dont over spend for the next 10/15 years

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we are heading toward an depression IMO dont over spend cut up your credit cards up dont get yourself in silly amount of debt tough time are coming

Andy wrote:

Steve wrote:we are heading toward an depression IMO dont over spend cut up your credit cards up dont get yourself in silly amount of debt tough time are coming

  .. for the last couple of weeks I've been seriously thinking about part-exing the Jeep in for an Audi estate to get more MPG and lower running costs, but that will mean a sizeable loan for a few yrs  

Fuel is only ever going to go one way ^^^ so do I bite the bullet now and get an Audi+debt, or stick with the gas guzzler and be completely debt free in a yr or so   

Tough one Andy. My brother-in-law has an Audi, a diesel, and this one has a whizzy little trick of switching off the engine at traffic lights etc and restarting when the accelerator is pressed. This is supposed to save fuel, but my BIL says it does less mpg than his previous Audi so he's not impressed with that feature. It also costs a horrendous amount to replace the tyres or other wear parts.

An alternative, if you really want to save money, is to go for a more modest car. I don't know if they are still doing it, but Vauxhall were selling new cars with a lifetime guarantee, which must be worth consideration. I bought a new Astra 4 years ago with my retirement money - I was terribly lucky because at the time there was a £2K scrappage allowance for my poor old Cavalier and no VAT at the time either. The Astra costs me far less for fuel than the Cavalier did. I had smaller engine Corsa as a courtesy car for 2 weeks whilst my Astra was having bodywork repairs when someone kindly crashed into it, and although I hated the "underperformance" at first, I did get used to it, and am considering down-sizing further to a Corsa with life-time guarantee.

Anyway, it's just a thought.

Cheer Lynda, yeh I've been leaning away from the Audi idea with each day that pass's, had a few Vauxhalls over the yrs and been pleased with them (mainly sporty ones tho >  SRI, GTE, GSI) .. I have been lookin at the Astra SRI diesels, nice cars and deffo in the running at the mo, but also LOVE the Mazda3 Sport 2.0D ... very quick, econimical, well built blah blah blah .. in no immediate rush tho, so will swat up on loads knowing me  

That's the thing to do Andy, research! I understand your leaning to the more sporty and dare I say it, more flashy, models - I like a good looking car myself although I must admit that as I have grown older the ability to go from 0 - 200 mph in 2 seconds matters much less to me now than it did  

You'll know this already I'm sure, but I'll say it anyway - I looked into having a diesel when I bought my Astra, but it was explained to me that as I don't do a huge mileage the initial cost of a diesel engine plus the cost of diesel itself, it wouldn't pay me. My BIL does 4 times the amount of mileage that I do, so it pays off for him.

Good luck Andy!

I do like a bit of umf when you put ya foot down  and of course, I'm still a bit of a nutter on a motorbike  

As for diesel/mpg, I dont actually need a car tbh, I'm close enough to everything I need without having to use one if needs be, but now its just the mrs, max, and me, and the kids have grown up and drive themselve's, we like to go away for short breaks/days out more often  

It put it into context the other day, when we were going for a carvery at a local pub, which costs £10 each, and I said that for that (£20) we could drive to the coast and back, and have a day at the beech in a modern diesel   ... whereas it's £50-60 in the 4x4 before you even think about summut to eat etc   

No brainer really  

That's it Andy in a nutshell - depends how much umf and flash mean to you. Umf and flash cost a lot more, one way and another, than an A to B motor. Your money, your choice!

Looking forward to hearing on what you decide upon