How long do you plan to keep your car?

[Gearhead Jim]

Our current Toyota Camrys are at 13 years and 7 years, no rust and running fine so no immediate plans to replace them.


OTOH, we also keep a Corvette as our Fun Car and usually trade them off after about 5 years due to unreliability. We walked away from GM as our Daily Drivers several decades ago, and none of our Corvettes has been reliable enough to help reverse that decision. My wife gets to the point with each 'vette where she won't go on long trips with it because she gets tired of spending so much time in loaners while the 'vette is in the shop somewhere. Warranty or extended warranty cover the cost but not the PITA factor.

 

[rayvt]

Kinda depends on your age, doesn't it?

Even "retired early" the years keep coming. If you are 50 it may make sense to keep a car for 10+ years.

But if you are 75?? Do you really want to be driving a 10 year old car at 85? Not to mention that the car you buy at 75 and plan to keep is likely to be the last car you'll own. Why would you want to have one foot in the grave and still driving an old, beaten up car?

What with this board being about financially independent people who (presumably) can easily afford to replace their car every 3-5 years-----why not do so? Get a new up-to-date car with the latest safety features and latest do-dads every 5 years or so.

We started thinking along these lines last year when we replaced our 12 year old Toyota. On the way home from the dealer, we thought about "Why not do what the people who lease cars do? Trade in it every 3 years and that way we'll always be driving a new car that always under warrantee. It's not like we will be doing it more than 3 or 4 times."

 

[CTRetiree]

I purchased a new car earlier than normal for me when I discovered Subaru's Eyesight feature. As someone whose driving skills have peaked, I would like every advantage possible to avoid hurting myself or others. In a Japanese study, Subaru autos with Eyesight rear ended other cars 50% less than the same models without Eyesight.

It will stop your car without your intervention from 35 mph. It is one of the best safety systems on the market. I don't know which might be better, but Subarus fit my needs better than Tesla, Mercedes or Lexus.

I advise anyone with a beginning driver and all 65+ drivers to look into this technology.

No, I don't sell Subarus. I just like them.

 

[davebarnes]

We have a 2007 Audi 3 which we really like.
It has 49K miles on it and we are now putting fewer than 5K/yr on it.
Our current plan is that our next car will be short (the A3 is perfect), 100% electric (a heavy driving day would be 40 miles) and a SUV (for ease of entrance/exit).

We are in one more year mode.

 

[morriss003]

After my Nissan Leaf died I leased at 2018 Kia Niro plug-in hybrid. It gets 24 electric miles before the gas engine kicks in. After 2000 miles I had to buy gas.

 

[Arizona1]

I just can’t kill my 1996 geo tracker 4x4. Would like a new ranger or Jeep truck but this thing just won’t quit! Total cost for it over the years is about $50 per month plus gas and insurance. Battery and tires in 2013. I’m going to try and find a family member that wants it.

 

[arch57]

I love cars. I've read Car & Driver magazine since my early 20's but as much as I love new cars I resist the temptation and keep them 10-12 years (100K+ miles) but usually buy new as the few used cars we bought always had issues (though many folks have good luck). Drive a 2007 Toyota 4Runner (181K) that I bought new. Put $1500 into it this year for CV Joints and new exhaust (can't believe original one lasted this long, they sure have improved with Stainless systems nowadays). I think of major repairs like that based on typical $500/month car payment so I drove it for 9 months "free" this year.

