How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities

How long do you keep your cars for on the average?

0-3 years
6
3%
4-6 years
19
9%
7-9 years
45
20%
10-14 years
118
53%
15-19 years
26
12%
20 or more years
9
4%
 
Total votes: 223

btenny
Posts: 5702
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:47 pm

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by btenny »

I have two cars with for winter weather and snow conditions with AWD/4x4. Plus one of those also has a good tow rating so I haul my boat with that one. I also have a nice luxury 2WD car for summer. So three cars for two people. We also have two houses. One for summer and one for winter . Since we have three cars we always have two cars at the house we are at by driving one car and leaving one car. Works great for us.... 8-)
john94549
Posts: 4638
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:50 pm

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by john94549 »

Guess I'm in the lower end of this particular bell curve. 1994 Buick. I'll replace it when it barely chugs to the dismantler, where I will get a $1000 payment from the Bay Area Air Quality folks for scrapping my old gas-guzzler. Seriously, they pay you $1000 to crush the car. It's wonderful.
Rattlesnake
Posts: 198
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 3:43 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by Rattlesnake »

The last car I sold was a 1999 Buick Park Avenue, 125K miles. The reason we sold it was it did not have back seat anchors for the Grand Son's child seat. Replaced it with a 2011 Chevy Equinox LT (FWD, V-6), that hauls the boat, etc....
9th Infantry Division LRRP (Ranger) | 1968-69
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DaleMaley
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Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by DaleMaley »

shmidds wrote:Until I hit a deer.
When I lived in Georgia, the score was 1983 F150 3, and deer 0. Of course the deer there are much smaller than Illinois, where they are corn fed.

I hit one deer with my 1999 F150, it made a slight dent and broke the headlight. The 99 is not as sturdily constructed as the 83 model :D
Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks is through an index fund that charges minimal fees. – Warren Buffett
likegarden
Posts: 3181
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 4:33 pm

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by likegarden »

We usually buy cars new and run them 10-12 years, which is about 110,000 miles. At that time with those miles the costs maintaining the cars approaches costs of a lease, so why drive an old car when you could drive a new car for not much more. We do not like to worry about problems we have noticed on a car, which starts at about 10 years. We also hate to haggle when buying a new car. Recently our 2002 Buick Regal was costing us $2,500 in a year, so we sold it and bought a new Toyota Camry.
Our other car is a 2004 Buick Century with short of 80,000 miles. I drive that about 7,000 miles per year. It had less than $500 in non-normal maintenance repairs over 10 years, it is in beautiful shape, maintained at the dealer, and I will keep that hopefully another 5 years.
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CountryBoy
Posts: 1777
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:21 am
Location: NY

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by CountryBoy »

I own a Camry that is 14 yrs. old with 130K miles on it.

I aspire to much more and will do my best, but time will tell. Since I live in New York, weather and rust is a problem.

cb
wander
Posts: 4424
Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2008 9:10 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by wander »

I replace car when it doesn't function as it should be anymore: doesn't start for no reason, slowly accelerates, burn too much oil, oil leaking, reduce gas per gallon drastically, transmission, engine, electric problems, overheating ... generally anything that I cannot handle. I like to fix a lot of stuffs and do maintenance so at this point (330k) I still don't want to give it up.
stoptothink
Posts: 15368
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 8:53 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by stoptothink »

On January 1st of this year my '99 Nissan pickup was totaled by a hit-and-run driver. Other than basic maintenance, never had a single major issue. Was expecting to get another 5yrs out of it. Bought an '09, hoping it lasts me at least a decade but that may be wishful thinking because I got married and now she drives the new car. She drives 600+ miles/week for work and has put more miles on it the past month than I did the previous 10.5.
bluelight
Posts: 399
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:08 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by bluelight »

I thought it would come out to 10-14 years, but when I did the math it actually worked out to 7-9 years. Almost 57 years old and I've own 5 cars.

'66 Chevy BelAir - acquired used
'74 Volvo 142E - bought used
'82 Nissan Sentra - bought new
'91 Mazda 626 - bought new
'02 Nissan Pathfinder. bought new

I generally keep cars as long as I feel comfortable and safe in them. Once I start worrying that the car will break down during a trip, time for a new car. I am hoping to keep my Pathfinder at least another 2 or 3 years.
scotthal
Posts: 189
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by scotthal »

Age 59, & I buy a new car almost every decade - whether I need it or not. Guess I get obsessive over perceived reliability.
'78 Honda Accord (sold at 110k miles to a friend)
'88 Toyota Corolla FX16 (tradein at 105k miles)
'98 Subaru Forester (still own, great for trailheads & lousy weather)
'10 VW Golf TDI

Good cars. But before I had an income, drove such classics as a Chevy Vega, a few Corvairs (under $100 each), & a Peugeot 403 - all of which were retired for reasons of rust (upstate NY).
Growtch, grinch; paranoid contrarian
kamo
Posts: 94
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:16 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by kamo »

