Summer Near at Hand

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 806, 29 October 1929, Page 6

Summer Near at Hand

QUESTION OF BUYING ANOTHER CAR WITH summer not far ahead many motorists will be beginning to consider the problem of whether to buy a new car or make the old one last another year or two. In some cases it might be cheaper to buy a new one. To people who motor for pleasure and private purposes only, the problem is not one of outstanding importance. There may be great pleasure to be derived from keeping an old ear which has carried one many happy miles and which is understood thoroughly.

Having been used mainly for pleasure, it will have covered only a comparatively small mileage, even in two years, and in mechanical condition will be very little inferior to new. Especially is this the case when it has been properly maintained. The case of the professional man's car is vastly different * It is called upon to cover anything up to 25,000 miles yearly, and generally receives .the barest minimum of care, other than running maintenance, while, being housed nightly in all sorts of places its paintwork suffers badly. In this case, therefore, the problem is distinctly one of economics and finance, and the long-sighted view can be the only sound one. The critical stage in the life of a car used for business is the end

of the second year, or soon afterward. The 40,000-odd miles shown on the “clock” are a sure indication that a thorough mechanical overhaul will soon be necessary, while repainting, new tyres, and a new battery are also indicated.

! This general furbishing will cost in - | the neighbourhood of £SO or £6O. In i j fact, while the car is away for some . j four or five weeks the owner will have to hire a substitute, so that the full cost of repair may easily reach over £75. After this the car will, of course, be good for at least a further two years’ reasonably reliable and satisfactory service, for, in many respects it will be almost equal to new. Now a new car would probably cost about £ 300, but a part-exchange allowance on the old one of about £IOO may be expected, whereas/ after a further two years, the allowance for the old car might be less than £3O. A car three or four years old is increas- | ingly liable to mechanical mishaps, 1 especially when little time can be j given to maintenance, j A new car, therefore, is a thoroughly

economical investment. It is only in very exceptional circumstances that a man who uses his car in his profession can afford to indulge himself in the luxury of keeping an old car for friendship’s sake after it has reached that period in its life when a major overhaul is required.