Bogleheads.org

by **zaboomafoozarg** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 5:39 pm

ryuns wrote:A base model late nineties Civic might be high in the running for "lowest cost of ownership vehicle ever built".

I know! Bought used for $5K, put $3-4K into repairs in 9 years. Now I'm stuck at that price range and anything more expensive seems like a luxury.

by **mike143** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:06 pm

I have had many a Honda with 200k+ and one with 400k+. Current 04 Accord I4 is at 168k, bought it in 07 with 108k.

by **Madd Hatter** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:17 pm

His: 2001 Nissan Maxima 125,000 miles, gets 5-6k miles a year,is cheap to own, so hard to rationalize that 2012 Turbo Sonata I keep researching online.
Hers: 2006 Hyundai Tucson 55,000 miles, gets 6-7k miles a year, wife loves it so will be driven into the ground one way or the other.

by **madbrain** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:19 pm

We sold our 2001 Prius a year ago at 125,000 miles. I bought it new in 2001 and in 2007 my partner started driving it.

I now drive a 2007 Prius, bought new, and my partner drives a 2011, also bought new.
I think I have about 50,000 miles on my 2007.
Not sure exactly how many miles my partner has on his 2011, my guess is about 15000 so far.

I think keeping the cars 10 years is about right for us.

by **Snow Boarder** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:27 pm

2005 Honda CRV. Well maintained w/ 130k miles. Plan to get another 130k if not more.

by **yellowjacket** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:29 pm

1997 Toyota Avalon 166,118 one owner miles. Looking for 5 more years.

by **wander** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:31 pm

Nissan truck ~ 294k.

by **runner26** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:40 pm

1997 Toyota Camry V6, - 87,000 miles. It has required some expensive repairs. Strut mounts, Power steering, automatic locks, oil leaks, costing many thousands of dollars.

I ran more miles than I drove last year!

by **Rob5TCP** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:48 pm

Current car:
1998 Ford Escort with 47,523 miles
Living in NY and mostly taking the subway keeps my car driving to
between 3000-4500 miles per year (depending on any vacation
driving).\\
bought it used at 19,000 in 2002 and have no major repairs until this year.
This year it will need some major of about $2,000.00.
Still worth it.

by **Boglenaut** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:56 pm

nomadgecko wrote:
Proud driver of a 1996 Corolla - 184,000 miles.

Being a good Boglehead, we keep our mileage low. <7,000 miles/year total (1 car/2 drivers). It'll take us quite a while to hit 184,000. Honda Civic

by **Calhoon** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:03 pm

2000 Toyota Avalon -- 187,000

by **zaboomafoozarg** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:36 pm

Boglenaut wrote:Being a good Boglehead, we keep our mileage low.

I guess I don't qualify for good Boglehead then, I put about 20K a year on mine. After not being able to do it until I was 24 due to medical reasons, I enjoy driving too much.

by **fsrph** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:41 pm

Forester -- 7K miles
350Z -- 44K miles

Francis

by **Whiggish Boffin** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:51 pm

1994 Miata, bought in 2001 w/ 12k miles, now 141k.

by **radchad3** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:58 pm

My car: 1998 Pontiac Bonneville 114,000 (paid $6,700 7 years ago in cash)
WIfes car: 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 77,000 (paid $11,600 2 years ago in cash)

by **Cheap_rookie** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:17 pm

Old car had 152 K .... now with BIL for their kid (cheap to insure, and low miles that they need to drive)

Current .... just hit 1 K

by **bluelight** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:41 pm

2002 Nissan Pathfinder - 85,000 miles. It has horrible mpg, but I love that I haven't yet needed to haul something it couldn't handle. For the 1st 8 years it commuted 10 miles roundtrip daily - if I came home for lunch. 5 miles daily if I didn't. My new job is work at home so even less miles will be put on. At 9.5 years old its still in great condition and I hope to get another 10 years out of it.

by **rayout** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:43 pm

1994 Honda Civic 193K miles. Only ~20K of which I put on it. Paid $1600 for it out of college. Put $1.3K worth of maintenance into it this year (though alot of that was long deferred maintenance and a recent accident). Hopefully get another year or two out of it, running strong now with minor oil leakage

It's an eyesore but I love it. An engine that won't keep chugging and a frame that I won't be ticked off about if it gets dinged!

by **blevine** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:45 pm

harrychan wrote:06 Subaru Impreza 39,000 miles
12 Subaru Legacy 900 miles

I just bought a 12 Subaru Outback

to complement my 1998 Toyota Sienna with 120k miles

by **Keim** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:49 pm

I chose over 120k. But, really it depends on a few things.

