How long do you keep your cars? 10 years for me

[Blueberry]

We tend to keep our cars 10-12 years and then replace them when we have too..

 

[HenDuck]

My first new car was a 1991 Chevy Beretta. It hauled! We gave it away to a close friend in 2002 and I think it had about 130,000 miles on it or more. That was my first experience taking care of a car and I did not do a very good job with it (neither did my DH for that matter). We were lucky it lived that long, but we did need to replace the engine because we failed to maintain it. (ouch!)

In 2002, I bought a Toyota Highlander (new). My DH still thinks this was a mistake because it was "so expensive". However, it is now 2 years old and we have had ZERO problems with it. DH will say how great it runs, etc. Yeah, that's why I bought a Toyota!

I take care of ALL the maintenance now. I faithfully take it in for servicing on time. To celebrate it's 2nd birthday (and to protect it from my DS who is getting into the "boys will be boys" stage), I ordered custom all weather mats for the back seat and custom seat covers for the whole car. You can guess who washes and polishes it too!

My plan is to keep this car until it is at least 10 years old (and in the process, teach my DH that I know a thing or two about cars!)

[Our other car is a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo which we bought used in 1998 with 15,000 miles on it. The AC breaks down every year and the transmission is going. I hope it lives until 2008 (wishful thinking), then I will happily drive it to the dump myself!]

 

[Hygiene99]

Well I Drive an 1989 Chevy pickup.. Almost mint
As I Had a Company vehicle for about 5 years So it sat most of the time... 140 k

Second Vehicle Leased. 2003 chevy trailBlazer
I like to Keep Jen in something dependable

peter

and im in the Process of buying a 1998 GMC pickup z71 with a snow plow.. From Family


But im keeping the 1989 Drive it til it dies..
in and out of Boston everyday people stay out of your way ...

 

[VintageKnight]

used so far, last one is 99 Ford Taurus DOHC bought dec 28 2000 at 25,000. Today were bumpin on 126,000 only 1 major problem with my lead foot last Nov, I imploded a vacume line.

looking to buy used good fuel milage car localy for 2k, probably a neon or somthin that size....95 or 96 will do if ya got one.=D

ebay is a lot cheaper, wife wouldnt let me get the 95 5speed red 4 door for 800 earliewr today =(.

DVK

 

[nluvwithdisney]

It was our goal to only have one car payment at a time. For almost 2 years it has been that way. My Olds Intrigue was bought new in 1998. It is approaching 100,000 miles. This is the first time I have paid off a car and hit 100000 miles. We have 8 months to go on the 2000 Regal also bought new. We figure that we will keep a car for 8 - 10 years. We also arrived at the conclusion that we will always have a car payment. At least one car should be under some type of warranty.

Even with 2 car payments and a mortgage, we arranged to go to Disney for vacation. As soon as the Regal is paid off, goodby Olds hello Nissan Murano. The Regal I'm sure we'll have for a long time, it is 4 1/2 years old hasn't made it to 33,000 yet.

Also, hello Disney in November 2005.

 

[TandyR]

looking to buy used good fuel milage car localy for 2k, probably a neon or somthin that size....95 or 96 will do if ya got one.=D

I have one and I am not parting with her. It is a great car and awesome pick up. My DH hates to ride with me because he isn't used to a car like that. I hope you find one...they are good cars.

 

[sheilafri]

We keep them until they have around 100,000 miles. We live in a small town and don't have any foreign car repairmen, so drive US branded cars. I don't trust them to last past that without too many things going wrong.

We used to buy program cars (usually rental car returns) which I think is a great idea. Now that we are more financially secure we do splurge and buy new (DH's idea, not mine). However, we always pay cash.

 

[CruisingCA2005]

I'm driving a 98 Dodge Grand Caravan with 65,000 that we bought new in Dec. 1997. I plan on driving it another 4 years (till it gets to be 10 years old), then we're going to buy a new car. We'll keep the van as an extra car because right now it's our only family car. DH drives a company van so on the weekend sometimes it becomes a challenge when I have to work but he needs the car or if we'd like to go to different places.

I'll drive the new car for 5 years then it'll become DS's car and I'll buy another one. We're planning on doing the same thing for DD. Mom gets to drive the car first & she'll get my hand-me-downs. They're "spoiled" kids but I refuse to give them brand new cars.

I bought my first car in cash when I was 18 years old. It was an 84 Volvo sedan that I paid $4500 for. I loved that car!

 

[jann1033]

not to brag but our little trustworthy 1996
Saturn has 170,000 miles and has needed roughly $1000 in repairs( including tires!) in it's entire life time and still looks like new in the snow belt where most things would be rusted out heaps by now....and the kicker is , hubby is not "mechanically inclined" so it has not had extreme maintanence either ... we do not work for gm btw

 

[swilshire]

It has been a traumatic year for this mom. Sent my oldest off to college. Also reluctantly let go of the 1986 Subaru GL I bought shortly after she was born. It had 239,000 miles on it and still ran like a dream. But it looked terrible and was starting to rust. It also had some minor damage from sheetrock flying off a truck and hitting it, that I only had partially repaired.

I had already decided not to spend any major money on it if anything came up. My mechanic called me with a 97 Outback that 141,000 miles on it and I traded with him. I was a bit hesitant to buy one with that many miles, but I felt like I could get my money's worth out of it. So far, it has been a terrific car.

We keep a relatively new van for family trips, but I am not a bit concerned about having the oldest car in the lot at work. Haven't had a car payment in several years. With four kids, I can find lots of other things to spend that money on.

Sheila

 

[tikilyn]

I bought a 2000 Honda civi in 2001 with 15000 miles on it Now it has over 100,000 miles on it. My dh had a 1999 Ford Explorere Sport with 80,500 miles on it. Well, Tuesday I caught him on the phone with the lein holder asking for a 10 payoff. I asked what he was doing? He wouldn't tell me. He just said get dress. I figured he found a new car for him and was going to buy it. Well, he took me straight to a Dodge dealer and told me to pick out my new(well new to me) mini van!! I was in shock, I couldn't believe it. So I picked out a Dark blue Dodge Caravan. It's almost a plain jane, but I don't care. It's a 2004 with 11,000 miles on it and we got it for 15988.00. I have been pricing them for a couple of weeks now and that was the best price I had found. Dh said we were going to buy one anyway(were driving to Disney in December) before december, why not now!!(I love my husband!) He said he would drive the Honda and I get to have the FAMILY CAR!!

Normally we don't keep our cars very long. But sense we just bought a house and are finally settling down. Were planning on keeping both of these cars until they die. The Honda will be paid off next year. I will take that car payment and add it to the Van payment to pay it off early. Then once both cars are paid off, My dh can go and buy him a truck or whatever he wants!!

 

[tigger2005]

1990 Honda Accord bought new, 265,000 miles. I drive it to work every day. I can afford any type of new car that I want, but it is such a waste of money. Within three years they are only worth less than 1/2 of what you pay for them. The key to making a car last for a long time is to not drive it hard. The newest car that I have is a 1997 Toyota Avalon, 145,000 miles. Two more cars with similar miles. The way I look at it is that it is transportation, and that is about it. I would rather spend the money on important things that do matter, like the kids, or Disney trips!!!