I have a buddy who belongs to the Old Banger Brigade. He is a man who has lived his entire life driving cars which typically cost *hundreds* of pounds. I kind of envy him because I would like to do the same but just wouldn’t have the confidence or skill to pick a very old car that will be reasonably reliable. There are three tiers in the car buying market: 1. **Brand new** – purchased either by people who are ... Read more...
I have a buddy who belongs to the Old Banger Brigade. He is a man who has lived his entire life driving cars which typically cost *hundreds* of pounds. I kind of envy him because I would like to do the same but just wouldn’t have the confidence or skill to pick a very old car that will be reasonably reliable.
There are three tiers in the car buying market:
1. **Brand new** – purchased either by people who are relatively wealthy or who are prepared to accept stiff monthly credit payments.
2. **Into MOT age** – cars of about three to ten years old which have been traded in by the brand new owners. This is where I exist.
3. **The old and the bangers** – cars of roughly 10 years age or older. There are millions of people in the UK and Ireland who rely on them because they need a car but can’t afford anything more expensive. They fix problems themselves or get a cheap local mechanic.
In my experience, there have been three ages of car *reliability*:
1. **The 70’s until the 90’s** – old style ignition which was very prone to issues with dampness. Who can forget the joy of early morning struggles under the bonnet with the hair dryer and the moisture repelling sprays?
2. **Late 90’s until about 2010 –** *The Golden Age* when ignition systems were no longer so vulnerable to dampness. Cars just started first time and could be easily fixed by the owner or the local mechanic.
3. **Roughly 2010 onwards** – *The Age of Decline* following the introduction of complex engine management systems and the addition of emissions reduction components. Bad news for car owners and small independent mechanics.
Modern cars are so complex now that reliability has declined. I was oblivious to this until my 2013 car began to act up. For the first time in my life I saw the dreaded *Engine Management Light* on my dashboard. It has popped up intermittently for about two years now. The car still drives but it does not always start the first time and occasionally loses power for a few moments. Four different mechanics including the main dealer have been unable to diagnose and fix the car.
**So getting to the point…** What future lies ahead for those millions of people who rely on very cheap cars to survive? Professional motoring pundits have concluded that the car manufacturing industry is pursuing a strategy of *planned obsolescence and dependence on main dealers.* Cars are now so complex and contain cheaper components so that they are designed to last about 10 years or so and are only fixable by expensive main dealers. Apparently some modern cars can’t even have a battery replacement without it being coded into the system by the main dealer. Absurd but true.
Will electric cars come to the rescue? I doubt it because they are still way out of the price range of the old car brigade. They cannot be fixed by the owner or the local mechanic. I rather like the *idea* of electric cars but for those reasons I doubt that I will ever own one.
The future is bleak for the cheap car sector. Thus ends my rant.