1. Which of my 3 vehicles. The 1976 Monte Carlo and 93 f150 are over 120k, The CRV is just over 100k.
I averaged over 120k, so picked accordingly.

2. Which part of the car are we referring to? My Monte is about 150k, but the motor has only 50k, and the tranny has 30k. Lets not even think of the sundry other little parts. The f150 has a similar tale of woe.

This is similar to my Monte, but in better shape. And mine has a silver vinyl top.

by **NAVigator** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:52 pm

1999 Saturn SC2 with 62,000 miles. I literally only drive to church, groceries, and doctor appointments (in ascending order of frequency).

Jerry

by **communipaw** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:03 pm

2003 Honda Accord / 96,000 miles

by **markmow** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:05 pm

Scion 50k 3 yrs old
Escape 2k 2 months old

by **Wolkenspiel** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:12 pm

12k miles for my car (~500miles/month), 1.2k miles for the wife's (~250 miles/month). Getting to 125k miles would take 20 years at that rate - instead we'll contemplate the next new car once we reach the next major net-worth milestone (at least that's what I'm telling her...).

by **stoptothink** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:41 am

'97 regular cab Nissan hardbody pickup, 156k. Purchased in '03 for $2500. Still running like a champ. Maybe $2k in maintenance in 9 years. Almost never drive it as 3/4 of my commuting is now done on my bike.

by **TheEternalVortex** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:54 am

I don't think your assumption is accurate, because while the average miles driven might be 12,000/yr, that's not the case for many cars, particularly in multi-car households.

by **TheEternalVortex** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:55 am

I have:

2012 Mazda Miata: 2,500 miles
2004 Mazda 6: 73,000 miles

by **slick_dealer_05** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:13 am

Bought a 2003 Camry with 145,000 miles on it for $5500 in 2009 and have added 16000 miles on it.
I take the bus to work so most of the driving is on weekends.

by **yobria** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:07 am

zaboomafoozarg wrote:
ryuns wrote:A base model late nineties Civic might be high in the running for "lowest cost of ownership vehicle ever built".

Yep, my 97 Civic DX sure was, especially with the 14 year warranty Honda had to grant it in an EPA settlement. It was totaled three years ago or I'd still be driving it. I replaced it with a totaled/salvaged 2007 Civic EX manual. Better ride, worse visibility, similar cost of ownership - zero maintenance other than two new tires and oil changes in three years.

by **Sheepdog** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:30 am

I've never had an auto with over 90,000 miles in my 59 years of owning them because I didn't want to have a car with over 90,000 miles.

by **DChen** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:19 am

I have a 2003 Toyota 4Runner(sadly, it is a V6) with 206k miles. I bought it a few months ago with 5k cash. It's still in very good condition and I hope it will be my forever car.

by **Redwing** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:52 am

His: '98 Ford Expedition. 132,000 (8k when bought used in '99)
Her: '99 Ford Taurus Station Wagon. 136,000 (bought new in '99)
Son: '05 Honda Accord Coupe. 44,000 (27,000 bought used in '08)

Wanted to give my wife the newer car but she wouldn't give up her Taurus. Plus we thought it best Son's car had the latest safety features.

Son took the car to college his first two years and then surrendered it once he figured out owning a car is expensive. Actually getting him to this realization was the only reason we allowed him the car at college in the first place. :sharebeer

Tranny on the Taurus is dying and is only used for trips around town. We'll likely replace it within the next six months. Plan to keep the Expedition a few more years, so we can stagger the age of our vehicles moving forward.

by **OldTimer** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:35 am

I have two cars.

