Where are all the 15+ year old cars?

[dcmetrocrab]

I'm starting to hit the should-I-replace-my-car mind game, so this may be the first of many car related threads.

I'm not talking about the buy new, drive it to the ground crowd, but the buy used Japanese import bunch. Seems like 10-12 years is the magical number for a lot of people to their cars. Rarely do I hear, "I'm driving a 15+ yo car". One obvious answer is that the cars either don't last or you hit the magic $5k repair bill, but from the way some people talk, cars nowadays are apparently built for 20 years, 300k+ miles.

5+ years seem to be the sweet spot to buy most used cars. (Hondas, Toyotas, you might as well buy new if it's only 1-3 years old with low mileage.) Are used car buyers dumping their cars after only driving them another 5-6 years?

[comom1]

Both of our vehicles are 15+ years old. We take care of them and they look great. One has well over 200k miles and the other has about 125k. There's no reason a car shouldn't last 20 years these days.

[gooddecisions]

At 13 years old, my car is almost there. It only has 100k miles on it. I got pulled over for my state inspection being 1 day late and the cop commented that I really needed to be on top of that because my car is not a late model. That sort of irritated me. I still think of my car as being new.

[stantonjane]

I have a 96 honda civic, so its 15. About 2 years ago it started having a lot of mechanical issues, including an overheating prob it took forever to resove. I would have replaced it at that time if I could have afforded it. It has been running well for me this year, but Ive lost the confidence I used to have in it. It i at over 170k miles and I d like to think we could get 200k out of it, but not if it involves another series of trips back to the shop and another couple thousand in repairs. It was a great car, no problems at all, for about 12years.

[cronewitch]

I have a 87 Ford Ranger that still runs but may have transmission issues. The brakes need something but they are guaranteed so should be free and the tail pipe needs replaced. I had to get it a new battery last year but it still goes just sounds like the transmission is bad. I don't use it much but have a rack with a boat on top so don't want to give it up.

My 97 Dodge Dakota is still great, take it on trips still without worry. We have snow now so if I go out tomorrow I will drive it since it is 4 wheel drive. It is only 14 but still a great truck.

My 78 Ford F150 is still going strong, I gave it to my nephew since I didn't need it. It is the truck everyone uses to move things, half the time my brother has it or my niece. Dad bought it new fully loaded but the family has had it and used it 33 years so far.

My dad had a 1925 Ford when I was growing up and it is still on the road I saw it a year or two ago. It always ran great but parts got too expensive in the 60s so he sold it. It was a convertible that converted from a flat bed truck to a pickup.

If you don't abuse or crash a car and keep it away from harsh weather and salt they can last decades especially trucks.

[Deleted]

I finally traded in my 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee in 2005 at age 13 with 195k mi. A pack rat had built a nest on the exhaust manifold and caught on fire about a year before. Although the insurance company had offered a rather generous 5k to total the car I passed because I was hoping to get a real off road vehicle with gas mileage in the 25/mi to the gal range. So I had it repaired for about the same cost. MISTAKE!

A year later there was another electrical problem that was going to cost $1,500 to repair. The guys at the shop had done their best to repair the car within the $5k budget the insurance company gave them but it was becoming clear that there was probably more damage than originally thought. Although I didn't commute, I would make a few trips between CA and AZ throughout the year and I did not want to get stranded in the middle of the desert or be without A/C in the summer when the temps would reach close to 120.

So I traded it in for a new 2005 Toyota 4 Runner. I get 21/mi to gal which wasn't my goal but when the guys at the repair shop saw it for it's first oil change they laughed and said "We won't be seeing you much anymore!".

[daisylu]

I have an 11yo Saturn with 160,000. The only repair it has needed was a new clutch = $650.

[steph08]

I drive a 1996 Volvo 850, so 15 years old. This will be my sixth year owning it. I got it with 75k miles and it now has 180k. These past few months, I have had to do some maintenance - change timing belt/water pump (it was overdue since it had never been replaced) and replace all rotors and brake pads- but I have also had to do other repairs like replacing the front flex lines (brakes) and the brake cylinder.

But the money I have spent hasn't equaled a year's worth of car payments so I am keeping it. Plus, as much as I say I want a new car, I love my car.

My mom's car is 11 years old (1998 Volvo S60) and has 310k.

[kimber45]

but the buy used Japanese import bunch.

These are being bought up by the kids to make "tuner cars", LOL. My DS is one of them

[973beachbum]

Where are all the 15+ year old cars?

In my driveway.

We have a 1994 Ford explorer and a 1997 Ford Tau res. Both with about 200K on them. We are looking to replace the Explorer when we see something that can serve the same function as it.

We also have a 1947 Dodge Deluxe but it is not a vehicle for us so much as it is DH's play toy.

[kimber45]

Quote: Where are all the 15+ year old cars?




In my driveway.


Read more: www.notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=finance&action=display&thread=3839#ixzz1Et7V3BXN

Same here 973. We own a 1988 GMC pickup (my daily driver), A 1992 Chevy PU (DH's daily driver) and our spare is a 1997 Chevy Blazer. The most miles on any of them is 119K (I think it's a tie between the Blazer and my pickup).

[973beachbum]

Kim I think DH is a little rougher on his trucks than you and your DH tough. Not only do they have more than 200K on them trust me they look every bit of their years!

Ironically only the 47 doesn't have many miles. I think it has like 30K on it. Besides being a pig on gas who really wants to drive a car with a 3 on the tree and has suicide doors?

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

I don't see that many old cars either. Where are they ? Are they trashed for scrap?

