Keep your vehicles longer?

[NSBCraig]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

My van is dying booooooooo!

Pick up is almost paid off and it's not going anywhere.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

LT nailed it. When the time comes that I feel a vehicle is no longer reliable, or the repairs are not worth putting into the vehicle then it is time. I will then look for a late model, low mileage vehicle (usually an off-lease vehicle or factory demo, current to 2 years old) and again run it till it is time.

Leases do work for some people and are the way to go. For most they do not, but it is a good idea for some that will be rolling over vehicles every 1 - 4 years and would always be in a payment anyway. And those that only buy used need someone to buy new, or there will be too few used vehicles on the market, and then supply and demand kicks in and it becomes cheaper to buy a new car than a used car.

Just hard to make blanket statements. One size doesn't fit all. However, for me, I will keep a vehicle for a long time. How long depends on the condition of the vehicle and the amount of repairs needed for the vehicle to continue to be dependable.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

leases aren't always bad, it's just complicated to compare. Much too complicated to say they're always a waste of money- they aren't. They just aren't right for me.

I generally buy 2ish years old if I can after the majority of the depreciation hits, I can buy a much nicer car than I can for the same $ new. The wife however wants to buy new so she does. I have 140k on my daily driver and my last 2 cherokees I sold at nearly 200k but I'm getting to the point I just don't want to work on cars anymore. I used to commute about 150 miles a day but I've cut that back.

 

[raymondpickens]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

Not long at all actually, we buy all new because used ones usually will not hold up in the oil fields of south texas. Its pretty normal to put as many miles in one year as most of you guys say took you 10+. And the first time a truck leaves me on the side of hwy 16 or 59 when its 115 in the summer, its a goner. We usually have a new one ordered by the time its due for the first set of replacement tires. You guys dont want any of my old trucks haha. It may be pretty still but its rode hard and put up wet.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

I ran my 1979 Olds 25 years and 347,000 miles, my wife called it a piece of crap, hurt my feelings and I sold it for $800....it was still fine mechanically, but really looked rough!....Got me a 1996 Roadmaster now, probably last me the rest of my life....so I like old cars!

 

[beezee28]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

Bought my truck used with 24k on it, was a 1998 model and still have it with 150k now. Did some of the repair myself and will used it until the repair cost outweight the cost of the truck. Then that is the time to get a new vehicle, just like foodfisher said. Sometime it is call 'the drawn of the card' and you got yourself a good truck that don't give you any problem.

 

[mphy98]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

I worked at a new car (small town) dealer for years(30) and I never buy new unless there is a super deal to employees and I need one. We had ford and Chrysler. If you have a
Chrysler Jeep Dodge with less than 48000 miles on it and you bout it new you can buy a bumper to bumper factory warranty for about 2500.00. if you bought it used and does not have a 5/100 power train with it you can still get it for about 3200.00. IF you keep your cars to 200k or more this is well worth it in my opinion. It does everything the factory 3/36 did forever. If you need more info pm me. Not selling these but can assist in not getting ripped off on them because that is about cost on them. retail from Chrysler is about 4k if I remember right. also must be under 4 years old from in service date.

 

[98Shabah]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

My wife and I are keeping our vehicles longer than we have in the past. The cost of everything keeps climbing, salaries aren't going up, and rust protection & paint are far better than in the past... Cars stay looking nice a LOT longer if you take care of them. I like to tinker and fix things so as long as they look nice I will keep them running even if it means a rebuilt engine or transmission.

 

[bajaunderground]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

I was a new every 2 (used anyway) vehicle person...I had a 2000 Wrangler that met almost every need I had (kept it 4 years) had a 2002 Land Rover Discovery II (POS) Great driving car, had LOTS of small issues though, which when the warranty was out it got expensive to fix. Got a Subaru Outback limited for a year or so (not manly enough, great gas mileage, which is why I bought it). In April of 2007 I purchased a new off the lot 2007 Toyota Tacoma SR5 Double-cab. I love this truck, No real issues @ 96K miles, tows great, gets decent gas mileage and is relatively peppy for a V6. I will keep til it is 10years, regardless of mileage. Wife has a 1999 4runner with 160K on the odometer and it has been paid for for just over 5 years...also runs excellent and tows the boat very well. She's ready for a used Sequoia 8 passenger vehicle...next year!

