how long you typically keep your car

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

M1Accord

Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
1,863
Location
Lost
I typically keep it until I no longer have a mean to fix it. By that time, it is probably best I buy a new one as I definitely not interested in it anymore.

My driving experience has been short and only purchased 2 cars thus far for personal use. A new car out of college and a very used car for commuting.

I plan to keep both until they won't run anymore and I can't fix them. That would a minimum of 15 years for the Accord and 10 for the Corolla.

Any leaser or flipper, aka Jones chasers, here on BITOG.
 
16+ yrs typical, until it's deemed unsafe to operate (body rot, primer peeling, etc.)

Q.

(*I'm planning on running my fit to the ground, that should give me 20yrs?!? I guess when it hits 16 yr mark, I may have to partially rebuild the ECU boxes to ensure consistent running*)
 
I plan on keeping my car until it rusts beyond my control. I love my car.
thumbsup2.gif
 
I used to go about 200k miles and 10 years.

Now at age 65 with 3 low mileage vehicles, there is a good chance I would never buy another new car if I kept that up. I don't know how long it will be before I trade in my present cars, but it will be a lot less than 10 years or 200k miles.
 
I purchase new vehicles and keep them until they become too rusty or expensive to operate. Usually 10+ years. I still have my 1996 Contour, bought in December 1995. It looks great and runs great. Though I have recently spent more on maintenance than the car's blue book value. But it's still cheaper to keep than buying a new car. Besides, I like the car and it's fun to drive. It's my very poor man's BMW
grin2.gif
.
 
It depends. Some have been traded early, others have been kept a very long time.

Until recently (say the last 5 years or so) they would be dumped around 100-150K. Most cars I get used, and I drive a lot of miles, so time is not as much a factor as mileage.

Right now two of our three cars are each within 20K of 200K miles. One over, and the other about the same amount under.

The third just turned 70K this weekend.

None are newer than 2002.

The 218K Geo Prizm will probably be driven another year by me, meaning I've used it for 6 years, and will have about 230K when it gets passed to a new teen driver.

Then, I may get oilbabe's 2002 Camry, which will be over 200K as well (at 182K today) and we'll look for a Corolla or similar for her.

In another 18 months, we'll have another teen driver, and the Camry will probably go to her, and another used ride for either me or oilbabe.

My MIL's Nissan Maxima is approaching 100K miles and we are hinting that we would be willing to buy it and use it another 100K miles
wink.gif
It's a pretty sweet ride.
 
At age 17, I bought my first vehicle a new 94 ford ranger. got totalled in 1997 at 77k miles. the only problem with the truck I ever had was a trans leak. Then I bought a 1987 toyota corolla that I should have never bought. it was abused. I drove it until 2000 and junked from headgasket failure, power steering failure, carburetor failure, cracked windshield, and needed new muffler at 183k miles. Then bought a 1992 mitsubishi mirage in 2000, I drove that car until 2007 when I sold it when I bought my brand new 2006 Pontiac vibe. The 1996 Pontiac sunfire was my then girlfriend's car now wife's car, owned since new. After marriage, I assumed this car. I'm driving both these cars until 250k or junkyard whichever comes first.
 
I usually buy something with an intention to keep it for a while (10 years if it's new, 6 years if it's 4 years old), but so far it has not worked that way for one reason or another.

The longest I held onto a car was 5 years (Stanza and A4). The shortest was 1 year - and that was a brand new Accord. I took a big hit selling it just after a year, but I was young and just couldn't stand making payments on a car that I was unhappy with.

I sold the A4 after 5 years because I was moving back to the US and shipping it across the ocean just didn't make financial sense, especially that I did not know how long I'd be staying here.

Now I've had the 530i for almost 2 years and not planning to sell it anytime soon, but you never know - life likes to throw curveballs at me.
 
Usually until rust becomes a huge issue. I got rid of a 10yr old car once becuase the guy at the body shop said the crumple zone had moved into the drivers seat. I more recently got rid of a 14 yr old car due to multiple issues but rust was the biggest. The last time I rotated the tires the jack stands pushed through the body where I had been placing the jack stands for the last 13 years.

I just bought my wagon less than 2 years ago and it was 10 years old then but it came from the south so I should get many more years out of it before it rots away. My Grand Prix I bought new and is still in great shape. My goal for this car is 16 years and 260,000 miles plus.
 
At least 10 years, but living in California it's possible to hold on much longer (body rust not an issue). I'm threatening my ten year old that she'll learn how to drive in the car we took her home from the hospital in
grin2.gif
 
I've had, I calculate, 11 cars in 32 years of driving. Some new, but most "gently" used.

So I rarely keep a car, on average, more than 3 years. Actually it's worse than that, as my first car, the Ford Maverick, and the Mercedes 420SEL were with me for 5 years each, and the '84 Escort for almost 7, leaving 8 cars in 15 years.

I guess I get bored driving the same car for too long; you could call me a serial car buyer!
 
Novodays I started to like opaque, brown, station BMWs... but this is not enough justification. If I succeed in cleaning the 24 years of carbon build up from the engine and again get that "tsk tsk tsk tsk" rhytmic idle I may forget the braun wagen which is a chore to find itself.
 
Last edited:
Current ages of vehicles I service
1992 (195,000) owned since new
1996 (146,000) owned since 1998
1997 (2) 153,000 and 33,000) owned both since 2000
2000 (65,000) owned since 2004

I guess until they are no longer feasible to repair!
 
vehicle 1: been in the immediate family since 1972. Been in my grubby hands since the late 80's.
vehicle 2: bought it when it was 8 years old, its 25 years old now. My daily driver.
vehicle 3: bought it when it was 10 years old, its 19 years old. It is known as 'the "new" car'. =-)

Alex.
 
10 years or so. Things kind of aligned themselves so that when one is 10 yrs old, the other is 5. New car becomes the "family trip car". I've got about 12 more years before the oldest starts driving so there's no telling how long we'll keep them then.
 
Clarification:

the accord is already 6 yo and the corolla is 17. i plan on keeping them for 15 and 10 years more, respectively.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
How do you like the driving aids in today's cars?
6 7 8
Replies
141
Views
3K
supton
M
Do You Ever Keep Up With Your Old Car?
2 3
Replies
51
Views
3K
Graham Piccinini
miden851
Your Carwash Place; how much?
2 3
Replies
56
Views
3K
GSCJR
R
Pick one car if you had to made it last the rest of your life.
6 7 8
Replies
150
Views
7K
Nyati
G
Accord totaled, need a 'new' car
2 3 4
Replies
71
Views
2K
Nukeman7
Back
Top