When to get rid of a used car

[Jerry1]

Of course this is one of those topics that has no one answer. However, many on this board have discussed this issue. They own a car that is getting up in years and usually requires a repair and the discussion about whether or not to repair or replace the car ensues.

I was reading an article and was very surprised at the method the person in the article used. He has a three strike rule. A car needs to strand him (that's right, strand him) three times AND, the stranding needs to be significant. Per the article:

The vehicle has to strand me three times in a situation that I feel unsafe or highly inconvenient — breaking down on the highway, on the way to work or to an important appointment.

I infer from this that not starting in the driveway would not qualify.

Personally, I think this is crazy. It's been a long time since I've kept a car a long time, but in retirement I may. However, when I was young and keeping my cars over 100K miles, I don't recall ever getting stranded. I maintained my cars and more important, I think one gets a sense of when they're getting tired and it's time to let them go. The longest one I kept was a Beretta (a GM) which I got over 150K miles on (again, a GM circa 1990's).

Also, the author discusses the financial part of the equation, however I feel he has made a major flaw. He only compares the cost of repair versus buying a new car. When I was driving cheap, I would get used cars with more than 50K on them and drive them another 50K or more. That's a lot cheaper than buying a new car and can, in many instances, be cheaper than a major repair.

Just wondering what you all think about getting stranded as a measure for keeping a car and what you tend to rely on to determine when to let go. For me, I drive GM's and while not the most reliable vehicles, I don't see any reason I won't get 100K out of them. At that point, as long as my finances are as planned, I'd refresh and get a new car. At my age (58 and DW 63), that's probably only 4 to 5 cars and maybe less given how little DW and I are driving already.

Link to the article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/per...break-up-with-your-old-car/ar-AAJhm4s?ocid=se

 

[SmallCityDave]

Interesting article, my rule of thumb is when I don't trust it to go across the country it's time to cut it loose.



I currently have the best/most luxurious car from the best/most reliable car maker but it's 12 years old and has 130k miles on it, I should be able to get another 20-70k miles out of it. To this date it has never broken down on me but I have had to replace the battery a couple of times along with the tires obviously that's expected.



I have been itching for a newer vehicle.

 

[Senator]

Once you are retired, and can afford it, get a new car when you feel like it.

Cars can go 200K miles easy these days, and comfort and safety are king nowadays in my book.

 

[Souschef]

Once you are retired, and can afford it, get a new car when you feel like it.

Cars can go 200K miles easy these days, and comfort and safety are king nowadays in my book.

+1
DW's 98 Cadillac fell afoul of the 3 strike law. It was one of the years that the V8 Northstar engines had all kinds of head bolt and head gasket problems. She got stuck once on the way to Vegas, and twice more in town here.
She now drives a brand new paid for Mazda CX-5 and loves it

 

[Sunset]

I don't have any hard and fast rules, however 3 cars I got rid of for problems were:

Car (1) would stall out at traffic lights after coming off the freeway (never found a fix).

Car (2) would shut off upon making a left turn, so I had to drive forward into the turn and push in the clutch to glide across the turn, then restart the car, and let out the clutch to carry on.

Car (3) when I jacked up the car to change the tire, the jack pushed itself into the car frame as the frame was very rusted.

 

[travelover]

With safety advances coming all the time, it seems foolish to keep a car a long time if you can well afford to update it.


This week my wife was saved from being rear ended by a distracted driver. As it turned out, she got just a gentle tap because the other vehicle had automatic emergency braking. All the other driver heard was a beep before it applied the brakes.

 

[mountainsoft]

I have driven a lot of junkers in my day and don't recall ever being stranded to the point I had to call for help (back in the day that meant walking to the nearest house and asking to use their phone). That's not to say my old cars didn't break down, but I was always able to rig something up to get back home.

I had an accelerator cable break when I was a teenager. I just cranked up the idle speed on the carburetor and drove home (slowly).

I ran out of gas once about a mile out of town. Rather than walk that mile after dark, try to find a gas can, and walk back, I put it in first gear and used the starter to limp the car back to the gas station in town. Not a recommended procedure, but I never had any issues with the battery or starter after that.

I've had car batteries die, but as long as the alternator was good I could push start the car (manual transmission).

I literally had a carburetor fall off one time, only the fuel line and accelerator cable kept it in the engine bay. I finger tightened the two bolts that were still in the carb base, started it up, and drove home.

