Your fleet running reports

[Sundayjumper]

Not exactly cheap for two little bits of carpet, but not outstandingly stoopid at £120)

But well worth it IME. I've had all kinds of mats over the years, including some not-cheap not-OEM "OEM quality" ones and it's only the genuine ones that are any good. All the others are rubbish. They never quite fit and curl up around the edges.

Ownerships... last Oct was 14 years with my 996, and this Aug will be nine with the Aston. Similar to you, before that I'd never kept anything more than 2-3 years. I recall one phase where I didn't need any MOTs for a couple of years because I wasn't keeping anything long enough for the next MOT to be due

[Mito Man]

Mito - 17 years
Defender - don’t know, maybe 10.
645 - don’t know but it’s been in the family since 2005.

Don’t really keep track of dates, just know the ages from the plates.

The good cars turn into pets and stay until it’s better to put them down.

[GG.]

I would have posted this as an update to my Evora "new car" thread, but - as that's not on this forum - the fleet update will need to do.

Accepting this is no biggy to many on the forum, I’ve now owned the Evora for <subdued drum roll> 10 years. It has therefore become my first ever DECADER. Is that even a word? Pixies song?

I'm the second owner – got it just after it’s 2nd birthday with just under 10k miles on the clock. Now approaching 48k miles.

I've never tended to flip cars quickly, but I’ve never held on to any other vehicle for anything like this length of time. I’m not really sure if that is testament to the Evora’s many virtues, or a reflection of the fact that - whilst there are many other cars out there which carry appeal - there are few alternative options that tick all of my boxes? Probably an element of both.

I celebrated with some new (genuine Lotus) floor mats to lift the interior a little. Not exactly cheap for two little bits of carpet, but not outstandingly stoopid at £120). <blows party trumpet thing>

Very cool - 911 has just hit 3 this month and RR will be 5 years in my ownership in December year.

I had the 997 about 5 years as well so that's probably the record so far. I don't think many other cars I've had have exceeded 3, so 10 years is really some good going in my opinion!

Is that 5 years since you had your last RR stolen then?

Doesn’t seem that long ago tbh.

I wouldn’t have said Mik has had his Evora for 10 years either though

Yep - July 2021 - had that car for two weeks before it was half inched

[John]

I sometimes wish I could hang onto cars for a longer period but I start geting the car searching itch after a couple of years. I kept cars longer when I was younger as I didn't have the disposable income and there wasn't the choice there is now! I think the longest I have kept a car was six years which was my Escort RS Turbo back in the late 80s/early 90s

[jamcg]

Is 6 years some sort of record for having one of those without it getting twocced?

[John]

No attemps either and parked in Sheffield every day next to the very dodgy Hyde Park flats. The alarm did go off once and the police turned up, traced my ownership and called home, my mum answered and let work know who sent me off to check it out, all ok

[Jimexpl]

Mito - 17 years
Defender - don’t know, maybe 10.
645 - don’t know but it’s been in the family since 2005.

Don’t really keep track of dates, just know the ages from the plates.

The good cars turn into pets and stay until it’s better to put them down.

Land Rover IIA V8 - 30 years next month, 1 year longer than I've had a license!
Mini 1275GT - 28 years
(must get both of them back on the road this year)
Land Rover SIII - 15 years, but I've propbably only doen 2,000 miles in that time so it doesn't really count

[Marv]

Accepting this is no biggy to many on the forum, I’ve now owned the Evora for <subdued drum roll> 10 years. It has therefore become my first ever DECADER. Is that even a word? Pixies song?

Marv is the king of long term ownership isn't he?

I owned my last MX5 for a month or so shy of 7 years, and I've had my Jimny for just over 6 though that would be on borrowed time if I had the time to get it MOTed. Nothing else has gone past 3 years in my care as far as I remember. So 10 years is impressive and I can see why it would be hard to replace.

According to the reply by Jimexpl I'm not

I was getting the feeling that given how long I've owned the 968 now, I've probably surpassed how long I owned the Golf for. Putting them into some date calculator confirmed it:

Golf ownership up to it being scrapped in 2023 - 21.27 years
968 ownership to date - 21.4 years
I've owned the M3 for 12 years next month

Anyway, the 'vora is a lovely car Mik. I always feel they look much better IRL than in pics or vids, and as a passenger I could feel that the car was something special

I kind of regret not buying the magenta colour mats Porsche sold, which went with the exterior colour of my 968 as they've been NLA for a long time now. Boring black is the only colour you can get OEM 968 mats in now. So basically other than the mats you've bought, if you can see yourself keeping it long into the foreseeable future, buy the trinkets and parts which might be a PITA to get hold of in the future soon, before they go NLA!

[RobYob]

Still find it interesting to see owners of 400/410's go back to S1's.....or saying in some way they preferred them. Faster/Harder isn't always better, it seems.

Yeah - @RobYob probably has some insights on that.

Later 4xx cars didn't receive as warm a response from the motoring press either. A bit faster and a bit more focussed, but losing some of the delicacy of the S1's.

From my experience it was plenty fast enough.

