Sorry Roy, you need to pause for breath occasionally, your rambling post makes for hard reading.

Recycling isnt a familiar word in the car manafacturers/salesmans/dealers world..unlike the word, profit..

How comfortable are you sitting in your car? I knew a precision welder that restored a battleship grey Morris Minor saloon but not my first car being a MM Convertible that cost me £17. The guy also restored a Austin Healey from ground upwards, he said he'd put 24 coats of Hammerite paint on the car's chassis. He drove the restored Morris to Silloth on a harsh drive with my late parents and their re-action was how dreadfully uncomfortable some old cars were. This was after the comfort of their Nissan Primera which in their old age the steering wheel seems to be handed over myself or sis to delightfully drive. I was informed by lorry driver that he swears by the comfort of Renault Laguna's. In the meantime, I'll have another kip on back leather seat of my late dads Brg (proper) Jaguar long since recycled into... Citroen Dyane my sister's favourite car but never with commitment. Dad stop the motor-car (It is what I'm told you call a Rolls) I'm going to be car-sick in the jag... no, your're not! Agh! fresh air. My brother on the phone to mither said, that he fancied a new [Vauxhall] Calibra that my mither thought was a new chocolate biscuit telling him, then go and get two, if you like them that much. I myself liked Fords until days of Starsky and Hutch on the tv (days of decent telly? Without JC) when the family car was parked in city street as lads ran over roofs of every parked car in the street with mine being the only one left with a bulge in the roof. Lads caught came from a nice Carlisle village. My workmates added, with no sympathy whatsoever. It serves you right, for buying a tin ford car but it was nice and light to drive with new double skin roof compared to the then many older cars of 1950/60's.

As well as the old L plate pug, I still maintain a 96 Passat I use daily. Aircon works well, better mileage than manufacturer specs. Again, it's down to regular checks, research, being careful, common sense, small changes in use and small adjustments to the machine. The simplicity is what I like on old cars. You look after it by looking out for what could go wrong, pre-empting the usual problems and carrying out regular maintenance. Maintain an older car to a good standard and you decrease its carbon footprint... you help the environment! Good stuff, keep the pug going, I think there should be more people caring for their vehicles, not just using them as a means but, respecting the real benefit they can obtain by putting in the effort.

We had a loevly, reliable 205 Diesel Junior 5 door. L reg, 1.8. A little sluggish but 45 mpg, very little servicing was actually required to keep it running very well. 72000 on the clock, the important thing was to catch any potential problems before they developed. Rust, loose parts, bearings. Kept it clean, always passed MOT, sad to see it go but when you're offered a 97 plate ford with 2500 on the clock for free... still, we got 400 quid for the pug and I'm sure Eog is still running just as well. Because of the masses of technology added to newer cars, many are not looking at doing their own maintenance, leaving it to the dealers and garages they trust. This is expensive. Even with modern cars, a level of DIY and regularly checking the basics can make a world of difference!

Older cars will probably last longer than the new ones now, buy a new car today and you get something so packed full of gadgets and technology that even the main dealers can struggle to fix them. Basic services cost an arm and a leg and even minor faults can easily cost 500quid upwards, something like the pug are so basic its easily and cheaply fixed - even if it needed a new engine!

There is nothing special about a 20yr old car. You just need to look around Carlisle. One of my neighbours drives a 1985 mini as his daily driver that used to belong to his grandfather. He also says his car has never broken down.

Peugoets are good cars, providing the bodywork is kept in good condition - thats what usually goes wrong with them. The diesel engines fitted to them in normans early life were especially good. They fitted a Perkins diesel engine, not sure if they still do, but it takes a lot of neglect to kill them engines.

i use a 15 year old mitsubishi that ive had for almost 4 year now. the only time it let me down was the clutch slave cylinder. Other than that, most it's cost for passing an MOT is £10 for a windscreen wiper, and another MOT needed a bulb.

Alot of old cars could go for 200,000+ miles - all thats needed is weekly care and attention.

Nathan, check your facts. £35 RFL went down to £30 two years ago.

ive had 3 of them over the years, the only problem i had with all 3 was the brakes.the 2 petrol & the 1 diesel car.the diesel car honestly i drove it all over the country.Brilliant Cars.