Granted, I owned really cheap cars when I was younger (under $800) and didn't have money to maintain them. These days we own cars in better shape ($2000-$4000), and do a better job maintaining them. So I don't really have major failures like my teen years, but so far have still figured out how to get the car home when problems do occur.

Generally we don't get rid of cars until they are involved in an accident, start getting very rusty, or need a very expensive repair (engine replacement or something). Anything else I generally prefer to fix it rather than go through the hassles and expense of finding a new car, getting it licensed, insured, etc. We always get more than 200K miles out of our cars. Mine has 220K right now and is still going strong. I had 400K on my last car before I sold it (it was 40+ years old and was getting hard to find parts for).

 

[Sunset]

I have driven a lot of junkers in my day and don't recall ever being stranded to the point I had to call for help (back in the day that meant walking to the nearest house and asking to use their phone). That's not to say my old cars didn't break down, but I was always able to rig something up to get back home.

I had an accelerator cable break when I was a teenager. I just cranked up the idle speed on the carburetor and drove home (slowly).

I ran out of gas once about a mile out of town. Rather than walk that mile after dark, try to find a gas can, and walk back, I put it in first gear and used the starter to limp the car back to the gas station in town. Not a recommended procedure, but I never had any issues with the battery or starter after that.

I've had car batteries die, but as long as the alternator was good I could push start the car (manual transmission).

I literally had a carburetor fall off one time, only the fuel line and accelerator cable kept it in the engine bay. I finger tightened the two bolts that were still in the carb base, started it up, and drove home.

Granted, I owned really cheap cars when I was younger (under $800) and didn't have money to maintain them. These days we own cars in better shape ($2000-$4000), and do a better job maintaining them. So I don't really have major failures like my teen years, but so far have still figured out how to get the car home when problems do occur.

Generally we don't get rid of cars until they are involved in an accident, start getting very rusty, or need a very expensive repair (engine replacement or something). Anything else I generally prefer to fix it rather than go through the hassles and expense of finding a new car, getting it licensed, insured, etc. We always get more than 200K miles out of our cars. Mine has 220K right now and is still going strong. I had 400K on my last car before I sold it (it was 40+ years old and was getting hard to find parts for).

You Win !!!!!!

 

[DrRoy]

Once you are retired, and can afford it, get a new car when you feel like it.

+1 I wouldn't want to be stranded once.

 

[brett]

Our last Camry had 240 K miles on it before it went to our son. The 2006 Accord has 120K miles on it. The 2007 Solara summer car has 70K miles on it.

Never been stuck other than one flat tire. No plans to replace these vehicles. But.....we keep them well maintained as per the owners manual. Especially fluids. Not a money issue or a frugality issue. I just hate shopping for cars and the new car smell does nothing for me or my ego.

 

[pacergal]

WE generally keep our cars until they have 150-200,00 miles or more. Have a good mechanic who is fair priced and keeps cars running well.
Have gotten rid of 3 cars due to 1) water leaks that we could not find the source (carpet and seat were constantly wet 2) one car would suddenly die while driving, pull over, let rest a few minutes, then restart, 3) loud ping and squeak while driving--no one could figure that out, even went to the dealership mechanic.
Otherwise, replace cars just due to age, mileage, and want new or newer ones with better safety.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We keep our cars until repairs are more than the car is worth. Generally our cars have between 150-200 miles on them. We only need one in good enough shape to go out of town. I haven’t been stranded since I was young.

 

[Chapter 3]

The answer has varied over my lifetime, and financial situation. Early on vehicle dependency was a risk I accepted given the funds available. I did several roadside repairs to make it home. Today vehicle dependency is a must as DrRoy states above.

 

[meierlde]

It also depends on where you live, long distance driving in west Texas and parts on New Mexico off interstates ca mean up to 100 miles in some cases between towns. I once had a water pump fail in Vick Tx, ( about 30 mi east of San Angelo, on US 87), on the edge of where cell phones work, and it took 3 hours for a truck to get there, that truck got replaced within a couple of months. A fried had a car problem between Roswell and Vaughn NM (90 miles on open country and it took a while to get help) On course my truck at the time did not have onstar, and it was 8 years ago. So I decided to repace new cars every 5 years with a new car (financially I could easily afford it).


Lining east of the longtitude of Kansas City, (or perhaps east of 96 w) this is not as much of a problem as nowhere is not as much of a problem as nowhere areas are much smaller,

 

[frayne]

I used to use 10 years or 100K miles which worked well as I have no time for car problems. Always had them serviced on a regular basis as well. Since being retired I'll usually keep a car five years or so and then get something new, simply because I can.

