Average age of cars on UK roads oldest ever!

[knighty]

I've got a 2010 range rover

small problems are starting to mount up, getting to the point where they'll cost more than it's worth fixing, nothing major, still runs fine, but time to look for something else

I keep looking at newer ones, but they all seam like crazy money for something that's not much better

there;s not much else that takes my fancy :-(

 

[Morrisman]

Does VED still favour driving older diesels?

Then there's the technology...some of it is great...some of it is not so great and quite distracting.

£35 a year for my 2012 1.6 diseasel Mondeo. 50mpg too.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

£35 a year for my 2012 1.6 diseasel Mondeo. 50mpg too.

Think both my EV and hybrid are £195!

In London ulez got rid of the euro 5 diesels...but I suspect these cars were simply moved to other parts of the country...and maybe this reduced new car sales in other regions.

Is the £40k luxury VED still a thing?

 

[Ross365]

I bought my Rover 600 (a Rover 600 is a Honda Accord in disguise) for £1450 in 2004. If you say it's now worth £0, that's a depreciation rate of £69/year, but the car will probably last longer than me. It's never failed an MoT or had an advisory.

 

[Matchless]

family car, Audi Q5 2.0tfsi is 16 years old, my village runabout is a free 1.2 Corsa and is 21 years old, MGA is back on the road, 65 years old, Mk2 Jag is 59 years old, Dodge is 96 years old, Matchless model K light car is 101 years old and my Matchless cyclecar project is 113 years old! recent purchase Austin K6 three axle lorry is 80 years old............................... do I win? oh forgot the Iveco Daily, ex Tesco is 9 years old,

 

[Bobupndown]

I might have also acquired a 2.8TD Frontera

You have our sympathies

 

[owas]

Daily driver duties always fall to my two completely mechanical diesel engines, so easy to sort out.

Wife has to have the modern car currently a 2013 diesel sportage, supposedly a good engine, no issues so far

 

[frank horton]

you'll see plenty of early 70's pick-ups etc here....and still used for work......
cant wait untill all my old rubbish is roadworthy again....

 

[8ob]

The older cars ran tyres with a decent sidewall and they all had a spare in the boot, far more suited to today’s roads. I cant think of a new vehicle that appeals to me, all of them are heading towards being dealer only maintained.

Bob

 

[qwakers]

Oh I don’t know, I quite like the look of the new c63 amg..... just not the price tag or fuel economy.......

I’ll stick to my 2013 c220...

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I'm driving a Pug 406, it's 25 years old, it's not a great car, but it's reliable.

I will probably regret writing this knowing my luck.

The day after a bought the 206 my 3008 had a fit and abs/e handbrake went tits up. They know...

 

[droopsnoot]

My "modern daily" turned 25 years old in April. If I swap it for the same thing but six months newer the VED goes up a lot, but if I jump to the next generation around 2008, it drops to £30 a year.

I get what everyone means about driving old cars, but as much as I like them, and as confident as I am in their likelihood of getting me there and back, now I've experienced a new car with air conditioning I'm not sure I could use the Vauxhalls every day. I do, when the Audi is needing attention, but the thought of sitting in a traffic jam on a hot day still concerns me, even though both cooling systems are good. My Audi coupe becomes eligible for Historic status next April (as long as nothing changes before then), and while it doesn't have air-con, I recall it being very usable as an everyday car until I replaced it, so that's next on the list for coming back to life after the current project is done.

I think a lot of it depends on what you're used to, and what kind of journeys you do. I was fine in the Vauxhalls until I bought the Audi coupe, going from a car designed in the sixties to one from the late 70s was a major change in terms of how well it was screwed together, ride quality, sound deadening and so on. Then another jump to the TT, though that was mostly the addition of air-con. I suppose if pushed I could add aftermarket air-con with an electric pump to the Vauxhalls. Now, there's a thought.

 

[dobbslc]

I'll keep my 29 year old Surf as long as I can but being so close to Chainman Khan's cyclist utopia I'll probably be legislated off the road at some point
Unfortunately I can't afford to replace my car every 3 years with a brand new "environmentally friendly" one

As a lot of you have already said, modern cars just don't appeal to me with all the ridiculous expense to buy one , the stealer costs and the unreliability.
20" low profile tyres?
Stupid on our roads now.
Euro 6 diesel engines?
More stupid, but it goes on.

