Keeping a third car - pros/cons?

[zico]

Would appreciate your views on pros/cons of keeping a luxurious old car, as I may well have missed some points.

My father has a Lexus IS with 160k miles on the clock, but in good condition. He's decided to stop driving because of his age. Webuyanycar.com will offer just £1,400 for it. It's a luxurious car with very comfortable seats, and the only problem is the high mileage. I don't want the hassle of trying to sell it to a private buyer.

I'd quite like to keep it, but it may just be sentimental attachment as I enjoyed having the car for many years.

The pros/cons I see of keeping the car are :-

Pros
1. A spare car to hand in case either of our 2 main cars is out of action, for whatever reason.
2. An in-between car so we can sell one of our main cars and not have to rush into buying a new one (similar to the above, but subtly different).
3. Chance to use it for high-mileage trips, to avoid putting mileage onto our higher-value cars.
4. Opportunity to drive something a bit different.

Cons
1. £360 tax every year. (Maybe it could be classed as off-road, and tax only renewed as/when I wanted to use it?)
2. Insurance - would this be minimal if I added it to my insurance as a 3rd party only insurance car?
(N.B. Storage isn't an issue, because it would be kept at my father's garage, and he doesn't need the space for anything else).

[Dod101]

Keep it if you like it. It is unlikely by the sound of it to add much to the carbon emissions. Why not? Others will know the rules on the costs involved but fundamentally I see no downside except of course the costs. Why ever not?

Dod

[Redmires]

Yeah - keep it, use it & enjoy it. And when it goes 'bang' and too costly to repair then just scrap it.

[swill453]

You can SORN it as a matter of course, and instantly re-tax it if you want to use it. If you pay the full annual amount each time, and SORN it just before the end of the month for a refund, you will never pay more than one-twelfth of it for each month you drive it.

Scott.

[Mike4]

On the downside, in my experience cars still deteriorate when not used, but it's a different sort of deterioration. Mould on the seats, stuff growing in the window channels, battery will always be flat, it will be covered in dust when you want to use it, the tyres go flat still need changing at ten years regardless of lack of wear.

Cars really don't like not being used unless kept in a heated and dry garage, and even then they still get a bit miffed if you don't visit them regularly to tell them you still love them and read them a bed time story.


Edit to add a bit

[richlist]

We have a number of cars between the 2 of us. But I do use them all regularly depending on where I'm going, length of journey, what I'm carrying etc. My advice if you have a car that's going to get only very occasional use is.......garage it, connect a battery charge conditioner/optimiser, be aware that petrol has a shelf life and goes off.

Running costs for a car used infrequently arent much different to one used regularly.....road tax, insurance, mot, servicing all cost about the same.

[Lanark]

Lexii tend to be thirsty cars, so the value may increase if the petrol prices ever fall.

I think I would keep it for a year, see how much you actually use it and then make a decision.

[DrFfybes]

We have 3 cars, and a motorcycle. We used to have 4 cars, but as 2 of them did under 1000 miles between them during Covid I sold one, much against MrsF's wishes (the other 2 clocked up about 18k between them).

Car 3 did 800 miles last year, the bike did about 300.

The main question is, do you have somewhere under cover to keep the unused car? If not, flog it. An unused car dry stored, with occasional running, and a CTEK battery conditioner on it will be fine. Sat there with the handbrake off, windows slightly vented, wiper blade lifted off the windscreen, and a couple of old quilt covers over it to keep the dust off and stop the stuff that inevitably gets dumped on top from scratching it.

But sat outside for the winter with the nooks and crannies full of water, condensation inside, and it will deteriorate very quickly. Tyres go off with age as well as wear, I've replaced a set of expensive Pirellis because they'd cracked through lack of use.

As for the other 'pros', they are a bit spurious. The capital cost plus cost of running it would provide a lot of hire car for the very odd occasion you were down to 1 car and needed 2. The only real reason for keeping it is the emotional attachment.

Then there's the financials... if you have the space, are you prepared to spend the money? SORN is fie, although at that miles you might want to use it in winter and garage a newer one. Insurance might be high? Servicing and things going wrong should be minimal on a Lexus, but it might need some work already.

