Yes, it finally happened. I finally accepted that we had to update our daily car to a more modern car. I think we felt the earth shift on its axis when I ‘gave in’ 😂
Early on in our marriage I identified cars as a significant money drain and impediment to retiring early, and I still maintain they are, so this is very much an experiment. It's only because my recent bonus came in that we've done it, as while bonuses are lovely to receive they sit outside our budget as luxuries as they can never be relied upon.
Martin and I had spoken many times before about having a more modern car but I've resisted. I refuse to lease a car, as I want to own something outright in case I need to sell for the money. I won't buy a new car, as the depreciation costs in the first three years are horrible. Also, I'm very suspicious of anything with CPUs and sensors. It annoys me that you have to spend £50 and get a garage to reset each sensor that trips and diagnose the problem, which may or may not be the real problem as sometimes sensors can trip other sensors into playing up. You could end up spending hundreds of pounds fixing something only to find it was a problem knocked on from elsewhere in the car. Finally, modern car parts come in units. You can't just fix a small bit like older cars, you have to replace the whole unit. It means modern mechanics are trained to put sealed units together like lego, rather than pinpoint the exact seal/pipe/part that has malfunctioned and replace that.
In all, I think it is a licence to pick my pocket and I've strongly resisted. However, I now accept that we had to make a move towards a modern car for our day-to-day needs, as finding an pre-sensor style car that is low mileage and in good condition is now very difficult and I need something smart and reliable for visiting clients. After a few years of trouble-free motoring our 20 year old automatic Nissan Almera is getting to a point where it is quite tatty and dinged, has 91,000 miles on the clock, and is needing a little too much attention every year. Audrey no longer drives her 19 year old manual Nissan Micra and neither does Martin now he's given up work so that is just sat on the drive. I don’t drive manual cars as I dislike the faff of gear changes otherwise I’d have it. The tax on both of them is high, nearly £360 a year for the Almera and about half that less for the Micra, and there are likely to be increases in the future to try and combat climate change by getting elderly polluting cars off the road.
They’ve done well though. We bought the Almera in 2018 for £500 with 64,000 miles on the clock, as we needed something for me to drive and had strength to pull the car and animal trailer. The Micra 1.0 belonged to my parents from new and Audrey bought it from them in 2017 to update her even older last car. It had 56,000 miles on it when she bought it and now has 66,000.
So, after doing some research, we decided to buy an automatic 2009 Toyota Yaris 1.3 at a local dealership. We found a few likely candidates in Lincolnshire to test drive over the last week, and finally settled on one that drives well, with a full service history, bank of first time MOT passes and only very minor advisories and 53,000 miles on the clock. It will be more expensive than what we're used to spending (around £4,000 compared to our usual £500) but the onus is on Martin to prove its worth. He talked the talk for a modern car and in his opinion this is a good one, so now he’s persuaded me it better walk the walk! The car tax will be £30 a year and insurance £190.
The plan is that the Micra will be MOT'd before the end of this month and advertised for sale so we don't have to buy another lot of road tax. Also, we've just got the MOT on the Almera, and are aiming to replace that in 3-6 months with a classic car of the right engine size. A classic tow car will have no road tax, as it will be older than 30 years, can go on a classic car policy on a limited mileage for less than £100 a year and Martin can maintain it.
I have to say, the new car it is very quiet and smooth to drive. Having only ever driven older cars I can see the technology progression between the older and newer styles. It's also a luxury to have a working CD player - the Almera and Micra only have tape players 😁
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