How long do you drive a vehicle, on average, before replacing it?

[IUTBAM]

We pay cash for our vehicles, maintain them well, and drive them until they die, lol. Then, we buy a new car to replace the one that died (I don't feel comfortable buying used, as neither myself or my DH is mechanically inclined). My Nissan Altima is 7 years old and going strong. My DH's Nissan Frontier is almost 2 years old, and was a replacement for our Nissan van that died at the ripe old age of 11.

 

[tinkgirl1984]

I currently drive a 2008 Malibu, which I have 3 payments left on before it's paid off! It has 70,000 miles, and runs perfectly. I fully expect to be driving it another five years. At least. Longer would be great. My "old" car, is a 1997 Accord with 204,000 miles on it. It usually lives at my parents house, because I don't have room for it at my house. My mom drives it to work (about 10 miles) every day, and it runs just fine. I still drive it fairly often, and almost always drive it when the weather is bad. I'm very lucky to have some excellent mechanics in the family who take care of my maintenance for me, and a dad who taught me the importance of maintaining cars.

 

[letsgoreds]

We go at least 10 years and 100,000. After that we feel the itch.

On the flip side, I have a cousin who has done very well for himself. He gets a new suburban EVERY YEAR. He doesn't want anyone to know this (owns a nice business), so he gets the same color each year!

 

[tvguy]

We drive our vehicles until the cost of repair outweighs their worth. We buy used when we need more cars, older models for our teens with mid-range miles.

I am looking for the lowest cost per mile driven. Value of the car is not ever a consideration in any repair. Heck, the new set of tires I put on my 1987 back in December probably cost more ($920) than it's worth. Only collision or rust damage is something I would consider not doing...although with modern factory rust proofing, and after market companies like Ziebart offering lifetime warranties on rust, if you have a rusted car, you haven't kept it up.

I have heard that there are two ways to get the lowest cost for owning a car. Buy a new car and keeping it as close to forever as you can. Or buy a 2 year old used car, keep it 2 years.

 

[disykat]

10 years minimum for us too. We currently have a 1996 and a 2001 that are still going strong - and still look great too.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Normally buy a car that is a year or two old and keep it till it is 10 years old.

Except for the Dodge truck that we purchased new and needed 3 major repairs( including rear end and transmission) before it was 10 years old. GRRRRR.

 

[sweetdana]

Interesting responses! Lots of people driving cars for a long time. I wonder, in my case, is the car depreciating faster than the amount I am saving by not having a car payment. Lets say my kbb right now is $17000. Lets say I am saving $5000/yr by not having a car payment. Lets also say I am about to spend $1000 on maintenance, to include timing belt and water pump etc. so I am saving a net if $4000 this year by driving my older car vs having a $400/mth payment. But in another 12 mths will the car still be worth kbb of $13000 so I break even for the 12 mths? Who knows. So i just wonder if at some point it is beneficial to sell while the vehicle still has a decent amount of value. Not sure if I am explaining that right

No wondering, Used cars do not lose 4 k value on 1 yr. 1st day driving off the lot okay. Then aside from a lemon, keeping at least 10 yrs always makes better financial sense, then aelling after 5 and buying new. You will keep paying premium buying newer cars. Ever day you keep it the value goes down less and less per yr. meaning a 2003 or a 2004 say Ford fusion would be worth maybe 500$ difference. So keeping the 400$ car payment in the bank even buying breaks/ upkeep should still more often than not result in thousands of more $$ through 10 yrs on a car.

 

[DawnM]

We have a 1996 vehicle we are finally getting rid of. We have said for years we were done with it, but it kept right on running. It is having issues now and with new tires needed and engine work, we are looking at needing to pay more than the car is worth so we are getting rid of it.

Our other vehicles are a 2002 and a 2004. Both run very well and we have no plans to replace them.

We are making a "car payment" to a savings account to save for a future car purchase though.

Dawn

 

[sweetdana]

Time teaches lessons, but after realizing how expensive cars are.

I 1 probable will not buy new again. Last few cars/ vans were barely used. Bought 2010 t and c last yr for 8k. Instead of a 2013 for 33k. (Cash from prev owner) I should keep 8/12 yrs. Previous t and c one I gave to my nanny was a 2003. I think we paid 16k 1-2 yrs old, when new were about 25/27k DH loves new cars so he will prolly buy new again, but will keep. 10 / 12 yrs depending on repairs.

We can pay for a Disney trip or 5 with the $$ we do not spend on new cars/ keeping old cars and not paying interest. I don't care what I drive age/name ect, it is not my thing. As long as it doesn't break down a bunch, the cheaper/ longer the better ..

 

[Pembo]

We drive our vehicles until the cost of repair outweighs their worth. We buy used when we need more cars, older models for our teens with mid-range miles.

Same here. We recently bought a used car primarily for our ds. We wanted to find a low mileage, older car. The dealer told us that people are keeping their cars longer and taking better care of them than in years past. We found a 2008 PT Cruiser with 47K. Most used cars had well over 70K on them.

Our last van we limped into the dealer to trade it in with just over 102K miles.

