Motoring
Should I keep it?
Alan Judd
Something surprising happened last week: the VW Passat estate developed a fault. It is a 1993 1.6 turbo diesel and had achieved 55,000 miles before this unprece- dented event, so my fault diagnosis skills were happily rather rusty. They were, how- ever, right — the problem was a rear wheel bearing, replaced the next day by the main dealers who service the car for £61.10 It is the base model with no sunroof, air- conditioning or electric windows but with central locking, power steering and a removable radio cassette. I've always liked its simplicity — less to go wrong — and anyway I can't sit comfortably upright in Passats with sunroofs because the roof lin- ing has to be lowered to accommodate them. Windows, I find I can wind myself. The car's lines are pleasantly discreet, even anonymous — no bad thing these days and the interior plain and uncluttered. It is a quiet car, in every sense. Reliability apart, what I like most is its frugality: it regularly does 50 or more to the gallon (best recorded was 58). With the current Chancellor's enthusiasm for increasing fuel taxes (dishonestly described as strategy to get us to use cars less, since he knows well that increases would have to be swingeing to achieve that, and then his tax revenue would-go down), this is an all-too-frequent source of comfort.
Of course, tyres have had to be replaced during those 55,000 miles, though not too often, and the battery — once — but not yet the exhaust. It is a pre-catalyser model, so there's no expensive cat to replace. Strictly speaking, there was an earlier fault When the fuel heater-plug fuse blew, but since that didn't actually prevent starting and running and was replaced free by VW On-Call with an improved version, on a Sunday, at my house, I don't really count it. The only other fault is the seats, which are fine and firm for most people but my verte- brae conduct the most searching test of any seat and I have to use a cushion. The prob- lem is that, like railway seats, the upper Part pushes the shoulders slightly forward, which inclines the lower back to sink inwards.
I've considered keeping it for ever, to see how long it lasts, or at least seeing it round the clock, but since the wheel bearing episode the heater knob has got stuck on screen', while the windscreen-washers, front and back, have developed a mystify- ing and inconsistent malfunction (there's no obvious dirt in the system). Are these signs that 'everything' is at last going wrong With the car, that it is about to enter an expensive mid-life crisis? Or are they mere blips to be fixed and forgotten, mischievous heralds to another five trouble-free years? Do I keep it or get rid of it? I don't doubt that it's cheaper to soldier on into old bangerdom than to replace a Far with a newer one every few years, but Ws still a trade-off. What you save on depreciation — the biggest cost of any car you partly spend on repairs and mainte- nance, and then there's the cost in possible inconvenience and worry. I'm inclined to keep it because of its no-nonsense, work- manlike integrity and its gratifying frugali- ty, but my love for it is fragile and could soon evaporate if it started to give prob- lems. Also, once you permit the possibility of change, desire begins to grow. There is, for example, the new Passat, a 1.9 litre 110 bhp direct injection diesel, apparently even quieter and more econom- ical than any model, certainly better equipped and more powerful, with lines that are similar but subtly more attractive. The interior of the one I sat in at the motor show looked and felt good, and the trade Press has it that these cars offer Mercedes and BMW build quality at VW prices (this Model starts at £16,800). They are much in demand and the pundits reckon they're one of the best buys around. I could trade in mine while it still has some value, sell my Land-Rover and, for the first time in my life, have a new car, with change in my pocket.
Or I could get sensible, stick with the car I'm happy with and try to think of ways of earning money rather than spending it. That's what I'd advise anyone else. A pity one's own medicine always tastes so stale.
P.S. Remember, you read it here first: for Pros and cons of current proposals to pursue drink-drivers yet further, see this column of 15 March 1997.
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