Years/miles for the car you've owned longest?

[braumeister]

I normally buy new and keep them for around 150,000 miles. That's generally about five years, sometimes six. They're always in great shape, and I get good prices when I sell them (privately). Unfortunately (and I know it's silly), as a child of the 50s I have such a strong memory of breakdowns that I can't bring myself to trust a car with more than 150,000 miles on it.

The "new every 5 or 6 years" cost is built into my budget, so I'm comfortable with my habit.

 

[Covbro]

Brought a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta diesel (TDI). It currently has 244,000 miles on it. It's running great. DW drives a 2003 Honda Accord, with 232,000. It's also running great as well.


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[Walt34]

Highest mileage care we've had was a 2003 Buick Century that went to 173k miles, then the transmission went and repairs would have equaled the value of the car so we bought a new '14 Honda Accord. At 28k miles now it's barely broken in since we expect to keep it past 200k miles based on what others report from their Hondas.

 

[Looking4Ward]

Highest mileage was a 1996 Suburban that I put 245K miles on in 14 years when somebody totaled it.

Now that I'm ER'd and my driving time had drastically reduced, I was looking forward to only putting a few thousand miles a year on my current vehicle, a 2015 Jeep Wrangler. I bought it in May when it had 80 miles on it but it's just been so much fun to drive that it's now got 8150 miles on it.

 

[Texas Proud]

WOW.... some of you must drive a LOT of miles....

My longest ever was just over 10 years and 120,000 miles... pretty crappy Mercury Cougar... glad to get rid of it...

Most of my cars are 10 years around 100K...

Earlier this year I totaled my Acura TL with 57K miles on it... I would have kept that one for another 10 or more years if I could...


Current fleet is pretty new... the oldest is 6 years and 60K miles... next is 5 years and 13K miles... last is 9 months a 5K miles.... we will be keeping all for a good amount of time... the first two will go with the kids (one is already driving, the other in 5 years).... so I will be buying a new car and not be getting rid of any for many years.... barring an accident...

 

[Beldar]

I drove my 1973 Impala over 323,000 miles. I finally drove it over the scales at the junkyard as the transmission started slipping (never changed the transmission fluid as I recall) and they gave me $18 dollars for it. I miss that giant land cruiser.

The only vehicle I ever purchased new was an '89 Accord LXi. We drove that for nearly 19 yrs and 232,000 miles. Sold it for $100 when DW bought her mid life crisis 2007 MX5. My '88 Prelude was T-boned at 180,000 miles otherwise I'd probably still be driving it . The replacement '01 Prelude VTEC has only 160,000 miles on it so it's still a spring chicken.

We've budgeted $15k every 10yrs in our retirement plan for replacement vehicles (for each of us) although considering how reliable vehicles have turned out for us that's probably a little too much.

I think the LBYM lifestyle is responsible for this.

_B

 

[Car-Guy]

I know this question has come up before in another thread and I think I answered it by saying over 200k miles. I keep record on most of my cars and this time I looked at my spreadsheet. The vehicle that I owned and that I drove the most miles on, was a 95 Chevy 4X4 PU. I bought it new and sold it in 2001 with 197,500 miles on it.

It never had any major problems or repairs, I think the biggest thing that went bad on it was a power steering hose, which I replaced myself.

 

[unclemick]

Post Katrina traded my Chevy Silverado bench seat long bed V6 for a new 2006 V6 Chevy Equinox. Now with 10 yrs and 202K miles I am lusting.

For What? Do I want a sports car like my younger days in Seattle/Denver, a 'red neck pickup' like Alabama/Louisiana or a er 'city car' like my Wife's Honda Fit of which I like the drive 'feel and parking ease'.

heh heh heh - Of course I could go for 400K miles .

 

[akck]

Our longest owned vehicle was a 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager bought new in 1990. We traded it in 2009 (19 years), during Cash for Clunkers with around 90,000 miles on it. It had transmission problems but as long as you didn't run it in overdrive, it ran fine.

 

[LauAnn]

I owned my 1993 Chevy Beretta for 14 years before trading it in with approximately 50,000 miles on it.

 

[John Galt III]

84 Chevy Caprice, purchased in 89 with 64,000 miles, cash-for-clunkered it in 2009 with 424,000 miles on the odo. I think I win the most miles contest so far! Biggest repair bill was for new power steering pump, about $300 I think. Everything else pretty cheap, and I did most of them myself. LOTS of rust from northern salty winters.

 

[Andre1969]

I've owned a few antique cars for 20+ years. But when it comes to daily transportation, the longest was a 2000 Intrepid, bought on 11/6/99 and totaled in a parking lot hit and run on 11/18/09. So, it lasted 10 years and a couple weeks, and had about 150,000 miles on it.