We owned a Ford Escape for 4 months before it was totaled. That is the shortest I've ever owned a car. lol The Rav that replaced it I plan on keeping for a very long time, love my Rav.

 

[clarkshel]

If it was up to me, I would buy a new vehicle every 3 or 4 years. I love the new car smell. I also like trying out different vehicles. Right now we have a 2009 Honda Odyssey and a 2007 Jeep Compass. Both vehicles are paid off. Both vehicles have less than 60,000 km on them, so still quite low. The Jeep is my daily driver and lately I've been getting the new car itch. We have decided to pay off the mortgage first, before any major purchases. Makes sense, but I still would love a new vehicle.

Our vehicle we had before the Honda was a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. We where going to keep that vehicle, but the buyout of the lease was about $5000 more than what the van was worth. So we gave it back and leased our new Odyssey. A lot better choice mini van, IMO.

 

[rflorek]

Until it becomes more expensive than they are worth to repair. I drive a 2007 Jeep and my husband has a 2000 Lumina. Both have lots of years left on them We hope to pay cash for our next vehicle when we need to replace one. Our Jeep has only needed a few very minor repairs it has been a great car!!

Agreed. I drive my cars until they become more expensive to repair than they are worth.

 

[shortbun]

My dad showed me a great lesson waaaay back when I 1st got my driver's license.

Let's say cousins, Bob & Joe, both get new cars at age 20 & both quit driving at age 80. Bob buys a car every 10 years. Over a lifetime he buys 6 cars.

Joe gets a new car as soon as his previous one is paid off, every 4 years. (This was back in the day when a typical car payment was 4 yrs.)
Over a lifetime, this results in 14 cars bought.

Also let's just say each new car always costs 25,000 (which we know due to inflation is not true but just to keep it simple.)

Bob's 6 cars will cost him $150,000.
Joe's 14 cars will cost $350,000.


I can think of a LOT of better things to do with $200,000+.

We each got the same lesson at home. Dad paid cash and drove them for a long time, then they became Mom's car. When Dad died, Mom went out and bought herself a brand new car!! lol!!

 

[dcfromva]

When I was working, we had a planned replacement schedule between DH and I staggered every 4 years. This meant we each would get a new car every 8 years. Typically, the mileage would be 100-130k at the end of that time.
Now that I'm retired and I don't drive an hour each way to work, I have a different set of requirements. My car will be 8 years old this Aug, but it only has 57K miles on it. It is in good condition and I still like it, so I can't see any reason to replace it for a long while.
DH still works. His vehicle is about 5 years old and has about 77K miles. I hope we can keep driving it for another 4 years (at a minimum). DH is planning to retire no later than 4 years from now. I don't know if we will be driving it more or less after he retires. We'll see. It is a good brand.

 

[danygirl]

We currently have 98 f150 with about 150k miles, 2.002 wind star 175k. And. 98 Saturn with only130k. A new car is nice but keeping my money is way nicer

 

[hsmamato2]

We drive them until they become unreliable.

last minivan was a '95 minivan...17 years when we retired it.... (b/c we had to call AAA weekly for towing, it was just...old,no longer reliable)
currently have a new car and a 1996 subaru...2nd car is a junker, but still going! we mainly drive the new car now.....
I like NOT having payments,and driving our cars for as long as possible.....

 

[amylevan]

We have a 2004 Ford Escape with 175,000 miles, a 2008 Dodge 2500 with 100,000 miles and a new Ford Escort.

We bought the Ford Escort to commute in so that we would stop putting miles on DH's truck (and save gas money) because we can't afford to replace it but we need it to haul our camper.

I love new cars and am dying to replace my Escape, but I'm a SAHM now, and since we just bought the commuting car for DH, I'm stuck in the Escape til it dies. And the way its going, that may be another 10 years from now. (knocks on wood)

 

[emttink]

On average I keep cars 3-4 years no real reason why, just now it has worked out. But in 2010 I bought a 1999 Honda Accord with 50K miles on it. Since I drive about 90 miles a day I love this car now as it is paided off and gas is cheap vs my van! The 1999 Accord now has nearly 90K miles on it. we have always racked up miles fast so we tend to trade in sooner due to that reason.

 

[malibuconlee]

My last vehicle I had for almost 12 years. I would have kept it longer, but it was a 2 door and we were having a baby. We bought that car brand new.

My husband's last vehicle he bought almost new, the dealer had driven it for awhile. He had it for over 11 years, we replaced it because it had a mechanical issue and we were having trouble finding parts for it, which seemed crazy.

My current vehicle was 2 years old and had been a leased vehicle before we bought it. It's a 2006 that we bought in 2008. I plan on keeping it until i find it no longer reliable.

A car is a depreciating asset, I personally like having a car that is paid off. My husband asked not long about about getting me something else. I told him no thanks. I like my vehicle.

 

[bbak3030]

My car is 9 years old and has 150,000 miles on it. Getting new tires Friday. No plans to get another one until I have no choice. DH's last truck was only 8 years old, but we had to upgrade when second DD came along because we couldn't fit a second carseat in the back.
We try really hard to keep it at one car note at a time. That was we can get the vehicles we really want. I'd like a Tahoe next so we need to get his truck paid off first!

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