Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: feeutfo on 18 October 2012, 13:00:25
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How much is a reliable problem free car..?
I suppose this comes down to age and build quality, but what's your opinion on the age and cost of a car you'd expect (not can afford) to be problem free...?
I'm just interested in the maths really, I mean we see alot of posts such as, the cars worthless and needs too much fixing. Ok, so how much are you going to spend on your next car to get the reliability you want?
... And is it actually cheaper to fix the one you already have..? Depends how handy the owner is I guess.
Anyway, how much would say a reliable problem free car costs? Roughly. :)
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How long is a piece of string ?
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It use to be £500 for any car with a full mot but then there's the reliability issue of something you buy and really take a gamble on its service history and how its been driven ::) I think mine is worth all of the £500 with a full ticket and tax :) To replace say for a nissan micra ::) and you will pay £500 for one,,, but geez what a come down ;D
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Complete lottery that can only be tempered a little by careful inspection pre-purchase IMHO.
I know people who've bought perfectly reliable cars for sub-£500 and others who've spent tens of thousands on a new car that's been a total dog.
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How long is a piece of string ?
Only sensible answer is 3 foot 6 inches ;) ;)
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No such thing as a reliable car, everyone will have its faults. Loads of new cars brought are not fault free. Most will say go Japanese, but I honestly find that debatable now.
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I bought a none runner Astra G 1700 TD for £400 off eBay (the one on the drive in the 'I've been Google Mapped' thread) & sorted it using bits from a similar car I'd had written off for me. It was 100% reliable & was sold a couple of years later for £700 I ended up with a far better, nicer car than the one written off. :)
Edit: apart from when I put £10 of petrol in it when it was virtually empty! ::) ::) ::) ::)
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How much is a reliable problem free car..?
I suppose this comes down to age and build quality, but what's your opinion on the age and cost of a car you'd expect (not can afford) to be problem free...?
I'm just interested in the maths really, I mean we see alot of posts such as, the cars worthless and needs too much fixing. Ok, so how much are you going to spend on your next car to get the reliability you want?
... And is it actually cheaper to fix the one you already have..? Depends how handy the owner is I guess.
Anyway, how much would say a reliable problem free car costs? Roughly. :)
I suppose you go for a KIA with a 7 year warranty. A 93 year old bloke near my dad's just bought a new one - he claims the warranty is on him not the car. :D
I may be confusing cost of motoring with reliability. My VW has been trouble free apart from a recall (on a part which was not giving a problem) which the dealer cocked up.
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Complete lottery that can only be tempered a little by careful inspection pre-purchase IMHO.
I know people who've bought perfectly reliable cars for sub-£500 and others who've spent tens of thousands on a new car that's been a total dog.
I'd agree with that - talking second hand cars, anyway.
Otherwise a brand new car with a cast iron manufacturer warranty and someone prepared to push hard to have it honoured; it may not be reliable but at least it won't leave you (massively) out of pocket when things start falling off ;D
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I've brought cars which have been only 3 years old and low mileage yet given me loads of grief. Audi A4 three litre with loads of electrical gremlins and peugeot 406 whose gearbox took a sh*t at less than 36k miles. I've also had the other end of the spectrum where I've had cheap cars which have just gone on and on. So these days condition is much more important than age or mileage
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My omega cost £1700 4 or 5 years ago and has cost very little due to what I have learnt on this site and sensible part sourcing, £20 for a full as new VX exhaust system off the bay, bought another omega for it's 4 brand new tyres and made £300 selling it on with my crap tyres on and a swapped CAT, replacement doors for £20 etc etc
With the LPG savings I am probably in profit ;D
Can't see me beating my old 88 nissan sunny though, it was indestructible 8)
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The 2 most reliable cars I have ever owned long term, are my beloved Rover (RIP), and the bullet.
Rover, brand new, before (VERY heavy) discounts, over £13k. 12yrs, 116k, one fuel pump failure, and 1 reluctor ring fault. Everything else was bog standard servicing. In fact, I never, ever took the rear drums off :-[. Oh, and the HG, but thats a service item on K series ;D.
Bullet, 5yrs old, £3199. 9yrs, 103k added, one crank sensor failure, one HG failure. Plenty of wheels though ;D.
I've never had a 'bad' car though...