On the other hand we sold my wife's 2006 Audi A6 (with just 101K miles) to my son who had an unfortunate accident and totaled his car. We bought a brand new BMW 330iX and being a tech geek I just love the new features and safety improvements. Backup camera w/park distance control, wonderful, no more strained neck or worries getting to close to wall or other cars in parking garages. Blind-spot monitoring, again helps craning your neck to peak in back before changing lanes, now simply look in side mirror. Heads-up display with current speed, cruise control setting and biggest plus navigation directions so no more trying to look at my small iPhone display attached to the dash. Getting 33MPG so far on the highway from a 248HP turbo-four that has power galore (I always think of power as a safety feature, helps merging into fast approaching traffic, at least that's what I tell my wife why we need the upgraded engine!)
The downside of this is when I plump by butt into my comfy but worn Toyota seats I keep thinking of my next SUV and all the cool (and safe) features I will be looking for. However, will hold off as I want to hit 200K miles and turning 62 next year so SS checks will help paying for that new SUV smell.

 

[ychuck46]

Time Isn't the Issue

We don't base when we get rid of vehicles on the age, but rather on whether the maintenance costs begin to rise too high. Right now we have a 2007 H3 with about 84K miles on it, and a 2012 F-150 with about 90K. Both are running great without any undue costs so we will continue to hold onto them as long as possible, regardless of how old they are. The F-150 can probably go to 200K miles and higher being a true truck, and the H3 can probably do very well too since it is a modified truck (plus the latter only gets driven now about 2-3K miles per year).

 

[meleana]

We always had 3 cars, but now that I stopped working I sold one I used on my job- a 2013 Honda Fit with 98,000 miles on it.

Kept the 2013 CRV with 32,000 miles and the 2016 Hyundai Sante Fe Sport purchased last year used.

Hubby is still working so racking up the commuting miles mostly on the Sante Fe. He tries to alternate a little bit with the CRV.

We usually keep cars 10-15 years- with up to 250,000 miles or so- depending.

One thing I know- we will stop buying new cars. Only newer used cars for us now going into retirement with limited income.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I advise anyone with a beginning driver and all 65+ drivers to look into [EyeSight] technology.

I hope by the time I'm 65+ that self-driving cars will be, if not common, at least available in most makes. I plan on naming my first self-driving car DeeDee, for Designated Driver!

 

[indiajust]

I have only purchased 2 cars in my life, both VW's, an 86 GTI and a 98 Jetta. I got 250k and 15 years from the GTI, 270k and 21 years and counting from the Jetta.


I have a 94 Mazda truck with 160k on it.

 

[PointBreeze]

It's a combination of economics, reliability, and just "wanting" something else. For me, the sweet spot is buying a good 3 year old car and keeping it for 6 or 7 years.

I buy 3-year-old cars and keep them 8-9 years. Acura or Honda. As a previous poster mentioned, when the electronics start to go, I lose my patience and it's time for something new.


Last car I bought was a 3-year-old Acura with only 9,000 miles. It's now 5 years old and has 25,000 miles. Should last me quite a while.

 

[84Targa50]

I used to think the best approach was to buy new and keep until vehicle mileage approached or slightly exceeded 100,000 miles.

Now I think the best approach is to lease and keep for the term of the lease.

Why the change? Well, it’s not about the money. It’s about safety. Is the extra safety worth the extra cost? To answer I will quote a friend who answers questions like that by saying “I have fire insurance on my house. I don’t ever expect to need it. But if I do, it will be worth its weight in gold.”

A quick internet search found this information that I cut and pasted from a much longer post:

“So do all these bells and whistles really work? They do. The IIHS has conducted studies on accident prevention and found that the safety features and warning systems really do work. Some of their findings:
• Collision avoidance technology cuts the rates of injury crashes by 21%
• Front crash prevention with auto brake cuts the rate of front-to-rear crashes in half
• If all passenger vehicles had been equipped with lane departure warning systems in 2015, more than 55,000 injuries would have been prevented”

 

[S103462]

My wife and I just bought new cars. Our previous cars -- mine a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer w/200,000 miles, hers a 2003 Acura TL-S w/ 105,000 miles -- started costing as much to maintain as new car payments. I bought another SUV; she bought a hybrid. The technology in today's vehicles is far ahead of our previous vehicles. We'll keep these new ones for (hopefully) a decade or more.

