What car options strategy in the next 2,4,6,+ years?

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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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Well, young man, I'll give a few thoughts.

I turned 60 over the weekend, and like you have a young family (daughter just turned 13). I paid the house off in 1994.

In respect of cars, I have a BMW Z3 in storage that will be the daily when I retire, can't see that any time soon as I work when I want to. I did 'retire' once, before we had daughter. I'm minded to keep the GLE once the 4 year PCP is up, it's done low miles and we need a tug for as long as the heap of crap of a caravan gives us lots of holidays. I should have kept the W221, but you live and learn. Mrs has a qashquai for her commuting all the time she's working.

Like many, we've had tough times recently, and realise we can have a comfortable life into retirement with top ups as and when. Our current thinking is to get young un through school, then sell this house, sort her a home, then move somewhere where property is less expensive, but rentable and go seasonal pitches with the caravan and enjoy our time out all the time we have our health. Some friends have done just that this last year. He's a paramedic, she's a midwife fed up with the daily crap they get from 'managers', so do shifts as and when to keep their tickets up. Lots of options once kid free.

When not tied to school, its amazing what opens up.

I have a mate who retired 22 years ago at 42, bought a small property in Kernow. Goes beating for the gentry this time of year. Volunteers at the NT, does odd jobs fetching and carrying. Doesn't touch his pension and is happier than when he worked. Stopped drinking and took up cooking and teaches blokes to cook when he needs a meal out. The most chauvinistic bloke I know, es submariner. He's the house hubby since retiring.

I certainly don't feel, or act my age, unlike when I started out and thought you were dead by 60. 40 hours a week for 40 years and peg it before retirement was the norm then :eek::D:cool:

Once I get me buss pass, won't need a car ;) driving is not the fun it used to be.
Firstly many happy returns Keith!
Yip next year I also hit the big 6-0 , the i8 missus and me are doing the NC500, minus the NE part which I frequent anyway ...
Thanks for the insight , it’s a struggle trying to juggle pension aspirations, reality and current working life ( which frankly is less than great), but every year is a bonus !
And like you I certainly don’t act my age !!
 

sonic

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We are both in our early 70's, money is not an issue. We were both on public sector final salary pensions.
I have a E350CDI 8 years old 57K miles doing 6K miles a years. I can't see any reason to sell it, 48/50 MPG & I rarely go into city centres. The wife has a SLK200K 9 years old with 46K miles, doing 3K miles a year. Again cant see any reason to change.
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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We are both in our early 70's, money is not an issue. We were both on public sector final salary pensions.
I have a E350CDI 8 years old 57K miles doing 6K miles a years. I can't see any reason to sell it, 48/50 MPG & I rarely go into city centres. The wife has a SLK200K 9 years old with 46K miles, doing 3K miles a year. Again cant see any reason to change.
Looks like a good combination!
Final salary pension - if only !!
 

davidsl500

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R172 250CDI Gone..!, R129 SL500 Gone...
I had a strategy on cars but that soon went out of the window. I had the SL500 for leisure, the Jag for commuting/business purposes and t'other half has her Peugeot Hatch for the general stuff and shopping as it doesn't matter if it gets dinged in supermarket car parks etc.,

So I retired a few months before my 60th as planned at Christmas 2017 and thought I would have a re-think about the cars. The Peugeot will stay until it seriously breaks - I don't have to drive it :rolleyes:... I sold the SL500 July 2018 after 14 years to prompt me to do something and the Jag went a few weeks back. The idea was to replace the Jag with another 4 seater like a Jag XE or a C205. Then I was going to think about what leisure car to get next. So that plan went out of the window when I test drove an SLK and enjoyed it. Of course. its totally impractical but who cares! Maybe I was missing the SL - not having driven with a roof off for a year. So do I need a leisure car now? - who knows.

The house is on the market and when we move then the Peugeot will go and maybe the replacement for that will be something mad - as long as the missus likes it. If not, maybe I will get a 4 seater as the leisure car - a classic of some sort as long as it rumbles like thunder on part throttle. Need to move first as moving 3 cars is a pain when moving house if its a couple of hundred miles.