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if you dont play with factory setup amd dont install LPG, most mazda,honda,toyota models (excluding diesels) can be considered problem free.. some examples , accord, mazda3, mazda 6 , honda civic , avensis and some others really need only standard consumables for at least 5-6 years .. have witnessed that my job mates generally pay large sums on those cars but rarely visit services and thats only to change oil, coolant , brakes,filters etc.. :-\
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if you dont play with factory setup amd dont install LPG, most mazda,honda,toyota models (excluding diesels) can be considered problem free.. some examples , accord, mazda3, mazda 6 , honda civic , avensis and some others really need only standard consumables for at least 5-6 years .. have witnessed that my job mates generally pay large sums on those cars but rarely visit services and thats only to change oil, coolant , brakes,filters etc.. :-\
Nah, they suffer as well. Been there, got towed ;D
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Ok, so (breaking aside) given the help and advice here why are people sorning Omegas when all they need are service items, and some well known issues fixing?
Is there anyone who might be in that position here and can you explain ...?
What am I missing? :-\
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Fuel costs, perhaps? Giant old tanks aren't all that frugal (unless LPG or perhaps the DTi, I dare say 'most' 2.5TDs are getting tired by now)
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Ok, so (breaking aside) given the help and advice here why are people sorning Omegas when all they need are service items, and some well known issues fixing?
Is there anyone who might be in that position here and can you explain ...?
What am I missing? :-\
Running costs aren't the cheapest, all things considered, and in the current climate, that must be a factor.
Time to maintain them may be a problem with some, due to other priorities on time, and garages charge a fortune when they see an Omega.
Additionally, even the newest is nearly 10yrs old, and some people don't like the stigma with running a banger.
Lastly, I wonder if some people get bored with them.
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Fuel costs, perhaps? Giant old tanks aren't all that frugal (unless LPG or perhaps the DTi, I dare say 'most' 2.5TDs are getting tired by now)
Even with LPG, its still a factor. I reckon, even with LPG, I'm getting the equivilent of 32-38mpg, although, to quoate DLK, I drive like a cock. Now that Insignia I borrowed for France, almost similar size to Omega, I managed over 50mpg over the 2500 miles.
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Ok, so (breaking aside) given the help and advice here why are people sorning Omegas when all they need are service items, and some well known issues fixing?
Is there anyone who might be in that position here and can you explain ...?
What am I missing? :-\
for some , cars are something that you use for transport from point A to B.. and they want to pay minimum and spend less time for it.. like : use and forget ..
for us a bit different imo.. we live for cars ;D they use us :P
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I don't think I could set a price on this as it is a total gamble, I know people who look after their cars and end up with loads of problems and people who think all thats needed to keep a car on the road is fill it with petrol or diesel and they have had no problems.
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although the money you spend to purchase a second hand car doesnt guarantee anything, the younger the car and lower the mileage, you will have less problems..unless the car is a complete lemon..
however, in the last years if I'm not wrong, I never saw a japanese car on a roadside ..
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I'd concede the fuel costs. Tbh.
But offset that against newer car costs?
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Ok, so (breaking aside) given the help and advice here why are people sorning Omegas when all they need are service items, and some well known issues fixing?
Is there anyone who might be in that position here and can you explain ...?
What am I missing? :-\
Fuel consumption/cost of fuel?
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£2000 a year to keep an Omega troublefree, is probably the minimum you would spend financing a modest alternative, and that's before you even think about servicing it :y
Just to add, there aren't actually that many issues with the Omega :y most are well documented and readily sorted
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I'd concede the fuel costs. Tbh.
But offset that against newer car costs?
People don't look at it like that, they look at what the car is currently costing them, and if they buy something else, it'll cost them less. They don't account for the fact buying a new car is going to cost more than running an Omega.
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Thats a 10/10 to Del Boy IMO.
It's like the rumoured tax hikes a few years ago. A guy at work asked me "your Tax is going to double, what ya gonna do?"
er, pay it!
"What, £400 a year?" (rumours remember)
...what's the alternative, buy a a newer car? And how much will that cost? A few grand?
As TB would say, I'm just the stupid kid from the local comprehensive, but ... Etc etc.
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Tell me about it, I went to a proper school, and even I get it ;D
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=108434.msg1357208#new (http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=108434.msg1357208#new)
At risk of repeating myself... ::)
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Ok, so (breaking aside) given the help and advice here why are people sorning Omegas when all they need are service items, and some well known issues fixing?
Is there anyone who might be in that position here and can you explain ...?
What am I missing? :-\
'cos I've got five of the damn things and can't drive them all at once.
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...ok, smart arse. ;D
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Reliable car.......
Bought master Vamps an old 1.0L Citroen Saxo to learn to drive in, it did this and more and no costs above the usual, very reliable and had it for about 2 years......Cost £350
Bought a VX Astra for Master Vamps, nothing but problems, to the point of Mark offering to sort it out for us... :y Paid £3500 iirc when I found out it was also using Oil I advised hem to get rid....... :y
He found and did a deal, I paid for, he is paying me back, a 58 plate Ford Focus, Astra in PX.....About £5000 but that might be with the Astra, can't remember....though all details are recorded to allow for repayment.... :y :y
The point is you pay your money and take your chance.............cost is irrelevant..... :) :)
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The most reliable cars in my opinion are the basic ones. Bought my mum a 1.2 Micra back in '96 and it literally has not let her down once.
