How often do you "upgrade" cars?

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Originally Posted by slug_burner

Perhaps with some tax advantages it might work out in favour of turning them over more frequently. However I do not believe that it is a sustainable practise. I do not believe we should all be driving around in old cars like they do in Cuba but I think that we should think about the amount of energy that it takes to build a car and see if we would get a better return by building a vehicle that will last a little longer before falling apart. Maybe that is why series LRs have been so popular.

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Why does Cuba have to run old cars?

Simple reason is down to the tyranical practises of George W and the 'good old US of A' Begore anyone starts the Cuban missile crisis was over 40 years ago and the Yanks are still punishing the ordinary Cuban people by denying them basic health care etc. I am not saying Castro is perfect but he is almost a saint in comparision to George W and his cronies.

The Cubans could certainly teach the Aussie a thing or two about bush mechanics! Some photos of Cubas transport

Castros car

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...008/12/252.jpg


Local bus

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...008/12/245.jpg

Local Taxi

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...008/12/253.jpg

On street car parking

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...008/12/254.jpg



To keep these cars going with the embargo still in place shows good mechanical skills. How many of these cars would still be on the road in the Aussie outback.

Apologies for my rant. Hope you like the photos

Regards

Brendan

Brendan,

I think your photos help convey what I was refering to when mentioning Cuba and old cars.

Your message store is full and cannot receive PMs.

The Cuba pictures remind me of Burma when I first visited it in the eighties (no embargo, just very poor due to government policies).

My 110 I have owned since 1993, and the 2a since 1990 or 91 and I have no plans to replace either - should see me out, perhaps another twenty years. Previous car, which I still have, was a 1974 Citroen DSpeciale, which I bought in 1978, replacing a ID19 bought in 1964.

You can make an argument for any length of ownership you prefer, but unless depreciation is tax deductible, short term ownership is very expensive. Depreciation is in almost all cases the major part of operating cost for a car, and is highest in the first year, slowly decreasing after that. The major concrete reasons for changing cars are:-

1. New design improvements that represent a real advance on what you have currently. (This is fairly rare, despite advertising)

2. Parts/service get hard to find or very expensive - this is a real problem with some cars, e.g. P38A

3. You have run it into the ground and it is cheaper to replace it than fix it - if you look after it you would not be in this position, and proper maintenance will save you money in the long term.

4. You hit something and your insurer is paying you to replace it (rarely a good outcome!)

By the time major repairs are needed on a car, depreciation compared to a new replacement is so high that the repairs are almost always a lot cheaper than the changeover cost (It can be argued that spending money on an old car should be judged against the value of it - but the real comparison should be against the cost of changeover to a new(er) one). Of course, you can change it for something that is only a little bit newer, minimising the changeover cost, but you end up paying the difference between selling and buying, and unless you are very good at assessing cars there is a real risk of ending up with even more expensive repairs.

John

Well I've had 3 cars since 1978, so does that tell you something ?

1978 - Datsun 1600
1982 - Range Rover
1998 - Defender

My wife has also only had 3 cars, but she did go 23 years without one :D



Martyn

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Originally Posted by CraigE

Grew up in a 1960s Hillman Hunter wagon. My Grandfather had it from new until he died.

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You were lucky..........I grew up in a Triumph Mayflower.......and you try telling the kids of today that and they wont believe you;)

I couldn't help myself.:D

I dont believe you!
:p

I've had a few cars,, I mainly change because of intended usage,,
go to work cars.
go fast die young cars,
sleep in the back of cars,
sleep in the back of and TOW go fast cars,
then two disco's:D

Well I've had the Series III for 15 years - it's the only car I've bought since then, & I've got no plans of getting rid of it. Tragic huh!

I think I might shift to Cuba. Fantastic pics. :cool:


Back on topic......

Had the Rangie for the last 10 years, after a brief stint in a Lada (fitted an Alpha Romeo 2 ltr twin overhead cam.... wooo-hooo!!!) but the lada was a little small inside for anything over a long weekend and 2 people.

Before that, was an XC Fairmont, 302 V8 that I probably had for about 8 years. Probably the nicest car I have driven, and all but gave it away to my Brother in law, when he was in a time of need.

He went on to thrash the thing, then flog it off for a small fortune.:mad::mad:

I miss that car. :(


I won't make the same mistake with the 2a.............. I hope.

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Originally Posted by leeds

I am not saying Castro is perfect but he is almost a saint in comparision to George W and his cronies.

The Cubans could certainly teach the Aussie a thing or two about bush mechanics! Some photos of Cubas transport

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I'm not saying GW Bush is a saint but your comments about Castro are somewhat misguided. Do some research and get back to us.

As for Cuban cars, my understanding is they mostly have Russian drivetrains, which although still not modern are much more repairable than if they kept the original 50s kit.