How long do you keep your car ?

[Gumby]

1982 Chevy Chevette - 11 years and 160k miles
1986 Honda Accord - 5 years and 96k miles - totaled in a collision
1991 Honda Civic - 8 years and 206k miles
1993 Honda Accord - 15 years and 153k miles
1997 Honda Accord - 12 years and 119k miles - still a daily driver

Yes, we drive 'til they drop.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

1982 Chevy Chevette - 11 years and 160k miles
1986 Honda Accord - 5 years and 96k miles - totaled in a collision
1991 Honda Civic - 8 years and 206k miles
1993 Honda Accord - 15 years and 153k miles
1997 Honda Accord - 12 years and 119k miles - still a daily driver

Yes, we drive 'til they drop.

Is that mileage right? If so, you were doing a LOT of driving in that baby! Over 25k miles per year over the life of the car.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

I like till it drops. Rarely do I make that far without someone plowing into me and totaling my vehicle. Settling with the adjuster today lets hope hes still in the Christmas spirit

I didn't know that the local mob has branched out into facilitating buy new cars.

 

[FurBall]

Current Car - 1998 Subaru Forrester with 185K miles
I hope to get a couple more years on it.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm not going to get rid of mine until the repair costs begin to exceed the nominal interest (say 5%?) of the purchase price of a new one. So for a $30k vehicle, I'll wait until repair costs for a single vehicle exceed $1500 annually. Otherwise, I'm better off to keep the $30k in investments. Right now my 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee has 140k miles, my 2001 Corvette has 57k, and DW's 2001 Acura has 105k. I can see sticking with these for a long time.

 

[Moemg]

I'm not going to get rid of mine until the repair costs begin to exceed the nominal interest (say 5%?) of the purchase price of a new one. So for a $30k vehicle, I'll wait until repair costs for a single vehicle exceed $1500 annually. Otherwise, I'm better off to keep the $30k in investments.

Thanks , I think I'll also use that gauge !

 

[W2R]

Just out of curiosity why would you be interested in a Highlander instead of say a Rav4. I figured a Highlander was just for those who needed a third row.

A Rav4 interests me, too. I don't need a third row (or even a second row, really). It would be nice to have lots of space for stuff, though. I haven't actually seen the inside of a Rav4, but thought it might be smaller. I'll take a look at one when the time comes.

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

The last car I had I drove for two years after it dropped. I blew the head gasket and it would have cost more than the car was worth to fix so more and more stop gap and oil was added and I ended up trading it for $1000 gift card to a hardware store.

I assume they got the card in exchange for drugs since the government can't currently track gift cards.

 

[Gumby]

Is that mileage right? If so, you were doing a LOT of driving in that baby! Over 25k miles per year over the life of the car.

100 miles per day commuting, plus weekends and trips.

I just bought a brand new 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid on 12/31/2007 and had 26,600 miles one year later.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

My only regret is I did not buy a new car last year before the drop . With what I lost I could have been driving a Porsche boxster and still have money left over for a condo on the beach .

LOL! I scored on a bank-owned condo. Then I realized that I lose more than the condo cost.

Shoulda bought that nice Audi A3 with 25k miles on it. I get to show up to social events without having to explain why I'm driving an old van.

 

[landover]

I guess "till it drop" means repair costs are more than reasonable and/or car is not trusted enough to bring you back home at 1AM.

 

[Walt34]

At retirement we bought two new vehicles six months apart. The '03 Buick Century replaced an '89 Olds Cierra (basically the same car) with 125k miles on it and developing reliability problems. DW was the one who put off that purchase because she didn't want to take a new car to work and have it get beat up in the parking garage there.

Al though the '85 Chevy pickup didn't have major problems other than rust, falling headliner and cracking dashboard, one of the two fuel tanks had a leak so I just ran it dry and didn't use that tank for a couple of years. A new tank was going to be hard to find. So I waited to see what our "real world" expenses would be in retirement and then was comfortable buying a new '03 GMC pickup. The car now has 79k miles and the GMC 58k miles. Both get meticulous maintenance and we hope to get 200k+ miles out of them.

My car prior to the '85 Chevy truck was a 1970 Plymouth Duster that I bought at Blue Book price from my mother after my father died in '73. It lasted so long in part because I had a County car to commute in and do local driving in.

Before that we got our cars at a junk yard and did the necessary repairs to keep them running, but the days of being able to do all your own maintenance in the driveway are pretty much over now.

 

[freebird5825]

Our threshold for deciding to repair/replace a major component (engine, transmission) is when the vehicle's Kelley Blue Book value is far exceeded by the cost of the repair.
For normal wear & tear repairs or rusted out items replacement, we do them ourselves because parts are cheaper at auto store vs dealer markup, most quality parts suppliers offer a lifetime warranty for no or a small extra cost, labor is free (dh2b) and no car payments is still a wonderful thing.

 

[FinanceDude]

LOL! I scored on a bank-owned condo. Then I realized that I lose more than the condo cost.

Shoulda bought that nice Audi A3 with 25k miles on it. I get to show up to social events without having to explain why I'm driving an old van.

