How may people keep a car for a long time...

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Who here has purchased a new car and kept it for a long time as a daily driver?

I'll start the response with my 84 Honda Civic wagon purchased new for cash and used contentiously as a daily driver for 30 years and now has 430K+ miles on the clock. I understand that this can not happen in the rust belt but there has to be other members that keep cars for a long time.

The car has been completely reliable and I have no plans to every sell it or stop using it every day. Tell me about your long term daily driver.
 
I don't keep them long and until recently as I put a some miles on most of them.

I have had the Trans Am since 2000.

I put 270,000 on an S-10 Blazer I had this 10 years.
I put 280,000 on an 01 GTP and 98 Bonneville. I had each of these about 6 years.

The Civic does not surprise me. I find it takes a bit more power to break a car...
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Bought my '84 Caprice new Dec. 24, 1984. Now at 252K on original power train. Finally started sitting on the upholstery uncovered in 1997. Lived in FL, MS, WA, and finally rust free ID since 1997. Wasn't my daily driver for 5 years in WA, but has been the rest of the time.
 
We keep our cars indefinitely. At least until rust, damage, etc take them out.

The best we do seems to be 250k-ish miles, before one of those things happens.
 
1988 Aries,bought Nov 2009 on the road nearly every day since.$200 purchase,needed a head gasket.Almost every part except one caliper was OEM original.Its been a great car year round,drives by newer/larger/more powerful vehicles that spin out on slippery winter roads.In other words....I'm not ever getting rid of it.You cannot buy such durability,dependability,and lack of complex(expensive)systems anymore. While the GM J cars,Chevettes,X Cars...etc disappear,I will keep the spirit and the era of the K Car alive as long as I can,in this area anyway.
 
What is a long time?

I don't have a long track record. But I would guess ten years. Wife did sixish on her first car, she got that in high school and drove to college, and got a Civic. Which she drove for 10yr/173k. I decided it needed to be replaced, I had fears about rusty brake lines, and wanted something with abs and side airbags for her and the kids.

I did only 4.5/116k on my first new car, then did 10yr/304k on my current driver. I'd like to get out of it, but I'd still aim for 10yr/250k for it's replacement. I think that is a good lifespan. Sure, I could run longer, but at what level of frustration?
 
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2000 Ford Taurus purchased new 11/4/2000
Replaced on 12/1/2012 after 275K with the 2012 in my signature.
 
My '01 VillaQuest was bought as a leftover Mother's Day gift for my mother for Mother's Day '02.

It then spent the following ~11 years and 48k miles doing things parental owned minivans do.

It got laid up mid 13~ due to some drivability problems and my mother's temporary lack of driving.

My plan is to bring it back a fighting force this summer, with a trio of service manuals, a appropriate diagnostic software, and hopefully the cash in hand to buy parts.

...its less rusty then my '06 Taurus, which both spent there lives NYC street parked, and not waxed/rustproofed
People of Avon Lake, OH know how to plan for rust
....people of Atlanta, I'm disappoint.
 
I Just purchased a New 2014 Ram 2500 Hemi 4x4. I plan on keeping this truck 20 years minimum. Since I put about 5-6K on my trucks a year its completely doable. My 2011 Crown Vic I purchased two years ago with 37K on the clock. I plan on running it until the wheels fall off as its my daily driver.
 
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
1988 Aries,bought Nov 2009 on the road nearly every day since.$200 purchase,needed a head gasket.Almost every part except one caliper was OEM original.Its been a great car year round,drives by newer/larger/more powerful vehicles that spin out on slippery winter roads.In other words....I'm not ever getting rid of it.You cannot buy such durability,dependability,and lack of complex(expensive)systems anymore. While the GM J cars,Chevettes,X Cars...etc disappear,I will keep the spirit and the era of the K Car alive as long as I can,in this area anyway.
I've considered an early TBI 2.2/2.5 K car as a DD before-before my brother bought his low mileage '87 Tercel, he had an '88 2.2 TBI 5 speed Horizon America-I was surprised he sold it, I would have driven it until the body fell off, although the lack of a driver side airbag would have made me nervous-there's a lot of BIG hoopty SUVs driving (& crashing) in these parts!
 
we've had the same '78 Ford LTD since 1999 and only had minimal problems. My father had the same car all his life- a 1941 Studebaker and I own a '62 Buick that my grandfather bought new. All have held up well.
 
I got a 95 saturn SW1 for $800 in 2003 and drove it until Labor Day 2014 when it stopped going into 1st gear. The synchro was tired for years, so I double clutched etc but it got so bad that even turning the engine off wouldn't let it go into gear.

It would go, with a crunch, if you went for it while slowing to a stop, at 2 mph.

Enough, I said, and I parked it by the highway with "$500" painted on the windscreen in washable paint and it sold in 2 hours.

I rebuilt the suspension and engine, and got 99k miles out of it, from 142k to 241.
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The AC still worked, never added freon. Stuff like window regulators were conking out so I didn't feel it owed me anything.
 
Just got rid of my 80 Toyota 4X4 truck I bought 3/80.Still have my FJ40 bought 9/78.
My newer stuff is a jeep Rubicon bought 5/2003 and the wife has a 2012 Kia
I will keep my relics
 
What is a long time?

Just sold a fleet truck with 500k miles. And my old 05 Silverado LT was just sold.

We usually keep our cars at least ten years or more, it all depends on my gut feeling about them. Otherwise they are sold sooner...
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Who here has purchased a new car and kept it for a long time as a daily driver?

I'll start the response with my 84 Honda Civic wagon purchased new for cash and used contentiously as a daily driver for 30 years and now has 430K+ miles on the clock. I understand that this can not happen in the rust belt but there has to be other members that keep cars for a long time.

The car has been completely reliable and I have no plans to every sell it or stop using it every day. Tell me about your long term daily driver.


What parts have you replaced, and where were you when said parts broke?
 
Longest I've owned a vehicle was the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee I had from '08 to '13, from 18k to 143k miles. Would still have it if the suspension hadn't been twisted when I got rear ended.
 
I have a 1999 Honda Accord I bought new...it now has 282,000 miles on her. I don't use it as my daily driver anymore, but I bet I could get at least a couple more years out of it with little trouble. It has the original engine and transmission....actually most of the car is original. I've had to replace the normal wear items...brakes, struts, ball joints, tie rods, but it has the original bearings, rack, alternator, and starter in it. I live in New England, so it is starting to get a little rusty underneath, but it still drives great.

Even though it's not my daily driver anymore I have no plans to sell it...I just can't part with it. Right now the only thing I use it for is snow days around here and I use it to transport my mountain bike to various places over the summer.
 
Our Vibe will be 13 yrs old in April - we've had it since it's had 7k miles in 2002 , plan to get at least another 10 years out of it .
The accord we purchased from the original owner in 2012 with 134k miles on it - went all the way to Atlanta ,GA to pick it up - if all goes as planned , I hope to at least make 300k - it's my daily driver.
 
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