Until it wants me to push it more than it wants me to drive it.
He who knows he has enough is rich. Lao-Tzu
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opus360
Posts: 326
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:02 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by opus360 »

scotthal wrote:Age 59, & I buy a new car almost every decade - whether I need it or not. Guess I get obsessive over perceived reliability.
'78 Honda Accord (sold at 110k miles to a friend)
'88 Toyota Corolla FX16 (tradein at 105k miles)
'98 Subaru Forester (still own, great for trailheads & lousy weather)
'10 VW Golf TDI
Your last car is German while all others are Japanese. Is the VW Goft TDI reliability good enough relative to the models from Japan?
TomOB
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:31 pm

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by TomOB »

We buy them new for cash and drive them until they die - usually 12 to 14 years.

You guys are KILLING the auto industry!

@tomob
nanosour
Posts: 186
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 9:21 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by nanosour »

Interesting question. Let's see what our history looks like.

76 Mustang (2 years-high school car)
82 Mustang (3 years-traded in on 85 Firebird)
85 Firebird (4 years-traded in on 89 Accord)
85 Tempo (3 years-gave to sister)
89 Accord (15 years-private sale)
92 4-Runner (11 years-private sale replaced with mini-van)
03 Sienna (3 years-traded in on 06 Sienna after I damage the drivers door)
05 ES330 (8 years-80K still like new will run till she dies)
06 Sienna (7 years-80K plan to keep 5-10 more years)

From my history, you can see us getting older as we go from muscle cars to family mini-vans. Oh the sands of time. :?
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Tim_in_GA
Posts: 509
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Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by Tim_in_GA »

Exactly one year ago I had a 16-yo Ford Taurus and a 14-yo Dodge Ram. I didn't trust the Taurus any more due to frequent issues so I got rid of it and bought a new Mazda 3. In August we bought a new Chevy Spark for my wife and since I never drove the truck any more (and didn't have room for it) I donated it to charity. Hopefully I can go at least 10 years or more on these new cars. 15 years would be great - that's about the time I retire and move overseas.
GeauxBR
Posts: 121
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:53 pm
Location: Baton Rouge

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by GeauxBR »

We are holding out in our current car ('03 honda pilot) a few more years until we likely buy another pilot. The goal is to keep the next one for another 10 years until our son has his license and we will give it to him. At that point our home will also be paid for and we plan to reward ourselves with an MDX or something similar.
technovelist
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Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:02 pm

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by technovelist »

We have a 2008 Acura TL, a 2001 Maxima, and a 1995 Dodge Dakota. We generally keep our cars from 15-20 years, until they get too expensive to repair.
In theory, theory and practice are identical. In practice, they often differ.
Taff
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:08 pm

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by Taff »

Keep them about 12 years. Or just before I think it is going to bring the wrath of wife stuck on the road syndrome.
Then we donate the clunker to charity. Actually followed one of the donated cars to the auction yard. Was amazed at the amount of money traded over "junk". It was an interesting view of entrepreneurship.
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beyou
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Location: If you can make it there

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by beyou »

Just unloaded a 1998 Toyota minivan (body was falling apart, engine like new at 125k)
2 years ago, unloaded a 2000 Subaru, for a 2012 Subaru same model.
Before that, nothing longer than 5-6 years.

The trend has been to keep them longer and longer, quality better than many years ago.
Achelois
Posts: 122
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:50 pm

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by Achelois »

I keep my cars until they refuse to go anymore, no matter what I threaten them with. I do this because I feel that I am not knowledgeable enough to bargain well and get a good price and not be taken advantage of. So any excess the dealers make from me, they better enjoy because it will be as limited as I can make it.

It is revenge!
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opus360
Posts: 326
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2013 10:02 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by opus360 »

blevine wrote:Just unloaded a 1998 Toyota minivan (body was falling apart, engine like new at 125k)
2 years ago, unloaded a 2000 Subaru, for a 2012 Subaru same model.
Before that, nothing longer than 5-6 years.

The trend has been to keep them longer and longer, quality better than many years ago.
With Toyota, the weakness seems to be rust on the body. Powertrain usually has no problem.
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nisiprius
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Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by nisiprius »

We replace them when we have lost confidence that we are able to keep them safe and reliable through servicing.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
rmark1
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2007 7:43 am

Re: How long do you keep your cars? Why do you replace it?

Post by rmark1 »

My turnover in cars has been more driven by need than how long I'd like to keep them. The Corolla went to the daughter as I needed a larger vehicle for the wife's wheelchair and walker, neighbor kid bought my S10 when I decided to get a full size pickup due to hauling college student employees around and wanting them in a larger vehicle in case of accident. Not sure they're impressed by the 12 year old craigslist Dodge truck though.
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