I opted out of company car schemes many years ago and have had a Citroen BX TXD '93 - thrashed the arse off it till i decided to upgrade it at 183,00 miles (only needed a new hydraulic octopus and spheres). 2 x Rover 820Si lpg, 2 x Rover 825D, - no issues apart from re-soldering fuse box. '96 Accord 2.0 LS Auto, again totally thrashed from 118k till 164k with no issues. Only basic maintenance/consumables carried out on the cars. To me, if you steer well clear of sh*t loads of gizmos it'll go for years trouble free.
Go back to MK1,2 Escorts, Cortinas, Cavaliers (MK1), Volvo 240s etc and think about the issues you had - generally break all apart from making upgrades.
Sold my old work car, '04 1.8 Mondeo petrol (from new to 82k trouble free)to buy a bike and my current work car is an Almera 1.5, 121k and still going sweet .....dull as hell but for £470 i can't go wrong.
Still wouldn't change my Omega though, goes well and is the comfiest ever.
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Back in 2007 we bought my wife an 2004 Astra 1.8 Design auto. it cost around £6.5k at the time from a Vauxhall dealer (Picador in Chandlers Ford Hampshire). it was and still is very liow mileage. It has been 100% reliable to date, nothing has fallen off, nothing has broken.
It still goes to dealer we bought it from once a year for a service and I do an oil change in between times. It is an utter joy to not to have the bonnet open every other weekend.
Picked up on MOTs and servicing, have been drop links, I changed with genuine parts took about an hour on the drive, brake pads low again I changed.
So in 5 years of ownership it has cost us a service each year, drop links once and brake pads once.
Depreciation is another thing, MK5 Astra are still holding there price quite well, especially well appointed ones like the wifes. I would expect to sell privatly for no less than £2,5k today. So it has cost about £1k per year in depreciation,
Oh should add we have MOTs for life from the dealer so that is a saving, I did expect them to fail it every year to get there money back. But the car has never failed an MOT.
I have not mentioned Tax and Insurance as that varies from car to car and person to person.
On the whole very satisfied with the car, happy with all it has cost. It will be kept at least until the MK7 Astra is released because I don't like the look of the MK6 ;D
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The most reliable cars in my opinion are the basic ones. Bought my mum a 1.2 Micra back in '96 and it literally has not let her down once.
The most basic car I've owned is the 1.2L Nova (yes, that one), and it developed lots of niggles in the 2 months I ran it, mostly silly things like fuel gauge, but did have to buy a new caliper in the end, as it kept seizing.
I'd had to say, without doubt, the 2 most reliable were the 25 and the MV6, although te MV6 needs more preventative maintence...
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The worst thing about these little basic cars is the road noise and back breaking seats , went down that road and sold my last omega for a fiesta , you can actually hear all the mechanicals thrashing round with tin pot exhaust sounds droning the cabin . Then theres the rubbing shoulders if you have a passenger and asking them to move their elbows so you can change gear ::) ;D the engine was reliable though and parts are cheap enough new , not having to worry about filling up every day is also a bonus ::)Reliability and fuel costs could see me back in a noddy car albeit temporary and i can see it will cost me at least £500 for a half decent runabout ...loads of people after those nissan micra noddy cars now and its all to do with fuel costs >:( >:(
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As TB would say, I'm just the stupid kid from the local comprehensive, but ... Etc etc.
TB wouldn't be that polite.
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How much is a reliable problem free car..?
Steve hit the nail on the head with his answer IMHO
I suppose this comes down to age and build quality, but what's your opinion on the age and cost of a car you'd expect (not can afford) to be problem free...?
I'd ordinarily be looking around the £1500+ price tag.
Anyway, how much would say a reliable problem free car costs? Roughly. :)
All depends on what turns up really Chris.
Our second to last purchase was a 1998 E36 318iS Beemer with full M-Sport pack from factory, 1 owner from new, 46K on the clock, full BMW service history, dealer retail at the time was £1500......we paid £600.
In the last year it cost me 4 tyres (£360), 4 coil springs (£140), 2 control arm bushes (£18), and 2 window regulators (£86 for the pair).
That car has cost me £600 in the last year, but it still dealer retails at £1200 today so in effect it hasn't cost me a penny in the last year to have a car that is (to all intents & purposes) brand new due to it's previous use.