 

[braumeister]

I'm also on the five year plan, my last four cars were replaced then.

But I do a lot of driving, so five years for me is way more than 100K miles.

The new features they keep adding to our "computer networks on wheels" make it a real joy each time I get a new one.

 

[mountainsoft]

You Win !!!!!!

Cool, do I win a prize? My old 1976 Rabbit had about 450K miles when I sold it, but after owning it 30+ years there wasn't much left of the original car. I spent about a year repairing rust damage and restoring it the best I could, only to decide I wasn't the type to have a collector car sitting around collecting dust. I ended up selling it about a year later. I still miss it sometimes, but it was the right decision.

Life With My VW Rabbit - Anthony Watson

 

[aja8888]

I have driven a lot of junkers in my day and don't recall ever being stranded to the point I had to call for help (back in the day that meant walking to the nearest house and asking to use their phone). That's not to say my old cars didn't break down, but I was always able to rig something up to get back home.

I had an accelerator cable break when I was a teenager. I just cranked up the idle speed on the carburetor and drove home (slowly).

I ran out of gas once about a mile out of town. Rather than walk that mile after dark, try to find a gas can, and walk back, I put it in first gear and used the starter to limp the car back to the gas station in town. Not a recommended procedure, but I never had any issues with the battery or starter after that.

I've had car batteries die, but as long as the alternator was good I could push start the car (manual transmission).

I literally had a carburetor fall off one time, only the fuel line and accelerator cable kept it in the engine bay. I finger tightened the two bolts that were still in the carb base, started it up, and drove home.

Granted, I owned really cheap cars when I was younger (under $800) and didn't have money to maintain them. These days we own cars in better shape ($2000-$4000), and do a better job maintaining them. So I don't really have major failures like my teen years, but so far have still figured out how to get the car home when problems do occur.

Generally we don't get rid of cars until they are involved in an accident, start getting very rusty, or need a very expensive repair (engine replacement or something). Anything else I generally prefer to fix it rather than go through the hassles and expense of finding a new car, getting it licensed, insured, etc. We always get more than 200K miles out of our cars. Mine has 220K right now and is still going strong. I had 400K on my last car before I sold it (it was 40+ years old and was getting hard to find parts for).

Well done!!

I nominate this ^^^ as the "post of the month"!

 

[Sojourner]

With safety advances coming all the time, it seems foolish to keep a car a long time if you can well afford to update it.


This week my wife was saved from being rear ended by a distracted driver. As it turned out, she got just a gentle tap because the other vehicle had automatic emergency braking. All the other driver heard was a beep before it applied the brakes.

+1

I don't intend to keep my current, primary vehicle for more than 10 years, as I'm certain I'll want to upgrade to the latest, super-advanced safety and self-driving features that will exist by then. I may not even go that long, depending on how rapidly the self-driving revolution progresses.

As for my other car (a fun, two-seater roadster), I'm starting to think about what to do with it within the next year or two. It's almost 15 years old now, and although it's still running fine and looks great, I'm not sure I'm getting enough value out of it to warrant the ongoing insurance, taxes, and maintenance costs. I probably only drive it about 20-30 times per year, but definitely enjoy it a lot when I do. I guess one way to look at it is, is the "cost/drive" worth the enjoyment I'm getting? I really should do the math and try to figure it out.

 

[ncbill]

Just got rid of (donated) one that needed new shocks, struts, complete AC system, brake pads/rotors.

~25 years old, ~250,000 city/urban miles...figured we got our money's worth out of it (free hand-me down from a sibling to me...then to my oldest kid...then to my youngest kid)

 

[Walt34]

For us, and especially DW, reliability in a car is paramount. I wouldn't necessarily dump a car just because it stranded her or me, but it would depend on why. The last time I was stranded it was in DW's old car and the battery died. Fortunately, fate had smiled upon me and next door to where I had parked was a Battery Mart store. But thereafter, at the annual safety inspection I also have the shop do a load test on the battery and if it is even marginal I have it replaced.

On an even older car of hers when we were first married it had a habit of suddenly just up and quitting for no apparent reason. It was pretty clearly an intermittent electrical issue but two shops were unable to find out why so we bought a new car sooner than planned. While I intensely disliked car payments, I disliked having DW in an unreliable car even more.

But really, in my experience there is usually ample warning when things on a car are wearing to the point where it is telling you it is time to sell it and buy a new one or at least a more recent vintage before it strands you on the side of the road.