Average vehicle age sets a record at 11.8 years old

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I've got a 17 year old vehicle and two 25 year old vehicles for an average of 22.33 years. All are parked outside drivers with everything current. They are rust free and there is nothing on them that can't be replaced, plus I like them, so why not?
 
12.5 years for my 4 vehicles (motorcycle ups the average being 25 years old, wife's Santa Fe kills the average at 1 year old).

I agree with above also, 200,000 miles is a new norm that most vehicles should pretty easily make with routine maintenance and maybe 1 or 2 "larger" repairs.
300,000 miles is not that unheard of anymore.

I occasionally think about replacing my truck with almost 200,000 miles, but then ask myself what can a newer truck do that mine can't.
The answer is nothing, so I keep what I have.
 
Cars last forever in the south. Lots of folks in Western New York where I'm from like to lease cheap Chevy's because cars rot out so fast up there. Most of the top volume Chevy dealers are up there, and I think that is a factor.
 
Originally Posted by caprice_2nv
Originally Posted by Wolf359
How about they're better made than in the past and they just last longer. No need to send the car to the crusher if it's still running.


Funny


Not funny.

My 2008 F150 has 194,000 miles.

I have replaced..................................................................... the alternator.

That's it!!!!

Nearly 200,000 miles and just the one alternator replacement. Oh, and one power window switch that was $11.

You could NEVER say that 20 years ago.
 
Originally Posted by fdcg27
Originally Posted by Wolf359
How about they're better made than in the past and they just last longer. No need to send the car to the crusher if it's still running.



^^This!
Cars of the past twenty five years or so are for the most part really trouble free and remarkably free of rust for the first couple of hundred thousand miles and 12+ years even here in the southern rust belt.
We've had cars that long with few if any really costly problems.
The occasional clutch and the occasional timing belt, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Yeah but what about all them computers? Bet they's big bucks.
Don't know since I've never had to replace a single one in anything going back to our '81 Vanagon, our first ride that had such a thing.


Not everyone is as lucky. Work in a shop for a while and you will see some very pricey repairs. ECMs seem to rarely fail but BCM failures are more common and can be upwards of $1000.
 
I kept a car 16 years once, not easy to do up in the North East. Today's cars are built better? Debatable, but there is no doubt the price has gone up and because of that maybe people are keeping them longer. I saw a lady put a transmission in a Hyundai with almost 300k miles on it lat year, I asked why, the answer I got was...beats a car payment. The car was reasonably solid, the replacement tranny wasn't that much, so I guess she was right. I guess it just depends on what you want.
 
Originally Posted by benjy
as vehicles are becoming even more way overpriced, especially 4WD pickups where preowned prices are nuts as well many can't afford or want a new ride. for me the unproven problematic technology is another reason + at least gently preowned can save thousands! the more you spend the more you loose $$$ ok if you got the bucks but many average people do NOT!!!



Exactly. The increase in average car price transactions far out paces the rate of inflation by an outrageous amount, add to that in my view since 2010 the amount of increased complexity and expense of the parts of modern vehicles makes them a BAD, very bad investment. Also wages in the USA have been flat or decreasing over the past 35 years or so.
 
Old tech cars are simpler and more reliable overall, only lacking the latest safety gizmos. And insurance is a lot cheaper. My BIL just added a carplay/nav/backup unit camera to his '07 Accord, making it the preferred vehicle for the teens. Electronics is all that matter these days.
 
A ten year old car that has been taken care of to any extent is still
Originally Posted by benjy
as vehicles are becoming even more way overpriced, especially 4WD pickups where preowned prices are nuts as well many can't afford or want a new ride. for me the unproven problematic technology is another reason + at least gently preowned can save thousands! the more you spend the more you loose $$$ ok if you got the bucks but many average people do NOT!!!

Apples to apples vehicles aren't much/any more than vehicles 30 years ago. You can buy a stripped work pickup pretty cheap. No one want those but instead compares King Ranch F350 Diesel Crew Cabs to their old regular cab Ford with vinyl flooring, hand crack windows, 180 HP, and bench sent.
 
11.4 currentlly, and 11.25 after I sell the IS250. Never thought I'd be statistically correct.
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
I remember when a 70K mile car was pretty much considered a clunker.

When I got it years ago my Chevy K10 was newer and with less miles than my current F150. It was already needing regular work done to it.
 
My average is 19 years old. Garage kept, no rust, mechanically excellent, even the motorhome. The MH has 92K which is higher than avg for a MH. The '94 Dodge with the Cummins has needed almost nothing for maintenance - front pads, shocks, kingpins - not bad for almost 200k
 
Originally Posted by hatt
A ten year old car that has been taken care of to any extent is still
Originally Posted by benjy
as vehicles are becoming even more way overpriced, especially 4WD pickups where preowned prices are nuts as well many can't afford or want a new ride. for me the unproven problematic technology is another reason + at least gently preowned can save thousands! the more you spend the more you loose $$$ ok if you got the bucks but many average people do NOT!!!

Apples to apples vehicles aren't much/any more than vehicles 30 years ago. You can buy a stripped work pickup pretty cheap. No one want those but instead compares King Ranch F350 Diesel Crew Cabs to their old regular cab Ford with vinyl flooring, hand crack windows, 180 HP, and bench sent.

I have to disagree there. Even stripped new full sized trucks are still quite expensive. Even the smaller ones are ridiculous. In 2002 I could still buy a base S10 for about $11k total.
 
Originally Posted by umungus1122
Originally Posted by hatt
A ten year old car that has been taken care of to any extent is still
Originally Posted by benjy
as vehicles are becoming even more way overpriced, especially 4WD pickups where preowned prices are nuts as well many can't afford or want a new ride. for me the unproven problematic technology is another reason + at least gently preowned can save thousands! the more you spend the more you loose $$$ ok if you got the bucks but many average people do NOT!!!

Apples to apples vehicles aren't much/any more than vehicles 30 years ago. You can buy a stripped work pickup pretty cheap. No one want those but instead compares King Ranch F350 Diesel Crew Cabs to their old regular cab Ford with vinyl flooring, hand crack windows, 180 HP, and bench sent.

I have to disagree there. Even stripped new full sized trucks are still quite expensive. Even the smaller ones are ridiculous. In 2002 I could still buy a base S10 for about $11k total.

A base 2002 baby cab S10 was about $14,000(about $20,000 in today's $$) sticker. A new extended cab Frontier starts at $19,000. Extended cab S10 would sticker at around $22,500 today.

Just not a huge difference in price.
 
Originally Posted by walterjay
I remember when a 70K mile car was pretty much considered a clunker.


My parents are 60 and don't remember such a time. Maybe back in the 50s?
 
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