1999 Lexus SUV for my wife,bought used, 130,000 miles, she drives 6,000 per year

I drive a 2003 Lexus SUV, 225,000, this our main car, 25,000 per year now.

We are trying for 400,000 miles on the 2003 Lexus

by **lexota** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:47 am

1 lexus and 1 toyota both with 108k miles each and no plans to replace in the next 2 years and possibly longer. We put 9k miles/year on the Toyota and 15k per year on the Lexus. Both are 2003 models and were bought used for a third of their original retail value.

by **Valuethinker** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 11:54 am

nomadgecko wrote:A fun survey for Friday.

According to Wikipedia, in 2007 the median age of automobiles in the US was 9.7 years. [Seems high]. So by my back of the envelope math, the median US car has 120,000 miles [Seems high, but hey who knows.]

Not at all.

You are probably thinking of *first* ownership, but the average car has 3-4 owners in its life.

The average US car life was a bit below 13 years, shot up quite sharply during the recession. Around 13.5 years. I think that is the mean, rather than the median.

At 14m cars sold pa, the average US car is replaced just about every 14 years (sales peaked somewhere over 16m in 2007, bottomed around 10m, not expected to exceed previous high for some time yet).

by **texasdiver** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 12:02 pm

205,000 miles on my 2004 Toyota Sienna bought new in May 2003. Lots of suburban Texas driving and road trips. I hope to get at least 300,000 on it before I retire it. Air conditioning compressor went out at 190,000 and that's been the only major repair to date. Great car.

by **eaglesfan** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:30 pm

Me: Chrysler Sebring 2002 - 74,000 miles (currently drive 2 miles/day)
Wife: Honda Civic 2003 - 104,000 miles

by **mickeyd** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:36 pm

2005 Camry 45K

2011 Corolla 5K

by **G12** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:07 pm

2002 Pathfinder 74k+, had to replace the radiator this week and replacing windshield this week due to cracking
2003 Maxima 111k+, wife's car, probably put $2200 into last year after hitting a very large hole in the road

They are both still in very good mechanical condition, can't even feel the Pathfinder engine running when at a red light.

I have noticed the vehicles age, not the mileage, causing some repairs earlier than mileage might otherwise indicate. I don't think I have driven the Pathfinder 15k miles in aggregate the past 3-years and it's a good dog hauler.

by **deerhunter** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:57 pm

2004 Buick LeSabre 128,000 miles

2012 Ford F-150 XLT Pickup Truck

Purchased new November 18th, 2011 10,000 Miles (Both Vehicles Paid for in full)

by **GregLee** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:17 pm

2002 Dodge Neon (bought in 2004 for $6k), 78047 miles. Since we retired, we probably drive less than 500 miles/year.

by **peppers** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:34 pm

2006 Chevy HHR 61000
2008 Buick Lacrosse 16000

by **Steelersfan** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:32 pm

75,000 miles on a 1997 Camry, purchased new. 75,000 miles divided by 15 years equals 5,000 miles per year.

I use mass transit a lot and hate driving vacations, so few miles per year.

I'm sure I'll easily get 20 years out of it.

Then I'll probably trade it in just for the heck of it to get something new for a change.

by **BobSail** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:03 pm

2007 BMW 530i 99,000 miles

by **Reubin** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 1:10 am

309,000 miles on my 2003 Toyota Avalon. It still runs like a top. This is my third Toyota with over 300,000 miles.

by **jda** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:02 am

99 Subaru Legacy GT 160k (bought it new)

by **honghong322** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:32 am

Purchase my first new car while I was back in 2005 when I was 19. 2005 Scion tC. Still driving it today and it currently has ~ 127k miles on it. Only thing that has broken was a head light. Hoping it will last until 250k

by **orlandoman** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 7:59 am

2003 Hyundai Santa Fe 105,000 miles
2004 Infiniti G35 42,000 miles

by **norookie** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:17 am

Just seeing this poll, I have to visit more often, over 150k, and running like a Honda! :mrgreen:

by **letsgobobby** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:24 pm

'96 Toyota Camry with 208,000 miles, and now driving about 20,000 miles per year. I'll probably look for a new car in about 1-2 years.

How many miles are on your primary vehicle?

Who is online