Breaking Preludes?

[Sailor]

Mine will not see the tarmac again unless I can find a spare £1000 or so. I refuse to throw it away, though.

im guessing the last bit are your words, if so good on you. but it backs my sentimentality thing up.

No. It's not sentimentality.
At its root, it's a good car. More than that, it's a fun car. And it's practical enough. If I can get it back up to scratch and then keep it, it will be a near equivalent to ... what these days? Its not much smaller inside than an A5, for example, and and its annual running cost will be little more than the depreciation on a 3-year old Audi. In 15 years time (when they take my licence away?), I'll get more for it on a collectable/rarity basis.

Old cars are economic. An H22 head gasket change costs no more than a main service on a Jaguar. The difference between 30mpg and 45mpg counts for nothing if you need to pay £100 for a battery change on a key fob.

Keep the cars you love. Especially if they're old. What's the best car in the world? All things considered, it's probably a Morris Minor. The nearer your car can get to that, the better you are.
Our ATR and Prelude are only slightly more sophisticated than a Morris: we're happy to pay for the extra complexity to get the extra 'yeee-haa' factor.

Like I said, It's not sentimentality. It's economics. With a smile.

[Ted]

I don't think a morris minor would appear in my list of top 20 cars in the world and I certainly would never compare a prelude to one on a sophistication level, yes keep the cars you love but I would need to be very rich indeed to keep all the cars I have loved. I don't think a prelude is that cheap to run and maintain but yes compared to a jag or a porsche it will be .a head gasket on a h22 would cost a lot more than a service on a diesel x type jag, I know because I serviced one around 3 weeks ago. If I had to pay a £100 for a battery change in a key fob I would be a little miffed, most cars it costs less than a £1 to do.
We all have opinions and even though I may disagree I respect yours.
Incidently what is wrong with your car for it to need £1000 spending on it?

[Bludge]

He's right, most people only bought a prelude cos it was cheaper than a civic.

Actually, i bought mine cause its marginally more practical (and more powerful) then an mr2!

As for breaking, i can see both sides of the argument. But as a poor person, i bought one recently to break as it worked out cheaper then buying the bits i wanted/needed seperately. even second hand.

But it wasnt a car that anyone would have saved, it was tatty, cambelt had snapped so who knows what damage to the engine etc.
But at the end of the day, 1 car has died so that mine, and whoever else wants the parts from me, their cars can live on.

[Sailor]

I don't think a morris minor would appear in my list of top 20 cars in the world and I certainly would never compare a prelude to one on a sophistication level

It's not on my list, either! The point I was trying to make was that a car that can do the job and be so easy to maintain and repair that it needn't keep you off the road is a car that's worth having. The 'sophistication level' thing was a comparison: modern cars have too many baubles and wotsits to go wrong, from cameras to automatic braking etc. Our Hondas strike a good balance: the tech on them is restricted to what's useful.

a head gasket on a h22 would cost a lot more than a service on a diesel x type jag

I've been quoted £600 for the ATR's head work. A neighbour's XF came back from a main service with a £700+ bill.

If I had to pay a £100 for a battery change in a key fob I would be a little miffed, most cars it costs less than a £1 to do.

My mistake. I meant fob replacement and reprogramming.

Incidently what is wrong with your car for it to need £1000 spending on it?

I don't know. It stopped while my wife was parking it. I suspected the immobiliser or ignition barrel, but once I'd eliminated those, I dug a bit deeper. I next suspected yet another head gasket failure and perhaps rings, but I can't remember why. It was a year ago, in the middle of a very shitty 12 months, so I parked it up and left it.