Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Honda jazz

This is right for sure but they don't ever mention it. The 660 has enough power and comfort for everyday use as well and the cars can be made don to a price point.

This would be me for sure. I avoid London like the plague though.
Also people can't be trusted to maintain and look after them now.

No 40 year old car is going to be reliable, regardless of how well it's been maintained, unless it's been reconditioned, in which case it's going to be expensive.

There's currently 809 ULEZ compliant petrol cars available on Auto Trader for £2k or under.

£2k's worth of 40 year old car will not get you fun and smiles, it will get you starting problems, overheating, rust issues, obscure parts not easily available and an intimate relationship with your local recovery and roadside repair drivers.

On top of that, let's add the safety implications of driving around in a 40 year old car with a non-existant NCAP rating.

On top of that, if everyone who currently owned a non-ULEZ compliant car, bought a 40+ year old car instead of buying a ULEZ compliant car, we'd end up in a horrifically worse emissions situation than we're currently in.

It's a nice idea, and I have considered a cool 60s or 70s muscle car just to cruise around town, but I know it's not a sensible idea and I can't afford the cost of ownership let alone the cost of buying a half-decent one.

On top of all that, as mentioned by other people, I once had to pull over on a motorway slip road with no hard shoulder with my baby in the back and that was a stressful experience I do not want to do again. It's OK breaking down in town where you can just stop on the side of a road or even coast into a side road, but having to use a 40+ year old car to do regular 100+ mile trips with a family is not the type of anxiety I need in my life.

They do smell funny too.

Now that's a positive in my book. Although wife disagrees and she often queries why the MX5 honks so much of fuel.

Yes, babies do smell funny on a regular basis.

I don’t know why more people aren’t buying pre 1980 cars in London. No road tax or mot needed, cheap insurance and no ULEZ charges

EDIT: apologies @bq this was a reply for @johnnettles2

Environmental/safety/maintenance/driveability issues aside unless you're experienced with classic cars the classic car market (IMO) has become a playground for the wealthy rather than what it once was, a cheap run-around option. I can't recall seeing anything for less than £3k recently that wasn't a project car. I'd guess you'd need to spend around £7-8k to get anything as reliable/sorted as a more modern £3k car. That said if a pre 84 900 came up for the right price i'd jump at it as it's essentially the same platform right the way through to the last models (like mine).

I drove a 73 bug around London for over 5 years but sold it in the end as at that time i still had to pay tax, it was relatively cramped, boot space was crap, and it was too thirsty/tiring over longer runs (#csb).

Yeah basically all this but it took me too long to write it down

So what we're saying is old cars suck.

Last time I supplied the sound system for a band out in the countryside we were talking about how we all arrived without any dramas in our relatively new cars and how years ago it was always a lottery if you'd make it. Then you had to worry about how you'd find these remote properties in the depths of the countryside while running mental diagnostics on why you were down on power or had a warning light on.

I always had a jack and box of tools in the back of my car.

Does anyone have experience with the Mini Cooper S f53? Any particular years to avoid? Every 6 months I'm having to spend money fixing various issues on my MK5 Golf as its 120,000 miles. I'm thinking about replacing it with a fun hatchback and do have a soft spot for minis. I don't mind spending the money fixing but I'd rather spend it on a fun wee car. 3-4K budget.

FWIW in 10 years of ownership my bug broke down once, didn't rust, started in any weather and could be left for 9-10 months without any issues. But i put that down to having a very good classic car mechanic (my dad) and if it were my responsibility to look after and maintain it i'm sure my story would be the same as the gen pop (old cars suck).

They're absolutely wonderful if you have:

1. Time
   
2. Money
   
3. Knowledge
   
4. Experience
   
5. Space
   
   

Which is why classic car owners are either incredibly boring or wealthy.

Which is why classic car owners are either incredibly boring or wealthy.

Shit. This means I’m incredibly boring.

Especially old Mercs, fucking belfing.

Sorry to break it to you buddy

There is only one bad thing about old cars and that's having to potentially buy Imperial tools. Although that could also be seen as a positive.

Don't forget you get to put a little AA badge on your radiator!

fuck that's harsh

A little time and some effort - no probs. This is a lovely runner. Last pic should be a meme!😀

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314247741929?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=syBDfoIYQEW&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=SQaVkqSkRlC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Ha. I actually have one of those. Not on my car though.

I love old cars, I've had a few, I know what owning them is like.

As I said, if you don't need to depend on it to get you places, then they're bloody brilliant. As a solution to ULEZ for your average car user, don't be silly.

MOT garage failed car on emissions this week, and apparently the engine light was on. So both count as major fail, cue 'oh well, we can't diagnose the issue for a month, and due to its age maybe just scrap it etc, we can take care of that for you, how do you want to proceed'.

100% as my wife dropped car off they got a wiff of some extra money coming their way.

Rang up and asked for the emissions test data, turned out instead of entering the reg and using the DVLA/VOSA lookup table for the correct test to apply, they just bunged it on 2018 diesel/euro6 spec. So no wonder it was 5 times over the limit and didn't complete the test!

They duly retested it, and had no answer at all as to why 'engine light is on' was put down, as it works with ignition then cycles off as it should, and doesn't have any issues and computer report shows light hasn't been on in about 6 months, so a clear fuck up or total bullshit.

For now have left it, but maybe I need to report to VOSA as their attitude REEKED of 'girl drops off unusual car, maybe we can buy it off them for cheap/pretend to scrap/get it in for un-needed diagnostic work'. Also car is left with a fail certificate on its record now, no biggy as its ancient, but its the attitude thats stinking.

Cheering myself up by shopping for a size bigger injectors and turbo.

ULEZ zones has priced us out of updating our car. Anything diesel, an actual estate and euro 6 either is priced insanely high, or just isn't available to buy, folk aren't selling on like they normally do when they get to their own threshold on age/miles/mounting maintenance items/tempting new lease deal etc.

Thinking back to all those parties I’ve been to and ended up stood in the corner all alone it kinda makes sense.