The Long Car Purchase

I'm going to by a new car. Except I'm not.

Let me explain.

My car is about 6 years old, and there's nothing wrong with it. Not at the moment anyway. I'm very happy with it. It does everything I want it to do. But it occurs to me that it won't always be thus. One day it will cost more to fix than a new one would to own, one day my circumstances might change and I might need a 7 seater or a 2 seater. So, realistically in the next 1 - 4 years I'll be buying another car.

But I hate cars.

I'm just not interested in them at all. MPG, MPH, torque, talk, all you do to me is talk talk, whatever. Not interested. When we bought our current car I took it for a test drive. I pulled over after about 200 yards. "What am I supposed to be looking for?" I asked. "It goes, I can sit down OK".

I'd rather not have a car at all, but unfortunately we need one. And Streetcar won't work either, although I wish it would. So I've had this thought for a long time and not really been brave enough to post it (it's a pretty personal thing a car purchase) and then talking to someone the other day reminded me that I should do this.

So here's the big idea. Let's assume that I'll be buying a car, not now, but over a 1 to 4 year period (the vagueness of the timing is part of the point). That car might be new, might not. Forget budget for the time being. I imagine there are lots and lots of people like me. People tell me the average purchase cycle of a car is 5 years. The car companies and the research companies know this.

So under The Long Car Purchase I'm going to note down all the significant interactions I have with car advertising and branding over four years (or whatever) and then maybe we'll see a picture build up of how that affects my purchase. Maybe we won't. It's an experiment.

Above I said my current car 'does everything I want it to do' so I ought to list what that means.

1. It must fit four adults in it.

2. Most of my time is spent in the passenger seat, so I must be able to do this without banging my knees.

3. I must be able to have speech radio on, on the motorway at 70mph without having to have the volume at an ear splitting level.

4. It must be able to overtake without making the engine scream like a burning kipper. Despite hating cars I have found this a useful feature.

And that's about it.

If I had to buy a car tomorrow (again, forget budget for a minute) I couldn't. There isn't a car that fits the bill. Sure there are plenty of cars that fit those requirements, but there isn't one that feels right for me. I guess that's where the branding things comes in (however much you want to ignore that).

The environment is a massive concern too. Huge. A Prius doesn't feel quite right, very nearly, but not quite right. Someone told me that the most environmentally car you can buy is a second hand German estate. Like and Audi or a Mercedes. You don't have to make any new stuff, it will be reliable and last forever, image-wise it's OK and it will fit in everyhthing you need. That makes sense.

My ideal car would be built by Land Rover, or Lexus maybe, would look like an E-Type, would fit eight adults in, would have sliding doors, would be as easy to park as a Mini and have a hybrid engine. Find me one of those and I'll buy it. I use the word 'ideal' very lightly.

Find me one of these made by Land Rover with eight adults inside, sliding doors and a hybrid engine and we're done.

Anything else? I think that will do for now. I'll try and jot stuff down as we go along. For example the Credit Crunch means there are thousands of 0% deals around at the moment, so maybe now is a better time to buy than in 3 years? People keep telling me that. The Economist reckons second hand cars have dropped 20% in price this year. It also says "The trade-in value of a Porsche Cayenne, the epitome of a boom-time gas-guzzler, hovers around £20,000 for vehicles that cost £56,000 two years earlier". And there's this, but as I said Streetcar won't work.

Anyway. All that. Who knows. We'll find out.

So. Do you think I'm mad?

Comments

[lauren]

what does owning your own car give you, that streetcar doesn't/won't?

[Loïc]

Did you know that 60% of all Porsches ever made are still on the road today?
You should get one and have it customized with an H-Van by David's son
http://www.maxhydemotors.com/photogallery.html
and you get some kind of bloggocar.

[Paul H. Colman]

What do you have now?

And how come I didn't know you had a car?

[caroline]

I remember having to do a design project at school. We had to redesign the aesthetics of any car we chose. I sent off to all the car companies I could think of (this was before email, so it took a while). I told them about the project and what I was being asked to do, and asked them to send me brochure/s of the cars they produced.
I wrote to around 20 companies, about half got back to me with brochures, they ALL adressed the envolopes and corresponadance to MR PANICO, when I had quite clearly said my name was Miss Caroline Panico.I have never forgotten this and will not buy a car from these companies. Luckily I doubt I will ever have cause to buy the kind of cars a teenager thinks are cool!!

If were to buy a car Id maybe run this test again...

Have you thought of buying through an ex company car seller?

[Chris]

If anyone saw Top Gear last night, they covered the Honda Clarity... runs on Hydrogen so zero emissions! And looks ten times better than the Prius. Not available in the UK just yet but probably will be in your 1-4 year objective.