 

[rockyrude]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

I think the real issue is that the bodies have gotten better. I've had several cars in the past that went past 110k but had to dump 'em because the body was going away faster than the drive train.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

driving a 95 F-150 now. 10 years ago a 17 year old car was crazy old. Now its more common to see.
The never cars are just made better i think.
I'm just gonna drive the thing till the wheels fall off, then walk on over to a car dealer.
lol

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

We put 30k a year on our main commuting car. By the time they're paid off, they are definitely entering into the "repairs needed" time frame. So it doesn't benefit us much to keep them. Last two cars have been new because we've had some terrible luck with used. It is nice to not have to do ANYTHING other than real general maintenance for up to 100k miles. A car being in the shop for a day is a pain for our family. Current one is a 2012 Ford Fusion which I absolutely love. Admittedly, we pretty much keep them until we aren't upside down on them and trade 'em in. For the second vehicle, we go used.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

Someone has to take the depreciation hit!

Depreciation is very over stated. The difference between a good low milege car and a new car is minimal if you compare apples to apples.

When I bought the Accord LX-E last year, the difference between a new and used one was ~ 15%. Needless to say I absorbed the $3,500 "depreciation" hit in exchange for 2 years of warrenty coverage and 35K less miles. I also picked up free oil changes and car washes for as long as I owned the car.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

Depreciation is very over stated.

Agree. Depends on the vehicle. In the last few years there has been a shortage of good used cars hence the used market was tighter. No longer true now and depreciation is closer to where it has typically been.

My brother runs a car auction in So Cal my info comes from him.

 

[gtochris]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

I picked up a 2002 Civic 5 Speed in 2008 with 130K to use as a Daily, paid $1,200 and so far it has only needed tires and an altinater. It currently has 170K on her and going strong, I guess I'll determine if doing another timing belt is worth it around 190K or sell it... The MPG is GREAT! 35 normal, up to 42 on a trip!

Overall, myself and my family are keeping our cars longer, for the longest time EVERYTHING we had we traded in before 100K, now, My GTO with 67K and the Tahoe 70K) are the only sub 100K cars we have!

 

[Philip_G]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

my real conundrum right now is I need a pickup to tow the boat and maybe a camper or something but I don't want a pickup, can't drive it to work daily (gas cost) nor do I really want it other than to get my toys where they need to go so I don't really want to spend a bunch of $ on one either, but they're sure spendy used.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

Our newest vehicle is the wife's 2001 Olds Aurora. My truck is a 1999 Ram.
I take good care of our vehicles so they last a long time.

I may replace the truck to get more towing capacity, but I will buy used, with cash.
I will never buy new again and I will never finance another vehicle.

 

[Smuggler's Blues]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

I have an 03 Explorer and I have to say I love it. I will probably be keeping it for a lot longer. I has somewhere around 130,000 and still runs and drives great. My other half has a Ranger that unfortunately is in severe need of replacement lol. As far as being able to fix the vehicles as they get older, is anyone else concerned there will be a lack of used parts due to the cash for clunkers.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

I have an 03 Explorer and I have to say I love it. I will probably be keeping it for a lot longer. I has somewhere around 130,000 and still runs and drives great. My other half has a Ranger that unfortunately is in severe need of replacement lol. As far as being able to fix the vehicles as they get older, is anyone else concerned there will be a lack of used parts due to the cash for clunkers.

Not really concerned for that reason.
The Olds just came out of the paint shop. (Vandalism)
It was tough finding some parts for a discontinued make and model.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: Keep your vehicles longer?

is anyone else concerned there will be a lack of used parts due to the cash for clunkers.

Nah, not really. The cars that got turned in had millions and millions of them out there anyway.