My bike is about £100/year to tax, same again to insure. I service it myself and don't even bother SORNing it for £8/month as if I did I know it would never go out. Car 3 is £600ish to tax, we SORN it, it gets to the middle of the month and we think "nice day to take the red one out" and realise it will cost us £50 and if that is the only trip it does that month we may as well take a taxi. So we make a conscious decision to tax it on 1 May and try and run it every couple of weeks. Insurance is about £150/year. However Car 3 is (slightly) increasing in value, which MrsF uses as justification for keeping it. Total cost of keeping car 3 and the bike is probably about £1k/year.

My suggestion - if it is still drivable and insured, take it out to the pub tomorrow. Have a drive around for an hour, see if it can return more than 25 mpg . Then decide if doing that 3 times a year is worth the cost of keeping it, or would you rather sell it and spend £1500 hiring a Porsche/Ferrari/etc for a weekend instead?

Paul

[88V8]

Would appreciate your views on pros/cons of keeping a luxurious old car....

Lexus... with good regular servicing it could double that mileage.

But if you have to think about the cost, then don't. It will prey on your mind every time you take it out.

In practice it will need to be used reasonably regularly, or the brakes will begin to stick, oil seals harden and start to leak, electrics become temperamental... and then there's the MOT.

And the coolant will still have to be changed every two years, and other stuff which is time-related not mileage related.

I have three cars and don't care that two of them don't approach 25mpg, but keeping them all mobile can be a pain.

V8

[redsturgeon]

We run three cars and very occasionally all are in use at the same time. We keep them since we have three adult children who do not run their own cars for various reasons, two of them spend time away from the UK and one lives and works in central London.

I drive all three depending on where I am going and what roads I will be using.
Mrs RS mostly drives only the BMW hybrid but she is insured on all three, just in case and it adds nothing to the premiums.
Oldest son (34) is also insured on all three.
Youngest two are insured on the Honda Accord so they have a car available for any trips as required.
We are also all insured on the Mazda MX5 (dare I say it...just for fun)

It is easier to keep all three driving now, since number 2 son is back for the summer but in the winter the MX5 is on the drive under a cover and perhaps driven once or twice a month.

Just filled all three with fuel in the last two days...over £200!

John

[Dod101]

I drive all three depending on where I am going and what roads I will be using.

Clever fellow, although I guess probably not simultaneously.

Dod

[redsturgeon]

I drive all three depending on where I am going and what roads I will be using.

Clever fellow, although I guess probably not simultaneously.

Dod

I can only manage two at a time Ben Hur style

John

[9873210]

The main question is, do you have somewhere under cover to keep the unused car?

If so, flog the car, then flog the extra space.

[DrFfybes]

The main question is, do you have somewhere under cover to keep the unused car?

If so, flog the car, then flog the extra space.

Might be tricky is the space is at the house end of the drive.

[didds]

For me, the questio[n is

how much did I use it in the last 12 months?

If the answer is zero, then sell it. If you dont want the hassle of a private sale, take £1400. If £1400 isnt enough then take the hassle of a private sale.

If you didn't need it at all in the ;past year, you arent going to need it in the next - aside form the "what if scenarios". Any of which could happen, and now you have the VED, MOT, insurance for the next twelve months to cover a rental/taxi for the worst case scenario.

No brainer to me.

Others MMV

didds

[Pendrainllwyn]

Apologies if this is off topic but there are a number of comments below warning of the disadvantages of keeping a car that is rarely used. In the foreseeable future I may need a car for 3-6 months a year. Leaving it idle for the remaining 6-9 months a year doesn't sound like a good idea. I see there are companies that offer 3-6 months leases on new/used cars. Used is fine. Some commentary suggests that short-term leases are not cheap but they seem a good fit for my needs and I don't need to worry about the car or pay for it when I am not around.

Does anyone have experience of short-term leases? Anything to be wise to? Any alternatives I should consider?

As way of background I know little about cars. I haven't owned one for 15 years. I rent once a year at most. I do not have the skill to fix any car let alone one that has been idle too long. I will also not be too fussy about the kind of car I can lease.

Many thanks,
Pendrainllwyn

[Leothebear]

You don't say which model IS, or the age.
My friend in Spain was given a Lexus GS 1998 vintage because it had little second hand value. He lends it to guests for a small fee (car hire charges have gone crazy). It still drives well and hasn't cost him a fortune to maintain. As soon as something too expensive does crop up - he'll sell it for scrap. Your IS is bound to be younger than his. They are good cars.

I'd recommend you drive it once a week for 20 miles or so to keep things ticking over and an annual service of course.
It's no money when you consider the luxury you get.