Second runner up was a 1968 Dodge Dart 270 hardtop coupe I bought in April of 1992. It had about 253,000 miles on it, but had a rebuilt 318 V-8 put in at 242,000, and a replacement transmission and rear end soon after. I took it off the road to do some body work and get it repainted for a few months in 1993. Sometime in late 1995 it hit 300,000 miles. In 1997 I got a newer car, which was replaced by another, and then the Intrepid, so the Dart got driven less and less. One morning in late 2001, with about 338,000 miles on it, it refused to start. It was just something minor like the fuel pump, but I didn't have the time or money to mess with it, so I just let it sit. It was looking pretty ratty by that time too, as it had suffered a few minor hits here and there, and some rust was coming through the rear quarter panels really badly. In 2009 I finally got around to selling it.

 

[Sarah in SC]

84 Chevy Caprice, purchased in 89 with 64,000 miles, cash-for-clunkered it in 2009 with 424,000 miles on the odo. I think I win the most miles contest so far! Biggest repair bill was for new power steering pump, about $300 I think. Everything else pretty cheap, and I did most of them myself. LOTS of rust from northern salty winters.

I'd like to give you an honest to God cheer for that! I've owned a few of that era with Olds and Buick nameplates, and to put that many miles on a Caprice, you had to spend a lot of time in the seat! Very, very impressive. Gold star!

 

[Dash man]

I've got a 2007 Acura TL Type S with 48K miles and a 2002 Ford Explorer with about 88K miles on it. DW drives a 2012 MB C300 with 44K. I'll probably trade the Acura in for a new version soon. There's nothing wrong with the vehicle, but I like some of the new safety features of the newer cars. Since I have trouble turning my neck at times, the blind spot warning and better rear view cameras are something I'd like to have. Too many close calls this past year.

 

[John Galt III]

I'd like to give you an honest to God cheer for that! I've owned a few of that era with Olds and Buick nameplates, and to put that many miles on a Caprice, you had to spend a lot of time in the seat! Very, very impressive. Gold star!

Thank you! Yes, I'd say 75 percent of the 424,000 miles were done commuting to my computer programming cube! Sailing along a big highway.

 

[jgrdarrash]

Here in the snow belt we have rusted out all of our cars well before the motor has worn out. All were in the 13-15 year old range but we don't drive much, so mileage was usually under 150,000. But they ended up with expensive structural damage due to road salt, so off they went.

 

[kcowan]

We have a 93 Explorer purchased new in 92. It has about 88,000 original miles on it. Did I mention that we don't drive much?

 

[nash031]

DW still drives her 2004 Acura RSX at 151,000. I'm still in my 2007 Infiniti G35 at 89,000. We'll replace hers in a year or so. Mine in maybe five (before ER) and ride those suckers out as long as they'll last too.

 

[HFWR]

I keep vehicles for a long time, time-wise, but not so much mileage-wise. Once put over 200k on a VW bug, but living in a "big city", I do not want to break down on a freeway with cars whizzing by at 80mph. Plus, I don't really trust mechanics much.

If I still lived in Smalltown, USA, I might not worry so much about breakdowns...

 

[razztazz]

Car with the most mileage: 1980 Chevette: 42,000 miles, owned it 11 months

Car I owned the longest: 1993 Shadow: 20 years, 29,000 miles (That's twenty-nine thousand)

 

[Bamaman]

I have 13 year old diesel pickup with 125K miles. By the time I wear out the engine, I expect to be about 97 years old.

We have a 2008 Lexus with 100K miles and a year old Explorer with 25K miles. We could easily go another 10 years without having to buy a vehicle. We rarely leave town now that we've retired.

 

[14thMed]

Lexus LS 400 had it for 16 years now. Bought used had 60,000 miles on it. 299,095 as of today. Have no problem driving it to Florida in a couple of months

 

[Tandemlovers]

Another vote for a Sienna minivan. I purchased one new in 2001 and drove it 190k miles over a 13 year period, and it was still going strong, all the bells and whistles still worked.

I loved that van, only got rid of it because it had rusted out from our brutal Wisconsin winters.

Sold it in Jacksonville, Florida for $1800 to a woman who exported it to Africa!

 

[shortstop14]

Longest I've had was a 1985 Toyota Pickup that was my daily driver for 20 years and 295,000 miles - finally retired it when replacing the clutch would have cost double the value of the car. Prior to that we ran a 1982 Honda Civic that got rear-ended and totaled in 1998, and a 1976 Chevy Chevette that got too unreliable (using it as a camper and towing a UHaul trailer across the country with it probably wasn't wise in retrospect).

My wife currently drives a 1996 Saturn SL2 with 160,000 miles on it, and I have the 'new' 2008 Toyota Tacoma with 65,000 miles. Just about to take the Tacoma on a 10,000 mile trip around the US. When the Saturn finally dies we might look at becoming a one vehicle (and four bicycle) household, since our mileage is a lot lower now.

 

[Koolau]

'91 Mazda 626 4cly 4spd. 21 years/150K. Never really took care of it - just oil/filter about every 7000 miles. Let it sit all winter and 9 months later start it up - sounded like a diesel for a while. I think I washed it 4 or 5 times - total. "Stuff" quit working like AC, doors, fan motors, etc. But engine was good when I sold it.

YMMV