Audis will make you cry with the maintenance they need........

 

[Goonie]

Before that we got our cars at a junk yard and did the necessary repairs to keep them running....

My favorite old boss used to get all of his 'work' cars from the junkyard that a friend of his owned. He always had a fairly new car as the 'family-mobile', but only needed beater-junks for work.

Whenever he needed a 'new' work car, he'd call his buddy up, and tell him to pick one out and take it to his house. The old one would be sitting there....deceased.....with the title on the front seat, ready to be towed to the crusher. When the boss got off work, I'd give him a ride home so he could get into his 'new' car and go out a pay for it. I don't think he ever paid more than a couple hundred bucks. Some ran for several years.....some for as many months.....most died due to neglect (a.k.a. usually lack of oil).

After his buddy retired and closed the junkyard, he bought his wife a new 'family-mobile', and kept the old one for a work car....the first time he'd ever had a work car that wasn't at least 10 years old!

 

[unclemick]

My favorite old boss used to get all of his 'work' cars from the junkyard that a friend of his owned. He always had a fairly new car as the 'family-mobile', but only needed beater-junks for work.

Whenever he needed a 'new' work car, he'd call his buddy up, and tell him to pick one out and take it to his house. The old one would be sitting there....deceased.....with the title on the front seat, ready to be towed to the crusher. When the boss got off work, I'd give him a ride home so he could get into his 'new' car and go out a pay for it. I don't think he ever paid more than a couple hundred bucks. Some ran for several years.....some for as many months.....most died due to neglect (a.k.a. usually lack of oil).

After his buddy retired and closed the junkyard, he bought his wife a new 'family-mobile', and kept the old one for a work car....the first time he'd ever had a work car that wasn't at least 10 years old!

A hah - we used to do that in the 50's(high school/Junior college) - amazing what motor honey and a few other tricks could do to keep a $50 car running for a long time - plus you got money when you sold it back to the junkyard.

heh heh heh -

 

[DallasGuy]

I try to keep my cars until they're no longer cost effective to pay for repairs on. I've had 3 new cars in the past 23 years, one of which I only kept for one year (yeah, not a good move on my part). My current car is 7 years old and hopefully I can drive it at least another 5 years. I had a Honda I bought in 1985 that I kept for 18 years....I used to joke that people judging me by my car would have thought I was broke because it looked in such bad shape at the end, but in reality I was well on my way to early retirement.

 

[jambo101]

I usually trade in my cars between 175000 and 200000kms which is about every 5-6yrs

 

[haha]

Audis will make you cry with the maintenance they need........

My son offered me a vg price on his Audi S-4. It is is fabulous shape, an incredible car in every way, but I am afraid of the maintenance committment.

I turned down a Boxster a few years back for the same reason. Plus with the Boxster I would likely have needed another vehicle.

Ha

 

[Gworker]

I love cars. If I were rich I'd be like Jay Leno and have tons of them. We just paid off my wifes car and have been looking but we decided to wait and save up some money to put down on the next car.
We looked at a Boxster a little over a year ago but decided we would also need another vehicle. That's when my investments were rocking and rolling and on paper I made the price of a new car in one week! How quickly it all goes away.

 

[FinanceDude]

My son offered me a vg price on his Audi S-4. It is is fabulous shape, an incredible car in every way, but I am afraid of the maintenance committment.

I turned down a Boxster a few years back for the same reason. Plus with the Boxster I would likely have needed another vehicle.

Ha

My sister had an 85 5 cylinder Audi. She spent so much money on it that the independent repair shop gave her lifetime free oil changes.......

Not to be outdone, she bought an 1998 Avant Quattro wagon 2.8 with Tiptronic. Once again, she got free lifetime oil changes.........

 

[NW-Bound]

I stopped lusting after fancy or new cars in my 30s. I look at cars as means of transportation. If somebody puts a dent in my expensive car, it would get me upset. It's not worth it. Drive it to the ground, then buy a new midrange car. New so I know it has not been abused. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Moemg]

.

I turned down a Boxster a few years back for the same reason. Plus with the Boxster I would likely have needed another vehicle.

Ha

Yes, but think of what a chic magnet the boxster would have been ? You might have paid more in repairs but I'd bet you save on groceries since the women would be inviting you over for dinner & dessert .

 

[lets-retire]

In 91 the DW and I started the ten year plan. Before that we were buying a different car every three or four years. Now our cars are purchased in five year intervals. I just bought my new one last year after waiting a couple extra years due to having a company car. The wife gets her new one in 2011. I have only had one foreign car it was just short of 10 years old when I sold it, but it broke down about three days after I signed the title over. After that we bought used cars and drove them about three or four years. The new cars were driven a bit longer with the shortest time being three years because it kept breaking.

 

[Meadbh]

A Rav4 interests me, too. I don't need a third row (or even a second row, really). It would be nice to have lots of space for stuff, though. I haven't actually seen the inside of a Rav4, but thought it might be smaller. I'll take a look at one when the time comes.

One of the nurses I work with has one and loves it.