When To Replace High Mileage Car?

[Music Lover]

My farmer cousins do the same thing. A new truck is a tax-deductible business expense for them.

It's tax deductible but they still have to pay for it...depreciation is allowed but it's not like the vehicle was free.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

We have two vehicles. Mine is purchased ....cash. Wife’s has always been a 24 or 36 month Honda lease, usually an Accord or CRV.

Zero cash down and an unnoticeable monthly payment gives both of us peace of mind. Don’t want her to be out on the road shopping somewhere and a breakdown. Honda plan covers everything.

My ownerships have been Mercedes as follows: 1987 260E, traded in for a 2002 E320, traded in for a 2013 C300 Sport, traded for a 2020 GLE 350. Also thrown in was a CLS63AMG for 3 years of excitement.

Bought all but one of the MB 6 months old as CPO. Big savings. The new release 2020 was the first showroom new. So many amazing features. I basically just tell it what to do.

So, I guess I kind of do both. Keep one for a good while and the other is new every 24 or 36 months. I’m ready for another AMG though....just pure exhilaration.

 

[ncbill]

Currently driving one of this generation Camry as a daily driver:

https://www.theonion.com/toyota-recalls-1993-camry-due-to-fact-that-owners-reall-1819577805

 

[Camas Lilly]

We run our cars up to 300,000 miles. Sometimes a repair bill comes up that needs some thought but usually we find that for the most part, depending on where you live too, that it's usually about time for an upgrade all the way around. The last one we got rid of hit 285,000 and a good repair bill came up so we decided it was time to go because it also had a good deal of rust by then and other parts were having trouble working. We gave it to a needy family. Of course out vehicles are hitting 25 years old by then too. Depends on what it is. We have a 1995 Ford F-250 diesel that will run forever and the rest of it is in good shape. While we have replaced it, we will probably keep it around for a work truck. We also drive a lot of highway miles. No city traffic.

 

[Gumby]

I drove my 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid for 303,000 miles and then gave it away in June to a friend's daughter who was going away to college. I would have kept it except for the fact that the young wife wanted me to take her 2018 Subaru Forester so she could get a new 2019 MINI Cooper.

My metric for evaluating repair costs with old cars has always been to calculate the monthly payment on a financed new replacement. If the cost of the repair would be, say, four monthly payments, but it will give me more than four months of additional life, then I'll do the repair. It is helpful that I can do almost all of my own repairs, so the cost is generally just parts and my estimation of how much of a pain in the butt it will be to do.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

“Honey, you and the kids go ahead an drive the 14 year old car with 330,000 miles and obsolete parts availability on the 6 hour drive down to Tennessee to see your sister. Good luck, call if you make it.”

Yikes, having an old car with all those miles isn’t a badge of honor for me. It’s tempting the inevitable and putting my family at risk. Just not for me. Carry on.

 

[Camas Lilly]

“Honey, you and the kids go ahead an drive the 14 year old car with 330,000 miles and obsolete parts availability on the 6 hour drive down to Tennessee to see your sister. Good luck, call if you make it.”

Yikes, having an old car with all those miles isn’t a badge of honor for me. It’s tempting the inevitable and putting my family at risk. Just not for me. Carry on.

Well then, we take our best car/truck!

 

[REWahoo]

Saw this on our local community Facebook Group. My guess is "something else".

I have an older car that I use to take my dogs to the lake. It's a 2001 Toyota Corolla with 500,000 plus miles.

It wouldn't start. So I got it a new battery. It starts now, but doesn't seem to want to go forwards and backwards unless I give it a lot of gas.

Wondering if it needs a tune up or something else?

 

[HFWR]

If I get ten years or so of repair-free driving, I’m satisfied. Someone else can drive the next hundred thousand or so...

 

[sengsational]

“Honey, you and the kids go ahead an drive the 14 year old car with 330,000 miles and obsolete parts availability on the 6 hour drive down to Tennessee to see your sister. Good luck, call if you make it.”

Yikes, having an old car with all those miles isn’t a badge of honor for me. It’s tempting the inevitable and putting my family at risk. Just not for me. Carry on.

Here's my 'new thinking' take on that scenario...
If the car gives you any trouble, get an Uber to the next town and rent a car to finish your trip. Your van, even with 200K miles, has never let you down, and your brother (mechanic) gave it a recent once-over, so the likelihood you'll be renting a car is tiny, but, I know, non-zero. Since we were just going to take what the trade in offer was if we got another vehicle anyway, so just have it towed to a dealer or junk yard and take their offer. And if there's a CarMax in Tennessee, buy yourself that new vehicle you've been eyeing.

 

[SecondAttempt]

The CEL could be a simple fix. My first suggestion is to figure out why the CEL and then you have better information to decide on the fix vs replace analysis.

I'd invest ~$20 in a code reader and see what the CEL is all about. There is a very good chance it is nothing serious. Don't just read the code, search online for your make, model, and year and see what others say. I have an old farm truck that was giving horrible codes about misfires and bad cylinders that turned out to be a bad battery. Similar thing happened with my girlfriends late model camry.

I have concluded in the past through analysis that cars should be replaced after about 8 years. So I'm not a keep-it-until-it-dies guy. But I don't think you should let a CEL scare you absent other major symptoms. If you are looking for an excuse to buy a new car, you don't need one!