Are you guys comatose? A couple of years ago there was the Cash for Clunkers program that removed millions of old cars from the market.
Come on now, we are YM, we all should be with the program here....

[kimber45]

Kim I think DH is a little rougher on his trucks than you and your DH tough.

Read more: www.notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=finance&action=display&thread=3839#ixzz1EtBJQyjv

DH hates to go anywhere, he complains about the 7 miles to work everyday, LOL. His 92 has the least amount of miles of any of our vehicles, I foget the actual but its around 70K, we bought it a few years ago and it had less than 50K at that time.

Mechanically wise they are all sound, bodywise my 88 is falling apart, and the paint is peeling off the 92 (there were a few years in the late 80's early 90's that GM/Chevy had primer problems)

[Small Biz Owner]

I just picked up two of them. A Lincoln LSC and a BMW 850i, both look and drive like new. Both less than 70k miles. They are out there, and value priced if you shop carefully. The 850i V12 really sucks the gas however.

[phil5185]

I don't see that many old cars either. Where are they ? Are they trashed for scrap?Are you guys comatose? A couple of years ago there was the Cash for Clunkers program that removed millions of old cars from the market.

LOL - Obama tricked the US Public, ans it was pretty easy - promise to give them a couple thousand of their own tax dollars back and they rush to spend 10's of thousands on a new car that they didn't need.

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

LOL - Obama tricked the US Public, ans it was pretty easy - promise to give them a couple thousand of their own tax dollars back and they rush to spend 10's of thousands on a new car that they didn't need.

Phil, most of us pointed this out when the C4C was proposed and implemented. As all govt programs and schemes do, this ended up hurting the low income demographic by ridding the market of older autos, the same autos typically bought the lower income individuals.
The beat goes on.

[sapphire12]

They are out there. My 92 is long gone, but at 12.5 yrs, when I got rid of it, it had 243,800 miles. I firmly believe I could have driven it until 300K. There were routinely pics of people with their cars with high mileage and they were way younger than 15 years old. So, there isn't necessarily a correlation between age of a vehicle and number of miles driven.

My former neighbor still has her 92 Accord, but she rarely drives it.
I have a friend who still drives a 93 Integra; she doesn't have 200K miles on it yet.
My 07 highlander has about 129K and I intend to keep it until it gets 300K, which should be in about 9 years.

[Gardening Grandma]

"Where are all the 15+ year old cars?"

My son is driving two of them. A 1992 Toyota truck that we bought new and sold to him about 7 or 8 years ago. It now has over 200K miles on it and runs great. He also has a 1996 Honda Civic. Not sure about the mileage on that one, but it's up there.
We have an 11 y/o car with 140K miles on it. May replace it in a year or two (or three).....

[wodehouse]

My wife's 2004 Corolla has 16,500 miles on it.

[april47]

My 2003 Saturn Vue has 34,000 miles and I hope to drive it until I am too old to drive. I'm 63 now so I hope for it to last at least another 10 years.

[Clifford]

Where are all the 15+ year old cars?

Mexico.

Have any of you been down lately? Seriously, the major cities look like old episodes of Starsky and Hutch...without the Gran Torino. I told my coworkers that Mexico must be the secondary market for all of the old cars. The US should have sold the C4C trade-ins south of the border and re-couped some of the tax dollars.

[swamp]

OMG, don't you people drive anywhere? I put 25k miles per year on my car.

[cael]

I have a 12yr old Camry, 160k miles, which I plan to drive into the ground, hopefully at least another few years. Looks decent for its age too. I take good care of it & get oil changes when I should, so I'm hoping it will be around for a while! My old car was a 1996 Ford wagon, which I miss terribly, I had that car for 5 years until the engine head finally blew and they couldn't fix it a second time. Would love to get another wagon next time we need a car, but I don't like most of the newer wagons

[dragonfly7]

I think my dad is competing for the, "They're in my driveway" award. He is a rural mail carrier and must provide his own vehicle (he is reimbursed mileage), so he has his own personal fleet. Two 1997/1998 right-hand drive Jeeps, an older parts Jeep, and an even older Oldsmobile station wagon. And a farm truck.

[cael]

Swamp lol, I know what you mean! I don't put that much on my car, maybe 15-20 depending on the year, but I also drive my car at work (I do get mileage reimbursement) so that can add to my miles.

[honeybunny66]

"OMG, don't you people drive anywhere?"

I was thinking the same thing! Just driving back and forth to work is 300 miles per week. My car has more miles than a lot of others and it's a 2007.

[Sum Dum Gai]

When we traded in our Camry, which was right around 190k miles at 15 or so years old, the dealership said they ship cars like that straight to mexico when they take them in trade. The resale market in the US at that point isn't worth the hassle.

[misspt]

Feb 24, 2011 15:32:21 GMT -5 swamp said:

OMG, don't you people drive anywhere? I put 25k miles per year on my car.

Amen, swamp. I am sitting here thinking the exact same thing. My 2002 Honda Odyssey has 175,000 miles on it (as of this past Sunday). It runs great, so I am curious to see how long it will last us.

[mommax4]

Well, we have both old & new(er) at our house. DH can't seem to get rid of anything. LOL!
We have:
-1994 F350 with around 150K miles on it (DH's daily driver)
-1996 Lincoln Towncar with 171K miles on it, still runs fine, but starting to show its age, will be selling in the somewhat near future (after we get it back from family who're borrowing it)
-1996 Ford Mustang with <40K miles (date night car)
-2001 Chevy 2500 (fixing up to sell) has over 100K miles, but will have a brand new engine by the end of the week
-2001 Ford Excursion with 130K miles on it (family vehicle)
-2010 Toyota Camry with 43K miles on it (my daily driver)