[Steve Price]

I second the Honda Clarity. I completely agree with James May (from Top Gear) in his 'Tomorrows World' style report on this car. It really is going to be the savour and the future of cars. It has increased my respect for Honda and their vision to invest in the impossible - even though they just resigned from F1.
The problem with Hybrid, or electric cars is that unless you can guarentee that your electricity is being sustainably sourced, all you are doing is draining (for hours) energy that has derived from a (more than likely) coal powered power station - which defeats the whole job.
I think that the Clarity and cars like them will take around ten years to be widely available at prices that do not mean you have to be on a Hollywood A list salary to afford them.
Better late than never.

[Richard]

For god sakes don't get a mini-van!

[Nikki - Logo Design Guru]

This is so cool. I saw one of these wire cars on another blog and thought it was so fascinating. Looks like something from the movie "Tron." That sure brings you back to the 80's. Some trends never go out of style, or just come back.

[Dave]

@ Steve Price:

Where do you think the hydrogen comes from? It takes energy to produce it - which, at the moment, would most likely come from gas or coal fired power stations. Same problem as electric cars, no? Plus hydrogen is not a very energy dense material - ie. you need a lot of it, and it takes up a large amount of space.

I'm not sure personal cars will ever be sustainable - plus they tend to clutter up the streets.

(Hope the first paragraph doesn't sound harsh/rude - it's not meant to be!)

[pablo]

cars are rubbish

[Ben]

Good comments, thanks everyone. I'll reply in a separate post. This is a long project.

[Kieran]

Cars aren't so rubbish.

A car enables me to live somewhere I can afford but work where housing is exspensive.

Bear in mind this is outside of metropolitan cities such as London or Manchester so there are exceedingly limited bus/tram/train routes. That'd be 2 bus routes I'd have to catch, each only runs twice hourly and don't connect well.

But this isn't a car blog! I'd say a 3-4 year timeframe will start allowing you to purchase a far more efficient car!

[Matt Cooper]

i'm not sure if this is common knowledge:

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2007/03/hummers_more_ec.html

Greenness isn't a quick fix, and the prius is far more damaging to the planet in the long run.

but in the long run, we should all go for a long run. Or a bike ride...

[Julian]

We have tried to get the best of both worlds by using a smaller car (a Nissan Almera) for day to day use for 2 adults and 2 children and hiring a larger car for longer journeys. The comfort in a larger car is pointless if you cannot find anywhere to park it and is costs a fortune to run, but it is good for those occasional long trips (such as Manchester to Penzance in a couple of weeks) for which we are hiring a VW Passat for 7 days for £130. The key is determining the size of car you need for your most frequent use of the car.

[Rob Mortimer]

Prius is apparently worse than a Land Rover for environmental impact because of how difficult and worldwide production of it is.

If it were me i'd buy an Alfa Romeo Brera, but thats because it looks amazing.

[boots]

yes you are mad, if you live in london what about the tube, bus or even a scooter - they are cheap to run etc

[adrian]

I have the very car for you. Like you, I have never been a 'car person'. Until now that is. Last year I was forced into thinking about a larger car as we were about to have a second baby. I can't remember how exactly, but I suddenly started researching old Mercedes estates - specifically the ones manufactured between '76 & '85 called the w123 series. Having lived with one for over 12 months, here are a few of the many reasons why this is the car for you:

1. They looks fantastic. Let's face it, as a visually intelligent person you can pretend all you like that you don't care about car aesthetics, but really, you know you do. While most estates look like normal cars with mullets, this is one of the very few estates that actually looks like it was designed to BE an estate. Then there's all the lovely chrome, the painted hubcaps, the deeply comfortable seats... I could go on.

2. 'The 1,000,000 mile Merc'. These ones were designed to last. The saloon versions are still used as taxis in many African and Middle-Eastern countries and many have done over a million miles on the original engine. They rarely go wrong but, if they do, Mercedes still make parts as they've endured the test of time.

3. Classic car status. And I'm not talking about your status as the owner - in Ireland, cars over 25 years old get classic insurance (much cheaper). Over 30 years old and they're tax exempt. Not sure about the UK situation, but it's something similar.

4. Green. While they are heavier on the juice than newer cars, you have to balance this against the fact you're buying a car that's effectively been recycled many times over.

5. 7 seat option. Many have a fold down seat in the boot.

6. Cheap. They are getting more popular as they get older but you can get a good one for a couple of grand if you look around. A really top quality / low milage one will probably go for 6 grand or more.

7. Appreciation (by other owners), but what I really mean is they retain their value so, if you look after yours, you'll probably sell it years later for the same price or maybe even more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8165854@N08/2873432414/

good luck,

Adrian

By the way, as well as not being into cars, i'm also not into reading blogs. But somehow, when I stumbled upon yours, I became hooked. I did, unfortunately, miss out on your lovely newspaper as I was away for a while - you won't be doing a reprint by any chance?

[Joe @ CSC]

I'm a hydrogen feul fanboy, those cars are the way of the future. Steve - sure it takes energy to convert the hydrogen but it's well worth it when it comes to green power.