As for bikes there's again not much out there I'd put my money on even if I was rich.
The new Yamaha Tenere looks good but I think they're 12k!

I've just realised that most of my vehicles for the last 25-30 years have been unofficial imports like all the Jap 400cc bikes, my current TRX (parallel import) and the Surf, I don't know if that's coincidence or me just wanting something different to the mainstream porridge that gets brought into this country

 

[knighty]

The older cars ran tyres with a decent sidewall and they all had a spare in the boot, far more suited to today’s roads. I cant think of a new vehicle that appeals to me, all of them are heading towards being dealer only maintained.

Bob

brother is a driving instructor, years ago it took my dad and I 45min to change a headlight bulb

next time it needed one it was going in for a main dealer service anyway so he asked them to do it.... when he went to pick it up they did the service and missed the bulb so he went back in and asked them, had to sit and wait for it, he sat and watched them do it.... it took an hour :-o

 

[Morrisman]

Think both my EV and hybrid are £195!

In London ulez got rid of the euro 5 diesels...but I suspect these cars were simply moved to other parts of the country...and maybe this reduced new car sales in other regions.

Is the £40k luxury VED still a thing?

There were just a few short years when government experts were convinced diesels were going to be the saviour of the planet. Then they realised more profit was to be made with electric cars.

 

[owas]

My "modern daily" turned 25 years old in April. If I swap it for the same thing but six months newer the VED goes up a lot, but if I jump to the next generation around 2008, it drops to £30 a year.

I get what everyone means about driving old cars, but as much as I like them, and as confident as I am in their likelihood of getting me there and back, now I've experienced a new car with air conditioning I'm not sure I could use the Vauxhalls every day. I do, when the Audi is needing attention, but the thought of sitting in a traffic jam on a hot day still concerns me, even though both cooling systems are good. My Audi coupe becomes eligible for Historic status next April (as long as nothing changes before then), and while it doesn't have air-con, I recall it being very usable as an everyday car until I replaced it, so that's next on the list for coming back to life after the current project is done.

I think a lot of it depends on what you're used to, and what kind of journeys you do. I was fine in the Vauxhalls until I bought the Audi coupe, going from a car designed in the sixties to one from the late 70s was a major change in terms of how well it was screwed together, ride quality, sound deadening and so on. Then another jump to the TT, though that was mostly the addition of air-con. I suppose if pushed I could add aftermarket air-con with an electric pump to the Vauxhalls. Now, there's a thought.

That's what I'm going for in the land rover, a split 12v electric unit, got 3 batteries and a 120 amp alternator so I think the electric system is up to it, was so ridiculously cheap off alibaba I figured I'd give it a go. £170ish shipped minus any taxes

Chose the slow boat option so it'll be here for winter

 

[RWD3M]

I’m doing my bit, the average age of mine is 28.4! I’ve driven a lot of new cars, post 2022, from Merc S Class, Range Rover, BMW, to Vauxhall Corsa, and there is not one of the I have got out of and said “I could live with that” let alone “I want one of those”. So I will keep spending time and money keeping what I’ve got on the road.

Hmm... Give me a minute, I'll work out mine.

Edit: Wow! 41!

(Fiesta - 8yo, Jag - 8, Mini - 27, GT6 - 52, Morris - 89 and S2a - 62)

 

[RonMig]

We're doing our bit too; mine, son & swmbo vehicles-
DT175 = 51 yrs old
K100 = 36 yrs old
F650 = 28 yrs old
vtr1000 = 28 yrs old
Disco2 = 24 yrs old
golf5 = 20 yrs old
tuscon = 7 yrs old

lost our Rover216 last year owned for 26 yrs, that was 31 yrs old too.

 

[Blobber]

You have our sympathies

Yeah but bullet proof Isuzu 2,8TD engine with mechanical pump
That'll put a scowl on Grunta Thunderface when im rollin coal!

 

[droopsnoot]

That's what I'm going for in the land rover, a split 12v electric unit, got 3 batteries and a 120 amp alternator so I think the electric system is up to it, was so ridiculously cheap off alibaba I figured I'd give it a go. £170ish shipped minus any taxes

Chose the slow boat option so it'll be here for winter

It'll be interesting to hear more about this once you come to fit it.