How long on average are commuter/family cars lasting these days?

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2014+ vehicles, how long should we expect them to last before replacement?

I'm talking family/commuter/weekend vehicle use. Basically a family hauler.
 
Taken care of, you should see 150k of reliable miles. Expect a few repairs to get to 200k. Anything after that is gravy.
 
Are you talking miles or years?
150,000-200,000 miles pretty easily if maintained properly.
Problem we are going to run into if talking years (10+) is software issues and availability of electronic parts. They will not be supported in a way we are used to with vehicles with little/minimal electronics and mechanical parts.
 
I honestly think that direct injection issues with earlier models and maintenance practices associated with them will cause many to experience a shorter life. Retirement is often a function of how much depreciation has actually been realized, and if a first owner is willing to take a disproportionate loss to get rid of a vehicle that has required an expensive DI-specific service (ie: walnut shell blasting of a removed intake), such vehicles will find their way to their 'terminal owners' (ie: the kinds of people who buy $2000-$3000 cars) much sooner than ordinarily would be the case. They might get 2, maybe a 3rd expensive DI-specific service, but the 3rd/4th service may very well start to approach the 50% of the value of the vehicle.

GM V6-powered vehicles with the lower intake manifold leaking issues suffered similar accelerated depreciation, even though the problem was largely rectified by updated parts.

If you expect to keep a vehicle for a long time, I'd really, really not want to buy a more obscure model. Camrys, Accords, F150s, etc., might be boring and cookie cutter, but there's literally so many of them made that the aftermarket will support them basically indefinitely.
 
Miles are no issue here....salt, or the other hand....

Winters here shorten car lives....engines usually run forever.....
 
Originally Posted by tig1
I get 200-350K with mine the way I maintain them.



This is right in my opinion ^^^^^^^^^

I'd buy a car from tig1 happily.
 
Depends on how much it's driven. Will it take 30 years to get to 300k miles? A lot of electronics might give up by then. Or maybe not. But 10 years and 300k miles? Probably do-able.
 
Lots of diesel Jettas used as taxis in this area are between 300-400k miles.
The key is to rack up the miles before rust sends the chassis to the scrap man.
Underseal such as that from Bilt Hamber, Waxoyl and Schutz is the equal-first-place contributor to high mileage, along with regular maintenance.
 
Not exactly a car, but my 88 E-150 has been around since late 1987. It has zero rust and still runs quite nicely. It hasn't crossed the 100K mile mark yet, so odds are I'll be long gone before it sees 200K miles.
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I agree with 150,000 miles, and have a vehicle that has more than 200,000 miles. Beyond 150,000 miles it depends on whether you can handle owning an older vehicle, perhaps with parking lot dings or a bit of rust, and you don't get discouraged if it needs a water pump, alternator or transmission rebuild.
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My Mazdaspeed 3 DI turbo exploded and totaled the car at 3 years/40k miles; if only I had listened to the BITOG experts!!!

Actually, it was running fine when I traded it at 8.5 years and 158k miles, and UOAs backed up the fact that the motor was still in excellent condition. I only flipped it because I wanted another RWD track toy
 
Originally Posted by Vern_in_IL
2014+ vehicles, how long should we expect them to last before replacement?

I'm talking family/commuter/weekend vehicle use. Basically a family hauler.


I'd get bored of driving such a vehicle long before it had to be replaced.
 
Originally Posted by Vern_in_IL
2014+ vehicles, how long should we expect them to last before replacement?

I'm talking family/commuter/weekend vehicle use. Basically a family hauler.


Keep in mind, we are Bitoggers so we get a kick out of taking cars to 200,00 plus miles. Only 2 to 4 % of vehicles are still on the road at 200,000 miles depending on the source of the data.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Vern_in_IL
2014+ vehicles, how long should we expect them to last before replacement?

I'm talking family/commuter/weekend vehicle use. Basically a family hauler.


I'd get bored of driving such a vehicle long before it had to be replaced.


Same here- my Club Sport and Wrangler have both been in my garage for decades, but that's only because I still find them very entertaining.
 
I get rid of my cars because I get tired of dealing with corrosion issues, not because of the high miles. This is usually when they reach 20 years old.
 
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