 

[SmallCityDave]

I used to think the best approach was to buy new and keep until vehicle mileage approached or slightly exceeded 100,000 miles.

Now I think the best approach is to lease and keep for the term of the lease.

Why the change? Well, it’s not about the money. It’s about safety. Is the extra safety worth the extra cost? To answer I will quote a friend who answers questions like that by saying “I have fire insurance on my house. I don’t ever expect to need it. But if I do, it will be worth its weight in gold.”

A quick internet search found this information that I cut and pasted from a much longer post:

“So do all these bells and whistles really work? They do. The IIHS has conducted studies on accident prevention and found that the safety features and warning systems really do work. Some of their findings:
• Collision avoidance technology cuts the rates of injury crashes by 21%
• Front crash prevention with auto brake cuts the rate of front-to-rear crashes in half
• If all passenger vehicles had been equipped with lane departure warning systems in 2015, more than 55,000 injuries would have been prevented”

Interesting way of looking at it but my question would be where does it end?



Do you only lease a car for a year because technology and safety are moving quickly, which vehicle do you get? The safety features on a Toyota Corolla are great especially compared to a 5 year old Corolla but are they as good as what's on a high end Mercedes? Perhaps we drive less...



I remember when airbags first came out, there was a study on the number of accidents, people with airbags were (statistically) in more accidents (and they concluded) because they felt safer.

 

[panhead]

I live in one of those dry climates and rust is the last thing we worry about.


Yesterday I sold my 20 year old truck that had almost 200k miles on it, I sold it for almost 20% more than we bought it for 5 years ago and we didn't do any upgrades.



The bad part is that 20% more than very little is still very little

I remember driving a couple of hundred miles with my truck for work. One of my coworkers was there (who lives in California) couldn't believe that I would put that much wear and tear on my own vehicle, and why didn't I rent one instead? I told her that I want to get as many miles out of my truck that I could before it dissolved beneath me. She didn't get it.

Motors, transmissions, differentials, transfer cases, ball joints, brakes, computers, etc, etc, are all relatively cheap to replace if you are doing it yourself. Once you have a problem with structural rust, its just not worth repairing anymore. I've welded a few frames to keep a vehicle going for a few more years, but this is where I draw the line on keeping a vehicle.

 

[Koolau]

I had to replace my 2000 last year when the transmission failed. The repair would have cost more than the car was worth. I suppose that's as good a method to decide when to replace as is total milage or age. Between our three cars, we rarely exceed 10,000 miles total in a year. Therefore, we think they should last quite a long time, even though we bought them with significant mileage on them.

A real advantage to older cars is that one can drop collision coverage and self insure for that. In one state, the tags cost less than $60/year due to the age.

So now we have a '99, '00 and '12. Average miles per vehicle is 110K. YMMV

 

[rick55]

I bought a 2017 Canyon last year, and I hope to make this my last vehicle. DW has a 2007 accord with 63k miles that had been flawless until the battery died. Then the check engine light came on after the new battery, and it had to go in to the shop a couple times to ultimately fix it. She now has her eye on the new Honda Passport coming out, and we will probably make a purchase in a year or so.

 

[Breedlove]

I drive a 2006 Honda Ridgeline DW drives 2018 Kia Soul . The Honda has 160K on it . Last oil change I was looking at something better ( could not find it ) But I seen a Honda CVCC on display with 420K miles on it . I think every car will go the miles it is the small things that fail and for that reason you need to maintain your car ...beyond just an oil change.

 

[davemartin88]

We have two cars and typically replace one of them when the combined mileage gets to around 125,000. My truck is at around 90,000 now and our Highlander is at about 12,000 so will be a while before we make any changes.

 

[Andre1969]

I had to replace my 2000 last year when the transmission failed. The repair would have cost more than the car was worth. I suppose that's as good a method to decide when to replace as is total milage or age. Between our three cars, we rarely exceed 10,000 miles total in a year. Therefore, we think they should last quite a long time, even though we bought them with significant mileage on them.