Very much this,

Memory is well hazy at this point (it's coming up on 10 years since I quit Lotus..... Holy crap the 10 years blew past in January, talk about getting old) but overhearing conversations in the Ride and Handling group who sat near us noise people the management direction for 400 was stiffer and trackier. I never got to drive a production line 400 though. I was happy in any Evora, even the slowest NA with long gearing, you'd get obliterated at the track or traffic light GP but in a keeping up the cornering speeds down a B-road it was hard to want more (than a louder exhaust )

Ah those were the days...

Well done on your decader @mik , long may it continue.

[integrale_evo]

I think the e30 will have been 20 years in September. E36 16 years, golf somewhere between the two I think.

Mito 7 years, I have a habit of buying cars in the autumn so the ‘sud almost 6 years, compact will be 5, x5 4.

[jamcg]

I think the e30 will have been 20 years in September. E36 16 years, golf somewhere between the two I think.

Mito 7 years, I have a habit of buying cars in the autumn so the ‘sud almost 6 years, compact will be 5, x5 4.

No I won’t have it. I remember you buying the sud, and it was only 2 years ago tops. It has to be because it can’t have been that long ago and I’m not that old. Oh wait………. Bollocks. Anyone got some aspirin please

[Swervin_Mervin]

E91 will be 14 years with me in November. Even though I'm now worrying about the rust that needs treating, I still can't see me getting rid unless it dies.

Prior to that the longest I'd owned was the 197 at 4.5yrs and to me that seemed like an age - probably because I wanted shot after a couple of years

The more surprising thing is that the "new" Skoda has just clocked over 7 years

[Swervin_Mervin]

Anyway, blasted as much crap out as I could, and put it all back together with the new old wing.

Nice work - always brings back fond memories of my e90 330i when I see yours

Cheers. I'm going to get the other wing off soon and just make sure that's treated to prevent any rot creep. A lot of these are now showing signs of bubbling on the outside of the arches. Mine isn't, yet, but the old osf wing that came off had more crust on the inside than the replacement I got. So I'll get the nsf one off, make sure it's fully treated and protected. It will give me the opportunity to check the n/s chassis rail under the undertrays as well as make sure the DME drain hole is completely clear.

[Rich B]

i tend to get a little itchy after 2-3 years, but saying that, we’ve had our F31 since Aug 2017. I still really like driving it even though it looks like it’s been driven through a hedge now! It doesn’t get driven all that much these days as the van has taken over the family trips and my mrs works from home.

[GG.]

I think part of the reason people are probably slowing down on the changes is simply that residuals of newer models seem to be particularly firm.

I was checking in again on the L460 Range Rovers and for something I'd want (not a basic spec SE) they seem to be mid 70s whereas mine when I bought it was same mileage and age but 10k cheaper. I guess that may be partly driven by a peak in pricing of that model pre the ridiculous ADAS crap.

Oh and the diesels are all V6 these days so its technically a downgrade... maybe I'll wait until mid-2028 when I can no longer get approved used warranty on mine and get a V8 petrol

[Jobbo]

The diesel L460s are all straight-6 Ingeniums aren't they? I don't know what the reliability is like but the name Ingenium strikes fear into most of us due to the 4-cyl diesels.

You're right about depreciation. Apparently the average age of cars in the UK is now up to 10 years old, and cars 10 years old generally do not look old compared to new stuff (other than diamond cut wheels looking a bit scabby etc).

It feels like only recently I was buying 6-7yr old German cars for £5-10k - E39 540i was 7 when I bought it for £5,500 in 2007, E61 545i was 5 and a half when I bought it for £10k in 2010, Boxster was 7 when I bought it for £7,800 in 2010. Even my F11 535i bought at 3yrs old in 2015 was only about £21k. If you want a big BMW or Audi estate with a decent sized engine, it's nearly £20k for a V6 diesel 5-series Touring or A6 Avant from 2018 (ignoring the category cars and ex-police ones). £5k-£10k was the sort of money you could take a risk with; £20k doesn't feel like that, so you probably spend a bit more and buy from a main dealer with a warranty.

[GG.]

Sorry - yes you're right - inline 6. I don't particularly fancy being a guinea pig on the Ingenium stuff but then again, my dad has just got a new discovery with that engine so maybe I'll watch and see how that performs over the next 18 months. He seemed to think it was more refined than the prior V6 but I couldn't really tell any difference from being a passenger in it.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I think a lot of it is that so many cars from the mid '00s to the late '10s are simply very reliable, safe, and not overblown with tech. They don't dissolve quite so quickly either.

[IanF]

Sorry - yes you're right - inline 6. I don't particularly fancy being a guinea pig on the Ingenium stuff but then again, my dad has just got a new discovery with that engine so maybe I'll watch and see how that performs over the next 18 months. He seemed to think it was more refined than the prior V6 but I couldn't really tell any difference from being a passenger in it.

I see lots of Disco 5s these days; are they giving them away or something?

I’ve driven down to Cornwall. Nothing to report except the only roadworks I saw were just past Stonehenge and I was through the temporary lights in 2 changes.

It is rubbish down here though..

[Sundayjumper]

I see lots of Disco 5s these days; are they giving them away or something?

Very few around here, it's all new Defenders. But I thought the same thought There must be some good deals for people rinsing the finance though their companies.