Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Mileage and depreciation

It's a fair point Ewan, but please don't go.

I find it interesting that many of the discussions about money and resale value reflect exactly the same kind of issues that companies face with managing their IT estate, and I'm currently doing my last piece of consultancy on this.

The issue comes down to 3 core facts:

1. Ignorance is Very Expensive
2. People (and Cars) are not Fungible Assets
3. If you want to punch above your weight, you have to add value yourself.

In IT terms this means that
a. If you don't know much, you'll be fleeced by sharp-suited "consultants". Me? I wear jeans and tweed jackets, so I don't count
b. Depending on being able to always buy in the right set of skills from the market is highly risky and highly expensive. The best people get 'hogged' by the best clients.
c. If you want to differentiate your offering from your competitors, you are going to have to add some creativity to the base offering.

In used car terms, it's pretty much the same:
a. If you don't know how to assess a car, you're at more risk of buying a lemon - or you pay more than you need to to get the right result.
b. One 2 year old 3,000 mile car is not the same as another even if they are the same price. Too often I think people are swayed by things that don't matter because they can be changed later.
c. You can reduce the cost of ownership immensely by getting stuck in yourself. You don't have to fork out £50k to drive around in a £50k car.

I guess I was more interested in mileage and engine longevity than ultimate values and whether this affected ones thoughts about trading in at some stage. It certainly wasn't about an interest in investment and prices as per supercar collectors. Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word depreciation in the thread title. I am sure that most of us on this forum have bought our cars to drive and are intent on keeping them going whatever their age and am encouraged that ChrisR has covered 175,000miles! I am aware that threads can inadvertently be repeated from time to time in the history of this site so apologies if anyone thinks that this has all been covered before.

I'm pretty much the same, except for me it's the handbrake warning light rather than the temp gauge!

I bought my 1980 4/4 in 2007, a one owner car with 27,000 on the clock. It is used all year round with occasional blasts to Goodwood, Beaulieu and Brooklands; but it's not my daily driver so at 38 years old it's done a shade under 38K miles. It is serviced annually at MOT time and in 11 years has only failed to proceed twice - once for a flat battery and one puncture.

I agree that low mileage is not a necessity but I certainly wouldn't see it as a reason to avoid a Morgan.

~iw

No need to apologise Rob, you have as much right as anybody else to post on the subject of your choice whether it's be covered before or not.
My black 4/4 which was built for me in 1992, cost £18k. It was used as my daily driver and had covered in excess of 100,000 miles when I sold it in 2013 for £12k to finance the purchased of another new 4/4.

+1 Absolutely!

Tarka is 4.5 years old and approaching 37,000 miles, the BMW mechanics are reckoned to be good for at least 150,000 miles. My plan is to keep it for the long run, presently adding about 5000 miles a year. Must try harder!

I am utterly uninterested in the value, other than for insurance. It is insured for £79K, one of the run out models this year would be £134k so perhaps my car needs to be insured for more. I suspect I could easily get £70k for it, but I couldn't get another car like it so it is academic.

Rob said " but I was told by a dealer that now that it has passed 50,000 miles it might be more difficult to sell" and the dealer is undoubtedly right. You can rationalise the "better with use" arguments all you like but the reality is that two cars side by side at the same price and spec, the lower mileage one will sell first. If you believe, as some seem to do on here, that cars dont wear with mileage then you can get yourself a bargain by buying a high mileage one cheap.

What mileage will engines do? Depends on the engine and its design. When I firsty started in the early 60s it was normal to have a decoke and head off at 30k miles and small engines were done at 60k. Even now a big lazy will outlast a high rev smaller unit, but you can expect toi see wear at 100k.

But then a car isnt just an engine. Bearings wear with miles. The seat upholstery wears with hours. The paint oxidises. All sorts of bits and bobs wear with age and mileage and many of them arent cheap to repair.

Spare parts? Depends a bit on country of origin - its far easier to get spares for old Brit bikes than Jap ones for example. But in 30 years of classic car ownership the bits I found went obsolete first were things like plastic lens covers, chrome trim, door handles. Nowadays you might well start to get issues with electronics and sensors and things like the abs pumps.

Door handles???? We don't all have those to worry about!

Wanting to insure the 2008 4/4 for its true value I recently sought the advice of Berrybrook and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it stands at £31,000.
Mileage is in the region of 63,500.
Asking Berrybrook about the mileage issue I was given to understand that in my case the difference would be about £1,000 reduction due to the higher mileage. After I factored in some add-ons like radiator, spots, shocks, walnut dash etc. costing about £1500, each mile I covered has ADDED about 2.5p per mile to the value!

Of course mileage makes a difference...lower mileage - does equal higher prices - the market dictates that fact (as does Parkers, CAP etc etc. the whole market is based around these).

However just noticed this Roadster for sale:

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1032667

It has certainly been busy 116,400 miles in 11 years.