fix my own cars without having to worry about everything being controlled by a computer.

In cars, replacing mechanical bits like carbys and distributors with electronic bits usually makes them more reliable.....

Given that we have had computer controlled Falcons since 1988, I think it's a safe bet that they are reasonably reliable.

[jpd80]

I love not having to worry about fixing my car, that's why I like computer controlled cars.

In cars, replacing mechanical bits like carbys and distributors with electronic bits usually makes them more reliable.....

Given that we have had computer controlled Falcons since 1988, I think it's a safe bet that they are reasonably reliable.

[TheInterceptor]

Non EFI deisel is the stuff for me!

No PCM, carbies, points, leads, spark plugs....