I'm not particularly bothered about what the Gov do on diesels or petrol I don't drive into cities to worry about additional costs there. People have very strange logic when it comes to cars and houses. How many people do you know that must have extra bedrooms when buying a house because their son /daughter / family comes to stay at Christmas - err, get a hotel. Same with cars - My rear seats got used maybe twice a year dropping relatives off. I can hire a car for that and maybe get something interesting for the day......
 

SmartAmg

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I'm 59 (60 this month) and like others have said defo don't act my age, I'm sort of semi-retired, (full-time, summer, part-time winter) as long as I'm working, I will keep my c207 (love it). When I retire properly, who knows, perhaps an A class 1.3 petrol
Might even have a last hurrah, as I do like the w222
S class 350 cdi. :D
 

Wearsafoxhat

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I am sixty this month too. Sort of retired last year and now we have sorted out our future have bought a V class for travelling, holidays in the U.K.
We bought a couple of dogs, let our passports run out and am in no rush to see the inside of another airport. I shall miss the All inc and snorkelling but!!

Am now looking for a nice C or E 220/ 250 for a town, every day car so if you know of one £20 or £30 rfl

We can live on what we have if we are sensible.

I think diesel will be here for a while, there are a lot of vehicles to replace and therefore lots build, electricity won’t work for years yet imho, and if I can’t drive in that city then I’ll go else where
Shall keep the E55k for my toy and think the SL will have to go due to space, insurance and rfl.

That’s our life plan until it all changes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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I love engines so always like to have something interesting on the drive.

As already mentioned the W213 estate is a peach especially in 220D (EU6 compliant) form you will need this well into your ‘imminent’ retirement you have a youngish family and won’t escape the university runs and property renovation for them that lies on the future

As for day to day most of the newer petrol engines will remain emission compliant well into the future so an inline/V6 petrol is ideal for popping in and out of cities.

We all know you can’t trust politicians look at the diesel fiasco we are now mired in so short term thinking 5 - 10 years is all you can do nowadays. Having said that we all know that electric propulsion will come (then hydrogen) but unless I lived in London, Birmingham or a large city which I had to commute into on a daily basis I wouldn’t consider an electric car of hybrid until mass production brings the price down.

Oh, almost forgot, try to get out (retire) sooner rather than later, I retired at 60 and now eight years on and a pacemaker along the way would highly recommend it
 

rorywquin

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I retired at 65 - bought myself the SL as a retirement gift. Wife has a B class diesel. Will run the SL until I cannot get in and out and then get something higher - does not have to be a MB. Keep the B as a shopping trolley.
 

KennyN

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Planning on hanging up the spanners in 30 months when i am 55 , as i can cant touch my pensions till then.

8 years Rolls Royce pension combined with 15 years Trinity Mirror pension (FS) and the last 13 years with Fidelity through Trinity Mirror.

Cars - If monies permit i will always have two cars , a banger (Forester atm) and a nice one (BMW 440i atm). Doing just 4k a year between the two cars i can run something a bit "special" so i have been spending some free time browsing the usual sites and am considering something along the lines of a Vantage S , AMG GT an S Class coupe when i retire as they should be within the "affordable" price range at that time.

Kids - Both have been through further education and next will be needing a (financial) hand with a house purchases but there are things in place for that so hopefully our retirement £££ will be ours to "waste" as we see fit.

K
 

Blobcat

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Planning on hanging up the spanners in 30 months when i am 55 , as i can cant touch my pensions till then.

8 years Rolls Royce pension combined with 15 years Trinity Mirror pension (FS) and the last 13 years with Fidelity through Trinity Mirror.

Cars - If monies permit i will always have two cars , a banger (Forester atm) and a nice one (BMW 440i atm). Doing just 4k a year between the two cars i can run something a bit "special" so i have been spending some free time browsing the usual sites and am considering something along the lines of a Vantage S , AMG GT an S Class coupe when i retire as they should be within the "affordable" price range at that time.

Kids - Both have been through further education and next will be needing a (financial) hand with a house purchases but there are things in place for that so hopefully our retirement £££ will be ours to "waste" as we see fit.

