As some of you will know, the Ford Ka is now 9 years old. Service plus MOT plus cost of work to get it through the MOT came to about £375, which, considering I haven’t spent anything on it in the past 12 months, seems fine to me.
However, looking at the first two items on the original “refusal” certificate (tinyurl.com/chpzew3), and looking at the list of advisories on the MOT certificate (granted after the re-test) (tinyurl.com/chls8u5), words like “corroded” occurred a little too often for comfort. And rust is coming through the paintwork on about half a dozen different places on the vehicle. And my friendly independent mechanic suggested that I get rid of the vehicle sooner rather than later, as it would probably cost the best part of £1000 to get it through the test next year - more than the car is worth.
Against this there are a few factors which mean that I am not in a hurry to get rid of it.
1) I like it. On the long drive home from the MOT station in Inverness, the car drove very nicely, and I enjoyed driving it.
2) Having owned it from new, I know its history, and while it does have a rust problem, other than that, it seems to be fine.
3) Over the next few years, the car will cost me nothing in depreciation. Were I to buy, for example, a new Ka, it would cost me at least £3000 in depreciation over next couple of years. And if I were to buy a 2nd hand vehicle, it would probably involve a fair amount of time (& time is money!) and a lot of miles of travelling in order to look at possible replacement vehicles.
So, realistically, the current vehicle probably has to go in the next 2 or 3 years, simply because the corrosion will soon become a major problem. But it doesn’t seem urgent at the moment. The question is really knowing how long to hold on and when to get rid of it.
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Knowing when to let go new
Knowing when to let go new