Americans Keeping Cars Longer than Ever Before

[#1hoosierfan]

We typically keep cars around until they die. Dh's car is 12 years with no plans to replace it.

We bought a 2015 Honda Pilot last year. The plan right now is for it to be ds(9) first car.

 

[Hikergirl]

Lol, If I could keep a car down to 65000 miles after 12 years I'd be keeping it also!

My current Jeep is 2009 with almost 160K miles on it. I usually let them go in the 175000 to 200000 range but that's only 7 or 8 years. It won't be long as I want some of the newer features also. I just gave away my second, back up vehicle to family. I'll probably keep the jeep as back up vehicle depending on what car I buy - I'm all over the place with regard to what I want model wise and even brand wise.

I do want the feature where your cell phone is hands free and connects when you get in the car. I don't like the ear pieces and I'm always getting work calls while driving. I think most cars have this now. I also like the idea of the back up camera as I am in transition with my sight - will need cataract surgery very soon, and anything will help.

I am off work today - maybe I'll go car shopping!

You don't need a new car for those things! You can get a bluetooth adapter (works with the radio and speakers) and you can get an aftermarket back-up camera. Probably wouldn't even cost as much as one month's car payment

My dh's old car had around 270,000 miles on it. My old car that was 12 years old had around 94,000. I didn't think that was too bad. My current car has way more miles on it than I'd like at this point but it's a Toyota so I'm hoping it will last as long as dh's old Honda.

 

[Judique]

You don't need a new car for those things! You can get a bluetooth adapter (works with the radio and speakers) and you can get an aftermarket back-up camera. Probably wouldn't even cost as much as one month's car payment

My dh's old car had around 270,000 miles on it. My old car that was 12 years old had around 94,000. I didn't think that was too bad. My current car has way more miles on it than I'd like at this point but it's a Toyota so I'm hoping it will last as long as dh's old Honda.

You are absolutely correct! But, I've got the new car bug in me right now. I've got to justify somehow and I've got this car budget that I'm itching to spend...

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I think a lot of it is how many miles you put on a car. I put in about 75 miles a day, 5 days a week, and then make a lot of road trips on weekends. I put maybe 20K miles on my car a year, more or less, so I'm closer to Judique than anyone else on that. I don't want to drive a car out in the backwoods with the hooty owls where the coyotes howl after it has about 200K on it, so yeah, 10 years is my max. My husband's new job lets him work from home though, and it transitioned him from a company car to a personal car with mileage for business, so we ordered it new from the dealer with the exact features we wanted. (Subaru, so there's no advantage in buying from the lot anyway.) I'll probably take his old car when mine dies (it has the features I want as well as the features he wanted), and he'll get some kind of vintage sports car to keep forever.

If you don't have a long commute or like to go on road trips, yeah, I can see keeping a car longer though. Our truck is a 2005 and we'll probably keep it forever, but it doesn't get driven everyday.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

We are also part of that club. Our cars are 11, 15, and 30 years old.

We have a kid in college and we pay for his insurance. It is like having a car payment. So I hope these cars last at least another 2 years.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I like my 2001 coupe which is why I still have. Plus to get a new coupe I would have to upgrade from a ford or buy a brand I don't want because the only entry level.2 doors are hatchbacks. Not everyone wants a 4 door or can afford a luxury or sports car to get a 2 door coupe.

I have a 2002 Ford Escort ZX2 and it is my first car I have ever owned bought when I was 17. It's a 2-door coupe. While there are advantages to 4 door vehicles it's hard for me to imagine not having a coupe. I doubt my next car will be a coupe..more or less because I'm at a point in my life where kids are in the near future but still. I've owned my car for just about 11 years (next month) though it's a 14 year old car at this point. I paid $7,000 teller's check for it from a Ford dealership..never had a car payment..and it's likely the next car will have a car payment which will be such a new thing for me.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When I was young, and unmarried, I changed cars every 7-8 years on average. I thought I was doing pretty well! Some of my friends got new upgrades every 2-3 years!

Then I got married and had kids and realized there are far more important things to spend money on, including savings.

So we now keep our cars around 15 years.

To the bolded that would be my in-laws including my sisters-in-laws.

