"Dave Baker" wrote in message
...

"Doki" wrote in message
...
wrote:
Going rate for an 8 year old Focus looks like £1-2k. I recently picked up
a 5 year old 406 HDI estate for £2.5k. If you avoid the German makes, the
depreciation is pretty vicious and the cars end up damned cheap for what
they are.

The speed of depreciation on cars always surprises me. My Focus 2.0 ESP is
7 years old in June, hasn't gone wrong in the 4 years I've had it, does
everything just as well as a new car but is worth only a tiny fraction of
the price. High depreciation makes more sense with cars that rust badly
but the Focus doesn't do that. If the government really wanted to do
something about the environment they'd make it more financially attractive
to keep running older cars rather than squandering resources building new
ones.

How about no road tax on cars over 10 years old?

Instead most countries are trying to reduce the average age of the vehicle
parc on the grounds that newer cars are less polluting and more fuel
efficient than older ones. I beg to differ. The average mpg of the cars
I've owned has hardly altered in 30 years and we've had compulsory
catalytic converters for over 15 years anyway. What's actually happened is
that cars have got steadily heavier due to all the safety related features
they are required to have so any gains in engine fuel efficiency have been
more than offset by the increase in weight you have to burn fuel to lug
around.

Back in the day an average hatchback weighed about 850 to 900kg. My Focus
weighs nearly half as much again. That doesn't make much difference at
high speed when aero drag is the main resistance but round town it's all
extra weight that has to be accelerated and braked constantly.

In 1983 I bought a Mk 1 Astra GTE. It was the dog's ******** in its day
although it would look a bit basic by today's standards. No ABS, leccy
windows, air bags etc. Over 47000 miles it averaged 31.0 mpg. The Focus
has just hit 47000 miles and has averaged 30.3 mpg.

If we want to save oil then modern cars aren't making a scrap of
difference. The only thing that will is if we all drive very small, light,
low powered cars rather than fat bloated ones packed full of safety
features. To save medical costs the best way would be to leave out the
weight bloating safety features and train drivers to drive better. That
means work though rather than just enacting legislation so it'll never
happen.
--
Dave Baker
Puma Race Engines

Well said that man! Totally agree.
Z