Why new cars are worse than classics!

While we admit to being biased, there are many sound reasons for investing in a classic – even for daily driving – as opposed to a new or modern car. Here goes!

Reliability: Modern cars (by which I mean anything after 2000) are very complicated, which results in less reliability – and more expensive repairs. While modern cars are usually built to higher quality standards, the sheer complexity means there are many thousands more things to go wrong – and they do! An E Type has essentially no electronics apart from the radio. An XJS has some electronics – most of it quite simple and easy to fix. The XK8 onwards has a plethora of electronics modules, and if any of them fail the engine is likely to go into limp home mode, or stop, or fail to start. New cars have a smorgasbord of electronics – much of it pretty pointless – all of which will go wrong at some point, costing thousands to rectify.

Security: Modern cars are very easy to steal. The Range Rover topping some lists as the easiest. The security systems rely on ‘secure’ radio frequency codes to lock, unlock and start the car. Devices to copy and spoof these systems can be legally obtained on the internet for a few pounds. Most car thieves these days wouldn’t have a clue how to start a protected classic…

Environmental: It takes around 100 tons of iron ore to make the steel to make a car, which has to be smelted and processed and transported all over the world. Deeply ‘un-green’. And then because modern cars are not desirable to keep, the car is crushed after 5 – 10 years, and contrary to expectations, not much is re-usable for new car manufacture. Here are our thoughts: https://www.kwecars.com/about-kwe/sustainable-motoring/  Oh, and KWE can electrify your classic if you desire it.

Repairs: Modern cars are expensive to repair. All those modules – from braking systems to seat heaters – are expensive. No garages have the expertise to repair them, so they have to be replaced at substantial cost. Classic cars can be repaired ad infinitum because of their relative simplicity

Looks: I’m probably preaching to the converted, but look at any car park or driveway and you will see a bland, boring array of grey euro-blobs – excessively tall and fat, with increasingly ridiculous lighting systems and swoopy, pointy contours, the designers being desperate to stand out and failing. Put an XJS in the car park and you realise just how special classic car styling is. I may have to run for cover, but even the Allegro looks cool compared to the anodyne computer-designed blots around it….

Costs: Restoring a classic is expensive, but cheaper than the showroom cost of an equivalent modern car – especially for cars such as the XJS which has all the modernity you actually need, but is not stratospherically expensive to restore like some veteran cars.

Charm: When did you last drive a modern car that had that elusive quality – charm!

I hope this reminds you of how great the classic car ownership and driving experience is!