I've known my husband for 9 years (next month). In that time here's the cars they have had in the order that they have had them:

~Step-father-in-law: Tundra, F150, F150 [current] and they just ordered a custom F350 but will be trading in the current F150 (one already listed)

~Mother-in-law: Corolla, Infiniti (can't remember the model), Explorer, inherited her mom's Camry (still have), just bought 2001 Explorer for commuter car since they don't want to drive the F350 around every day

~Sister-in-law: scion tc (totaled), older jeep, eclipse, cadillac (can't remember the model had recall problems never worked quite right), traded prior cadillac for a newer year same model (now having problems with it)

~Other sister-in-law: scion TC limited edition one (leased but paid in full and then traded in before lease was up), at least 6 cars (all used and in pretty iffy shape including current one don't remember model as she's had so many cars)

~My husband: scion tc (traded in with infiniti so him mom could get explorer and he got the corolla for a few months), mazda 3 [current] (traded in corolla to help with mazda 3). I never agreed with him turning in his scion tc because he would have owned that car years ago instead of having a car payment for forever (aside from the corolla that he didn't have to pay for for the few months that he had it) but his mom pressured him to turn it in to help with her getting the infiniti

Unless otherwise noted all vehicles were bought brand new (i.e. $$)

To be fair the in-laws say they have always purchased/traded cars within 2 or 3 years. Step-father-in-law was a car salesmen for a few years before switching to being an insurance agent.

Growing up my dad always leased cars with the exception of a handful bought overtime over his lifetime.

In the time I have known them I have had 1 car and its the first car I have ever owned (see my above comment).

 

[afan]

I have a 2002 Ford Escort ZX2 and it is my first car I have ever owned bought when I was 17. It's a 2-door coupe. While there are advantages to 4 door vehicles it's hard for me to imagine not having a coupe. I doubt my next car will be a coupe..more or less because I'm at a point in my life where kids are in the near future but still. I've owned my car for just about 11 years (next month) though it's a 14 year old car at this point. I paid $7,000 teller's check for it from a Ford dealership..never had a car payment..and it's likely the next car will have a car payment which will be such a new thing for me.

Love my zx2 ☺ my first car was a hatchback that I wouldn't want again. Car 2 for college was a 4 door Saturn. Good car, but since it was just me most of the time I didn't like 4 doors. My parents had 2 door cars when I was growing up so I dealt with climbing in the backseat. If/when I have a kid they can do the same I want to like and enjoy what I drive.

 

[wenrob]

Lol, If I could keep a car down to 65000 miles after 12 years I'd be keeping it also!

My current Jeep is 2009 with almost 160K miles on it. I usually let them go in the 175000 to 200000 range but that's only 7 or 8 years. It won't be long as I want some of the newer features also. I just gave away my second, back up vehicle to family. I'll probably keep the jeep as back up vehicle depending on what car I buy - I'm all over the place with regard to what I want model wise and even brand wise.

I do want the feature where your cell phone is hands free and connects when you get in the car. I don't like the ear pieces and I'm always getting work calls while driving. I think most cars have this now. I also like the idea of the back up camera as I am in transition with my sight - will need cataract surgery very soon, and anything will help.

I am off work today - maybe I'll go car shopping!

I've always been very "economical" with my driving habits. I've never personally put a vehicle over 100,000 myself. When that has happened it's usually because DH has taken over that vehicle. What's funny is that's the family vehicle, if we go somewhere all together or on vacation that's what we drive. I've had two car dealers try to talk me into selling it to them but I won't give it up.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Love my zx2 ☺ my first car was a hatchback that I wouldn't want again. Car 2 for college was a 4 door Saturn. Good car, but since it was just me most of the time I didn't like 4 doors. My parents had 2 door cars when I was growing up so I dealt with climbing in the backseat. If/when I have a kid they can do the same I want to like and enjoy what I drive.

Same here. My mom did have a '88 accord but after that she had a '96 cavalier til it died. My step-mom had a '98 sunfire; I did my fair share of climbing in the back. My coupe though..I will admit is difficult for my husband to be in. He's 6' 5.5" so while he fits is not the most comfortable. I absolutely love sunroofs but after my husband traded in his scion he was looking for a car that had more head room thus he got the mazda 3 without a sunroof . We honestly drive his car nearly all the time because mine is a 2002 his is a 2010 and mine well I love her but she's kinda temperamental but I do love her

I think along the same lines as you in that kids can climb in the back. I think it's more of what car I'm looking for (if we have the extra cash I would really like to go more luxury) and while I would love a sporty car (like mine sorta is..well as sporty as you can get in the late '90s/early 2000s with the spoiler) another coupe might just have to wait a teensy bit. IDK we'll see.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

I am a naive Californian, but I thought rust was a thing of the past with modern rust proofing, or at least Ziebart. My FIL lived on the gulf coast and had his new cars Ziebarted. If they rusted, Ziebart fixed it for free.

We average 150 inches of snow a season. On Monday it snowed 27 inches to start our winter off right. There is no rust proofing on earth that will protect a 4x4 vehicle against 12 years of rock salt.

