Ever keep a car?

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Had a conversation yesterday with a couple of friends and neighbors about cars and how long you keep them. It occurred to me that I have never even considered getting rid of the 84 Civic wagon I purchased new. I've owned a lot of cars in my life and in my younger days I purchased cars, fixed them up, drove them around for a few months and sold them, on a regular basis. But something happened with this wagon. It's not special. It's not rare, valuable, fast or anything special except that it's a good basic car that always runs and has never been a problem. It has a lot of head room, hauls stuff well and get about 37 miles per gallon, year in and year out. It has no air bags or any safety devices, it weighs 2,020 pounds per the local truck scales and if I get hit I'm spam in a tin can. But it's still a good car. Has anyone every got themselves stuck on a daily driver and just kept it?
 
My parents run their cars into the ground. My dad had one of his Jeeps for 15 years. They usually aim to get 200k out of their vehicles. I've had mine 5 years and don't plan on getting rid of it. It is comfortable, paid for, reliable, easy to fix, cheap to own, and does everything I need it to. There is no reason to get rid of it.

Keeping cars in New England is a bit tougher with the road salt. I've seen 2 year old cars and pickups with rust bubbles already.
frown.gif
 
If my family situation hadn't changed, I probably would've kept the Neon on the road for a few more years. Good mileage, reliable, fun to thrash around for autocross, didn't need anything else at the time.
Now with kids, A/C, cargo space, and even power windows are handy to have. I suspect if we can keep the body on the Focus solid, it might be around our place for a decade or more though.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Has anyone every got themselves stuck on a daily driver and just kept it?

Yup... keeping my 530i for the foreseeable future, unless it starts requiring expensive repairs, at which point I'll reconsider. But my reasoning for keeping it is primarily that I don't want to dump money into a new car considering how little I drive. The new car would just be sitting in the garage most of the time and dropping in value like a rock.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Has anyone every got themselves stuck on a daily driver and just kept it?


It's not nearly the age of your Civic, but our 2008 CR-V is quickly becoming a not-selling-it car for us. Of all of the vehicles I've owned, this one is my favorite; it fits us perfect, it's fun to drive, it's easy to own, and it hauls everything I haul with ease. I'm doing the 90,000 mile PM on it this weekend; I hope to have it for another two 90,000 mile intervals.
 
I'm still driving a 1995 Ford Escort that I bought new.

And yes part of the reason why I still drive it is because nobody makes a fuel efficient 2 door hatchback so there is actually no equivalent replacement car. The only cars that come close don't get better gas mileage AND are smaller.
 
I rarely get the itch to get something new unless mechanical problems become frequent. My biggest problem here in Chicago is rust. My 87 Civic runs perfectly but the floor pan is rotted out so it has been parked for quite some time.

We recently had a conversation with some friends about how my wife and I have been driving the same 2000 Mazda 626 for 14 years while they have literally gone through 10 different vehicles.
 
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I have a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan, purchased new. It has 180k miles. It has a damage disclosure due to enough hail dents not making it worth fixing. It runs great and drives great. If I could trade it for an older pickup, i would. The book value on it is not much, but mechanically, i cant replace it with anything comparable.

Ought a used van for the wife (2009 Town & Country). With the Stow N Go stored, it now serves as my pickup truck.
 
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
My parents run their cars into the ground. My dad had one of his Jeeps for 15 years. They usually aim to get 200k out of their vehicles. I've had mine 5 years and don't plan on getting rid of it. It is comfortable, paid for, reliable, easy to fix, cheap to own, and does everything I need it to. There is no reason to get rid of it.

Keeping cars in New England is a bit tougher with the road salt. I've seen 2 year old cars and pickups with rust bubbles already.
frown.gif


Agreed.

Keeping vehicles in southwest is much easier especially in So Cal, usually we have less than 15-20 rainy days a year, some years we have less than 5-6 rainy days. There is almost no vehicles has any rusty body.
 
I would love to be in your situation, OneEyeJack! Never found the right one, or else got hit when I thought I would keep it indefinitely.
 
You're correct about weather making a difference. I live and drive in S. Cal. My wagon has never seen snow or freezing weather. It's always parked in a garage and often when I go somewhere I'll take the trouble to park in the shade. In 30 years of driving this car it's never been in an accident. To this day I still enjoy driving it. It's very comfortable with more headroom that a standard sedan. One think I like is that the car is anonymous, no one notices it and many people don't even know what brand of car it is and most people can't come within 10 years of estimating its age. I hope this car lasts long enough so that I can drive it to my own funeral.
 
I never plan on selling any car I purchase. I keep them till they no longer fit our families needs or are totaled in an accident and are beyond any possibility of reconditioning.
 
The rule of thumb is to get rid of a car when repair cost exceeds monthly payments or it becomes unreliable. Some cars take a l-o-n-g time to reach that point.
 
When I was a little younger I bought cars with the idea of keeping them forever. As I got older I realized that life is too short to drive the same car for 20 years....in other words I get bored. I now try to find slightly used cars where the seller takes the depreciation hit however I usually get something brand new for the wife.
Whoever buys my cars ends up with a very well maintained vehicle.

PS: In 1984 Honda was building cars that earned them their great reputation....at some point in the late 1990s Hondas suffered a decline in quality, IMO...
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Does it have A/C? If not...that's a deal-killer for me.


The A/C does work on my 1995 Escort yes. I did have to replace the leaking compressor.
 
I think ive only owned 3 cars I wanted to keep ( but couldn't for storage or monetary reasons) '67 chevelle SS 396, '81 S10 2.8L v6 MT and the first love - 65 Buick Electra 225 CONVERTIBLE WITH A 401 NAILHEAD (445 ON THE AIR CLEANER iIrc).
 
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