Keeping a car if you do hardly use it???

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Slarty Bartfast

Active Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
96
Location
Norfolk
Car
C63 AMG...
Well another three months have gone by and I have only covered 600 miles in the C63!!! So, I am really beginning to question the point of owning it as it spends 95% of the time sat in the garage…

I don’t need, or even really want to sell, as I can think of nothing to replace it with. But as values seem to be very high at the moment and the cost of owning the car over the last two years have been minimal, is it time to move on or just leave it sat in the Garage?
 
I would sell it if you don't need the car. I'm kind of the same but I do need the car for occasional grocery shopping and weekend use so whilst I could sell and downgrade to something cheap, just can't be bothered with finding the right car.

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Driving a car so little is a waste of money (unless it's a few hundred quid's worth). The cost to insure and tax it is the same so even if you are running a sexond daily driver, it may be cheaper (fuel) to run the C63 rather than the other car.

Not driving a car like a C63 should be an offence :D
 
That's half the problem. I have a works vehicle for work, if I go anywhere with the Wife we go in hers (she hates the 63) and I have even just got my daughter a car, but as she is not 17 until November, I often find myself going for the groceries ect in that! 2009 Citroen C1!!!
Perhaps I'm just getting old!
 
Just do a straight swap with me for my C350...you won`t feel so bad leaving it in the garage then
 
Absolutely keep it. Life's too short to think about downgrading unless you plan on upgrading something else (like the house). You'll get next to nothing in a savings account and maybe 7-10% in a moderate risk ISA which is nice but not guaranteed and also not life changing. A low millage C63 may even appreciate (last of the high capacity NA engines as people keep telling us). The Z4MC I just sold averaged 10% appreciation a year for the 6 years I had it. Granted I bought at the absolute bottom of the market (remember when Ferrari 456s were £20k, Vanquishes £30k and the Clio V6 I should have bought £12k!!) but still I don't see the C63s losing a lot of money from here. I live in central London so don't drive daily, average around 3k a year but if you can't have something that makes you smile at the weekends then what's the point.
 
Sell it and put the cash in the bank , then watch it dwindle on things like diy , holidays and stuff for the house and when it is all gone then wonder why you sold it.

Seriously , keep it and enjoy it when you can - if finances allow.

I am in the same position with the bikes , hardly ever use them due to shifts / weather etc. but they are there when i want them.

Kenny
 
Sell it and put the cash in the bank , then watch it dwindle on things like diy , holidays and stuff for the house and when it is all gone then wonder why you sold it.
Kenny

Right on the spot, this is exactly what would happen...
 
If you don't need (want) to sell it then keep it. ;)

I've got a 2010 W212 I ordered new with 15,600 miles on it, probably only drive it once a week.
Wouldn't sell it unless I absolutely had to.

Also got a 2004 W211 with 215k on it that I drive every day, I ordered that one new and used it till January 2011 putting 34k on it.
Passed it onto one of the sales guys in 2011 who then took it up to 208k by mid 2015 and I then got it back.

Love the W211 so it's another one I wouldn't sell unless someone came along with a real nice E55. :D
 
Well another three months have gone by and I have only covered 600 miles in the C63!!! So, I am really beginning to question the point of owning it as it spends 95% of the time sat in the garage…

I don’t need, or even really want to sell, as I can think of nothing to replace it with. But as values seem to be very high at the moment and the cost of owning the car over the last two years have been minimal, is it time to move on or just leave it sat in the Garage?

Think I'm in something of the opposite position. I only do around 100 miles a week and am thinking of purchasing either a C350 Blueefficiency or a C63 when my pension matures. Heart says one thing head says another. With doing few miles I keep telling myself the C63 would be perfect.
 
I guess owner of my ex-C63 must be doing the same. When I saw the car last time, it had 18.5K miles on a clock and a year later on MOT it only had 21K miles. It's still on original tyres since I saw advisories regarding rubber damage on one of them. Damage which happened when car was 2-3 weeks old.
 
My C63 is a weekend car, which I think makes it all the more special when you get behind the wheel!
 
I'm in exactly the same boat as you with my m5 .
To service, tax & insure it is no small amount of money . I tend to take it out for a spin every ten day for 50 - 60 miles just to give it a run .
I have a soulless Ford Focus as a company car and my girlfriend has a vw Tiguan .
I honestly have no use for the m5 .
But and there is a big but , I love cars . And the speed , power and the noise of the v10 @ 8000 rpm , full throttle upshifts make me love this car and for that reason it stays.
It must be the same for you with the c63 or you wouldn't have brought in the first place .
Trust me take it for a spin around 7pm when it's nice and quite on some challenging roads , windows down hear the v8 and think it's the best value for money ever
 
I always have the same thought about my gtr but then I realise I have no friends, no life, and I'd be lost without it haha
 
I hardly used my C63 from June to December last year as I was offshore a lot....always glad to fire the car up and get out when home. Right now in the middle of 6 weeks away so will enjoy driving it when home. I have at times thought of selling but like it to much at the mo.!
 
Do the Math

JustDoTheMath.jpg


Write down the realistic current value of the car, if sold.

Then write down the expected value in three years time. This is the most painful bit I suggest it'll be 60% of current value.

You now have the expected annual depreciation. divide by three. (Yes, we know probably 20% of current value)

Now add up the annual operating costs. Usual suspects Tax (HOW much?), Insurance (bargain really), servicing, repairs. Three grand maybe?

Now you have the annual operating cost.

Is it worth it?

Obviously it is, but..... is an older car better value? Which could be a cheaper car, or could be something even more exotic, if you aren't doing that many miles. (The Ferrari Owners club is full of people owning loveable exotica but only driving 2,000 miles a year)

It's a decision of the heart, but always do the numbers. Always do the numbers.
 
Do the Math

JustDoTheMath.jpg


Write down the realistic current value of the car, if sold.

Then write down the expected value in three years time. This is the most painful bit I suggest it'll be 60% of current value.

You now have the expected annual depreciation. divide by three. (Yes, we know probably 20% of current value)

Now add up the annual operating costs. Usual suspects Tax (HOW much?), Insurance (bargain really), servicing, repairs. Three grand maybe?

Now you have the annual operating cost.

Is it worth it?

Obviously it is, but..... is an older car better value? Which could be a cheaper car, or could be something even more exotic, if you aren't doing that many miles. (The Ferrari Owners club is full of people owning loveable exotica but only driving 2,000 miles a year)

It's a decision of the heart, but always do the numbers. Always do the numbers.

You're not alone: the M3 and 911 boys regularly have the same conversation - usually the workaholics who feel the need to own the newish status symbol, but who are always offshore or at work, with no time to drive.
 

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