K
Forester - underrated and cheap as chips :)
 

JBell

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Playing it by ear, will probably get an ML or something else with a 350 / 400d in the front, it is really the best option for what I need a car for.

Future wise who knows, got 20 + years until retirement so probably all elec in a few years then will see what is available
 

KennyN

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Forester - underrated and cheap as chips :)

Starting to like it , as it is super practical. With the seats down it has a huge load area , 40 mpg around town and 60+ on the motorway , tax is £230 pa which is half what i would have been paying for a Shogun or ML.

Constant 4WD with no electronics involved with is good for reliability.

A few negatives , stereo with 4W per channel (now replaced with a Pioneer unit and Alpine component speakers) ,front seats are terribly uncomfortable for me at 6`2" but that is about to be addressed with a set from a Impreza STi which are a direct fit.

Paid £3500 for it ,not too bad for a 2011 vehicle plus it came with a two year RAC warranty (max £2k claim) , it cost just £60 to add it to my BMW policy.

K
 

JBell

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Front seats are terribly uncomfortable for me at 6`2" but that is about to be addressed with a set from a Impreza STi which are a direct fit.

Nice :cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
 

00slk

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My strategy is to try and stop buying cars (well my wife's strategy) Now we are extending our garage to a 5-6 car garage to house some and the only thing stopping the build at the moment is money, so something has to go (and the wife isn't going to fund my new extension) :(
Our financial adviser said to us a few years ago to sell all the cars and buy a sensible car o_O and you can retire........We both agreed and now I have 2 more cars added :rolleyes: What's going wrong?
Now a little chat with the Missus and we have come to a sort of an agreement that if we both keep working our reduced hourly working week we can keep up the lifestyle that we have come accustomed too :D
We have or should I say, I have ticked nearly all the boxes of 'wants in life' since I was old enough to drive, and I am still finding each morning another box to tick :eek:
It would be nice for both of us to retire now and live the life of Darby and Joan or don slippers and pipe and watch soaps for the rest of our life's but that just wouldn't work for us.
10 years ago I thought what one car would I like to have when I retire that I have always wanted (work still in progress) ;)
 

MalcQV

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I’d recommend you try a W213 with the tool eater diseasal for the family for a couple of years until the world sorts out what’s good and bad car wise. I’d also look at a 911 for a bit of fun / investment which you can still get 4 in (and the kids loved mine)
911 is also on my retirement list (mutually exclusive with a Mustang).
 
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John Laidlaw

John Laidlaw

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I floated the idea of the ML as a ‘drive til it drops’ car and she replied ‘you’ll never do that you barely keep a car for 2 years!’, so I suppose she has me pegged!
 

rorywquin

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Planning on hanging up the spanners in 30 months when i am 55 , as i can cant touch my pensions till then.

8 years Rolls Royce pension combined with 15 years Trinity Mirror pension (FS) and the last 13 years with Fidelity through Trinity Mirror.

Cars - If monies permit i will always have two cars , a banger (Forester atm) and a nice one (BMW 440i atm). Doing just 4k a year between the two cars i can run something a bit "special" so i have been spending some free time browsing the usual sites and am considering something along the lines of a Vantage S , AMG GT an S Class coupe when i retire as they should be within the "affordable" price range at that time.

Kids - Both have been through further education and next will be needing a (financial) hand with a house purchases but there are things in place for that so hopefully our retirement £££ will be ours to "waste" as we see fit.

K

Yep - give them a good education (and we made sure he did a degree worth having) and then they are on their own (that is what I told my son). We weren't UK residents so we had to pay for his university education here and we couldn't believe how much extra moola we had when he started working.

I was recently looking (window shopping) at a low mileage Bently Continental (about 7 years old) they seem to be available for quite reasonable prices (I imagine services & parts would be exorbitant) - my wife pulled her nose up at it - I've always fancied a convertible.
 

Naraic

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I have had diesels in the past...but will not again.

What surprises the 62 year old me is that there are so many of us old farts on here...and some with very young children...my baby girl is 28.
 

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