 

[Dtail]

Still enjoying my 2011 BMW Z4, but only has 60k miles on it. Thinking/hoping it can go to 100k without too much maintenance, then might replace it.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Still enjoying my 2011 BMW Z4, but only has 60k miles on it. Thinking/hoping it can go to 100k without too much maintenance, then might replace it.

That's just a pup. My 1999 Mazda Miata with 110k miles is still going strong.

The only major expenses were replacing the timing belt and the shocks, as maintenance items.

 

[Floridatennisplayer]

Still enjoying my 2011 BMW Z4, but only has 60k miles on it. Thinking/hoping it can go to 100k without too much maintenance, then might replace it.

Great car!

 

[Rianne]

Buy Used or Lease a Car

It's time, I'm sad to say. Our 22 yr. old Camry has reached it's full potential. Hate to say good bye, so many wonderful memories. Will likely donate, we need a safe car for long distance travel.


I've searched CarMax, CarFax and Carguru. I read in a recent post, taking the list price and send that price to several used car dealers and see if they can beat the price. We want a used Camry with <50K miles.


DB brother mentioned leasing. He leased a car in FL, where he lives. Said they pay for oil changes and repairs. Lease for 3 years at $130/month. I've always been against leasing a car, but maybe a good idea.


Anyone have car leasing experience?

 

[O2Bfree]

Whatever the mileage of our vehicles, there's one thing we do every year: renew our AAA membership. The towing service been especially useful for the cargo vans (American) we've used as campers/sports gear haulers. Darned things seem to have a lot more problems than the import trucks and sedans we've owned. The lockout service has been helpful a few times as well.

 

[Teacher Terry]

On average our cars have lasted 14 years with about 200k/miles. Now that we aren’t driving to work we drive less. My 2008 Toyota Corolla has 54k miles and our Honda Accord has 80/k at 9 years old. They both will probably last another 10 years.

 

[braumeister]

Whatever the mileage of our vehicles, there's one thing we do every year: renew our AAA membership. The towing service been especially useful

IMHO, if a towing service is that valuable to you, it's time to go car shopping.

 

[Music Lover]

Whatever the mileage of our vehicles, there's one thing we do every year: renew our AAA membership. The towing service been especially useful for the cargo vans (American) we've used as campers/sports gear haulers. Darned things seem to have a lot more problems than the import trucks and sedans we've owned. The lockout service has been helpful a few times as well.

I needed a tow for the first time in my life last summer and it was free because my car is still under warranty. It turned out to be a faulty transmission code and they simply re-booted/reset it.

My parents used the lockout service once but at no charge because it was given to them for a 5 year period when they purchased their car.

 

[O2Bfree]

IMHO, if a towing service is that valuable to you, it's time to go car shopping.

We have, been through three cargo vans, Chevy, GMC, and now we have a Ford. Would love to get a Nissan NV400, but they're sold only in Europe.

 

[teejayevans]

IMHO, if a towing service is that valuable to you, it's time to go car shopping.

There is no guarantee a newer car won’t break down. I’ve had 5 tows, some on older, some newer.

 

[Dtail]

That's just a pup. My 1999 Mazda Miata with 110k miles is still going strong.

The only major expenses were replacing the timing belt and the shocks, as maintenance items.

I know. I hope mine can last as long as yours without major maintenance, as can't see replacing it for~70k.

Great car!

Thanks fellow FLA man.

 

[Chuckanut]

There have been numerous improvements in safety technology over the past 15 years - in protecting you, your passengers and others on the road. For me that would tip the scales to buying a new vehicle.

+1

My previous car (a 2012 model) was totaled by another party, so I was thrust into the market about 4-6 years earlier than I planned. (I normally keep a car 10+ years and well over 150,000 miles).

Since I had to replace it, I made sure to get a vehicle with most of the latest safety feature. In my case it was a Toyota with their Safety Sense system. I also opted for a car that had one additional safety feature missing in Safety Sense - blind spot sensing. Come on Toyota, put the blind spot feature into your Safety Sense package.

I'm a pretty safe driver and may not need those safety features yet, but I think the extras are worth it since I plan to keep the car for 10+ years, well into my 70's. Hopefully, some [-]moronic F150 driver[/-] other person won't total the new one.

 

[Chuckanut]

After 3 engines and 3 transmissions, I'm done.

Want to buy a 2003 Honda Civic with 200k and a freshly rebuilt transmission?

Three engines and three transmissions in 200K?!?!?!?!?

Your Honda may actually have been a worse car than my Pontiac. Of course, the Pontiac only went 110,000 miles before I decided to cut my losses and have it towed to the junkyard so we can't be certain.

You have my sympathy. Like my old grand pappy used to say "Sympathy and a dime will get you a cup of coffee". OK, that's now at least $2 for the coffee, but you get my point.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

DW and I were up in Alaska recently and rented a Ford Fusion Ecoboost with AWD. Gotta say I was impressed. With 380 lb/ft of torque at 3000 rpm, the thing really came alive when I was passing vehicles on a two-lane road. It comes pretty close to my trusty BMW V8. The rental came with blind-spot sensor, backup camera and proximity beeper. The six-speed trans isn't the most sophisticated in the world, but with gobs of torque available it doesn't need to be.