AngieW in Texas Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 We buy our cars new and generally keep them for about 15 years. Dh traded in his pickup after 15 years. It had over 160,000 miles on it, looked like it had been used for target practice at a golf course (major hail storm), and the radio and a/c had just died. My van is now 13yo. It has over 160,000 miles on it. Hopefully it will last 3 more years. We really don't want to have two car payments and that's when dh's car will be paid off. My next vehicle will be a lot smaller than a full-sized van. At that point we should only have one kid still living at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 At least 12 years. More than that is bonus. My ILs buy new cars every few years, just because. I don't understand their thinking, but each to their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 New new? (Just concentrating on my vehicles.) We have averaged 3 years. First new new car purchased for me after mine from before marriage started breaking down too often. 3 years later=new mini-van with doors on both sides because I had 3 in car seats. 3 years later after replacing a shocking number of parts, I asked the mechanic's advice. He said with all that had gone wrong so far, it was most likely about to have the transmission go soon. = new mini-van. 3 years later=totaled=new mini van. We are at the 3 year point and still going strong with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 We have bought 4 new vehicles over the last 17 years. The first one someone ran into the rear end of after we owned it for many years. One we sold to my FIL when it was about 9 years old and we were taking work on the other side of the country. We still have an 11 year old pick up and now a 3 year old car. Dh is just starting to research what vehicle we will want to replace the pickup. We have had 2 used cars in the past...one I wrecked after we had it only a few months (we moved to a new area and it was the biggest thing I had ever driven so I wasn't used to the area or the vehicle and made a mistake.) The other was a 30 year old convertible that we bought as a cheap toy and sold it when we moved across the country. We drive a lot and tend to keep vehicles for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I had my last van for 9 years and over 230K miles. (I still have the it and drive it when we need more room. It's a great vehicle that's never given us a problem.) We still have the car we got before the van. We've had it since 1994 and it has over 130K miles. My husband drives it around now and then and we will probably give it to my son when he gets his license in a couple years. We had to get the van because I was going to have 3 kids in car seats and they wouldn't all fit in the back of a Honda Accord. We just got a Honda Civic in February because I do a lot of driving and needed something with better gas mileage. I already have 6700 miles on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 2001 Honda Odyssey - bought new and currently closing in on 150K miles with very little trouble. Ours is 6 years old and we have put about 106,000 miles on it. My" new" car is about to turn 8. Dh's is 4. I intend to keep mine another 2 years (90;000 miles now). We hope his lasts 2 more (200,000 miles now), but realize it might not. One is ten years old now with 120k, We traded in the Town and Country and upgraded to a new 2006 Suburban, it only has 43,000 miles on it now and I still have 3 years left on the extended warranty, so it should be around a while. Dh traded in his pickup after 15 years. It had over 160,000 miles on it, looked like it had been used for target practice at a golf course (major hail storm), and the radio and a/c had just died. My van is now 13yo. It has over 160,000 miles on it. Hopefully it will last 3 more years. I'm fascinated by all of you folks who have so few miles on your older cars! I just traded in a MINI Cooper Clubman I bought new in 2009. I'd had it for about two and a half years, and it already had a little over 80,000 miles on it. We picked up the new VW Golf less than three weeks ago, and I've put almost 2,500 miles on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaTanya Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 I'm fascinated by all of you folks who have so few miles on your older cars! I just traded in a MINI Cooper Clubman I bought new in 2009. I'd had it for about two and a half years, and it already had a little over 80,000 miles on it. We picked up the new VW Golf less than three weeks ago, and I've put almost 2,500 miles on it. This really varies, doesn't it??? My '96 Windstar has 88,000 miles. When my babes were little, I went out as little as possible. We traveled to Colorado once, Texas once, and made a few trips to see my brother 4 hours away, but mostly stayed at home. We also live right in the middle of everything we do -- nothing takes us more than 15 minutes' travel. The grocery store (depending upon which one has the sale I want) is either 3 blocks or 2 miles. I don't really enjoy driving. I just like to have reliable transportation that gets me (and the family!) from Point A to Point B with as little cost/time/energy as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in Jax Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 We used to buy (used or new) and trade in every 3-4 years, but in the past decade, we stopped doing that, and just drive the vehicle until there's a safety, cost or logistical reason to buy something else. We bought a new Sienna van in 2003 when we adopted two kids and suddenly didn't fit into a sedan anymore. If our newest daughter hadn't been car sick all the time, we wouldn't have even considered a new car at the time, but b/c she got sick EVERY time we got into the Camry, we had some serious motivation to remedy that situation -- and fast! ;-) I plan to drive the van for at least 4 more years (until dd graduates college), if it keeps running as well as it has been so far. DH was driving a 1999 truck until a couple of years ago, when he bought a used car (off-lease) from a friend. The car was a really good deal, and it got much better mileage than the truck, so he bought that and we kept the truck, which is paid for. We use the truck to pull the small fishing boat we have, or to take trash to the dump, etc. DD drove the truck when she learned to drive, too. Recently, we bought DD a new compact car b/c she'll soon be driving 3 hours each way to college. We wanted to send her to school in something safe and fuel-efficient. (The truck is not fuel-efficient, and it has no side airbags or more modern safety features like anti-lock brakes.) We intend to buy her ONE car. After this one, she's on her own for getting vehicles, so she needs to take care of this one and drive it for as long as possible. B/c our cars (except dd's) are paid for, when I start to think about wanting a different vehicle, I think about the fact that we'd either have to save enough to buy it cash or take out a loan, and I realize that I don't want the car anymore. ;) Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad 4 Boys Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I'm fascinated by all of you folks who have so few miles on your older cars! I just traded in a MINI Cooper Clubman I bought new in 2009. I'd had it for about two and a half years, and it already had a little over 80,000 miles on it. We picked up the new VW Golf less than three weeks ago, and I've put almost 2,500 miles on it. Where and for what purpose are you driving that you rack up that many miles? Is it all personal/family or is some of it work/business? Do you have a long commute? Our 2001 Odyssey, in addition to normal family use, has been from St. Louis to Orlando and back twice along with trips to Greenville, SC and back at least twice if not three or four times. I thought the 15,000 miles per year that we've put on it was on the high end. I guess not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 We used to get a new car every two years. Well really, two new cars every two years. We did this from 1995 - 2007. From 1995 to 2005, my husband worked in the jungles of Indonesia and didn't want me breaking down while he was out of the USA so he insisted I have new cars. Here's what we are driving now: Purchased New 2010 Toyota Tundra 25,000 miles - Tax right off and paid cash 2005 Chevy Suburban 65,000 miles 2005 Toyota Tundra 70,000 miles 2004 Ford F350 Dually Dump 55,000 miles Purchased Used 1996 Jeep Wrangler - We use this around our ranch and to teach the kids how to drive stick shift. If I could do it all over again, I would NEVER make car payments, it's such a waste. I have everything paid off except for 6 more payments on the Suburban, which I plan on paying off when I get our taxes back. New cars are great if you pay cash and or have your own business and need the tax write off. Financially speaking, my husband and I would be so much better off if we had driven old paid for clunkers instead of making car payments all those years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Dh bought a new car right before we met, a 1990 Cavalier. We sold it for $100 in 2004 at 200,000+ miles. My van (Grand Caravan) was purchased in October 2002 (2002 model). It currently has almost 95,000 miles. I will drive that until it dies. We were never plagued with the transmission problems common to this model, thank goodness. Dh drives a 2004 Corolla at 120,000 miles. That car might go to one of the kids eventually. My dream car is a plug-in electric convertible :D I hope it will be available after we have solar installed on the roof in ~5 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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