A real advantage to older cars is that one can drop collision coverage and self insure for that. In one state, the tags cost less than $60/year due to the age.

So now we have a '99, '00 and '12. Average miles per vehicle is 110K. YMMV

One of the quickest ways for me to start thinking about a new car is if the current one starts getting unreliable and leaves me stranded on a regular basis, or starts going into the shop frequently...even if the repair costs aren't *too* horrible.


I also have a mental hurdle of roughly $350/mo...basically, whatever the cost ends up being, I think of how many months I'd have to go for that repair to amortize down to $350/mo. That figure sticks with me, most likely, because the only two car payments I ever had were about that much...$347/mo for a 2000 Intrepid, and $358/mo for a 2012 Ram.


One thing that sometimes holds me back, too, is the "startup" costs of a new car. I had always figured that, if the transmission ever went out on my 2003 Regal, that would be the last straw, but I haven't priced them lately. I remember about 7-8 years ago, the local repair shop said a rebuilt transmission for a 2000 Park Ave Ultra would be around $1800. The Regal is similar, just less beefy, so it might be similar. Anyway, here in Maryland, just the sales tax on, say, a $20,000 car, would be $1200. And, $20K isn't much of a car nowadays, at least not on the brand-new front.

 

[Reese]

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread - if so, my apologies. I have a 2010 4Runner that I keep the maintenance up on with the dealer. The body is in very good shape and I currently have 98k miles on it. Think I can go to 200+ miles? Thanks for any responses.

 

[38Chevy454]

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread - if so, my apologies. I have a 2010 4Runner that I keep the maintenance up on with the dealer. The body is in very good shape and I currently have 98k miles on it. Think I can go to 200+ miles? Thanks for any responses.

No reason it should not if you keep up on preventative maintenance.


BTW, welcome to the forum, post an intro in the "Hi, I am..." so you can get more involved.

 

[Andre1969]

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread - if so, my apologies. I have a 2010 4Runner that I keep the maintenance up on with the dealer. The body is in very good shape and I currently have 98k miles on it. Think I can go to 200+ miles? Thanks for any responses.

As long as you take care of it, it should. However, considering your mileage, I have a feeling you could start running into "old age" type issues. A lot of plastic stuff will start to get brittle, and fail. And I'm not talking just trim pieces, but stuff like radiators, intake manifolds, brake calipers, etc, all have plastic in them these days, in the interests of keeping costs down. And, often when they fail, you have to replace the whole part, rather than just fix it.


For instance, years ago I had a 1968 Dodge Dart, and a seal started leaking, at the top of the radiator. For around $100 I think, my mechanic pulled it out of the car, sent it off to a specialist, who took the top off, cleaned the radiator out real good, re-soldered it, sent it back to my mechanic, and he put it back in. Now granted, this was the 1990's, so with inflation factored in, that would probably equate to around $175 these days.


But, just a few months ago, a friend of mine had the same problem with his 2006 Xterra. Only problem here, is that I believe it's a metal top that's crimped, somehow, onto plastic radiator coils, and you don't fix it; you replace it. I want to say that was around $800.


You'll probably also run into other "old age" issues such as electrical/computer problems, sensors going bad, emissions controls, etc. For the most part, they're pretty good these days about keeping the cars looking nice, shiny, and rust-free, and engines and drivetrains are pretty good. But, electronics and plastics tend to be the achilles heel, I think. That, and labor rates just keep going up.

 

[Reese]

Thanks for your response. Not sure how long I'm keeping it. The dealer said I could keep it longer than 200k (he said he's had customers with 4runners with 500k on them) but I am a bit suspicious of good response. Not sure this is a fair question but maybe a better question to ask is how long should it be kept before it becomes a safety issue and maintenance costs start to mount. I do like the vehicle, no family, I do take care of it and I'm between jobs right now. Thanks again.