 

[amcnj]

Lol, If I could keep a car down to 65000 miles after 12 years I'd be keeping it also!

My current Jeep is 2009 with almost 160K miles on it. I usually let them go in the 175000 to 200000 range but that's only 7 or 8 years. It won't be long as I want some of the newer features also. I just gave away my second, back up vehicle to family. I'll probably keep the jeep as back up vehicle depending on what car I buy - I'm all over the place with regard to what I want model wise and even brand wise.

I do want the feature where your cell phone is hands free and connects when you get in the car. I don't like the ear pieces and I'm always getting work calls while driving. I think most cars have this now. I also like the idea of the back up camera as I am in transition with my sight - will need cataract surgery very soon, and anything will help.

I am off work today - maybe I'll go car shopping!

I too am a mileage based car owner. Decades ago I used to keep cars till 150,000-175,000, but had upped that to around 200,000 the last few cars. And I might have to up that again, as I sold my last car 6.5 years ago with just over 200,000 miles, and the buyer still has it and is in the 300,000's!

 

[Hikergirl]

My dh had around 275,000 miles on his old car. The only reason he got rid of it was because it was rusting away underneath. The car itself was still running great.

 

[tvguy]

We average 150 inches of snow a season. On Monday it snowed 27 inches to start our winter off right. There is no rust proofing on earth that will protect a 4x4 vehicle against 12 years of rock salt.

Is Ziebart in your area? And my weather guy wants to know where you live. Syracuse has the highest average snow fall in the country and they only get 126 inches.

 

[5kidsmommy]

I would like to keep our cars long that we do but we drive a lot. My husband puts 30,000 miles a year on his. He usually drives them 6 years or so. I put about 20,000 miles a year on mine. I try to keep them 8-10 years but that doesn't always happen. We had a lovely little Jetta that we had 200,000 miles on but sadly some jerk crashed into it while it was parked and totaled it. That was a bummer. Right now I'm driving a 2008 Chevy Suburban. Actually right now it's sit at the mechanics getting a new motor and I'm driving our 2004 Tahoe. My husband has a newer car, it's a 2014 VW Passat TDI. He will drive it until December 2018 and then he will sell it back to VW as part of their scandal. And then we will have to get him a new car. Once again something outside of our control has foiled our plans.

And living in Northeast Ohio we have to deal with rust, that is a huge nemesis. Darn salt!

 

[angierae]

We've done very well lately buying out former lease vehicles. They have about 20-24k miles on them, warranty left until 36k, and the most we've paid so far is about $13,500. I am currently driving a 2014 Cruze and my daughter has a 2014 Sonic, both paid for in cash slightly used. I drove my 1999 Escort to about 150k miles. I see no reason why I won't drive this Cruze that long. (I'm at 60k miles now, and have had zero problems with it so far.)

We're currently running out the lease on my deceased MIL's Malibu that DH is driving, and then he'll probably buy something new, but he drives more than I do.

 

[tvguy]

I would like to keep our cars long that we do but we drive a lot. My husband puts 30,000 miles a year on his. He usually drives them 6 years or so. I put about 20,000 miles a year on mine. I try to keep them 8-10 years but that doesn't always happen. We had a lovely little Jetta that we had 200,000 miles on but sadly some jerk crashed into it while it was parked and totaled it. That was a bummer. Right now I'm driving a 2008 Chevy Suburban. Actually right now it's sit at the mechanics getting a new motor and I'm driving our 2004 Tahoe. My husband has a newer car, it's a 2014 VW Passat TDI. He will drive it until December 2018 and then he will sell it back to VW as part of their scandal. And then we will have to get him a new car. Once again something outside of our control has foiled our plans.

And living in Northeast Ohio we have to deal with rust, that is a huge nemesis. Darn salt!

Likely too much money involved to do this, but that VW could become a collectors item with VW's announcement today that they will not resume diesel sales in the U.S.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Doesn't surprise me! I'm in my early twenties so it's not as drastic but I have an 8 year old car already with close to 100,000 miles and no payment. Plan on keeping that little sucker until it falls apart on me on the road! I see no point in shelling out $250+ a month for a car payment until I have to! Especially since I'm the kind of person who couldn't care less what I'm driving and see it strictly as a mode of transport and nothing more

 

[Judique]

Likely too much money involved to do this, but that VW could become a collectors item with VW's announcement today that they will not resume diesel sales in the U.S.

My daughter has one of the VW buy back deal Audi diesels. Do you think that would be a collector?

It's a neat little car and I like it but she's barely driving it because apparently mileage matters in the buy back.

I have already suggested she just take the compensation option and keep the car.

 

[dclpluto]

Yes in this bad economy Americans is keeping their cars a lot longer.