How long do you keep your vehicles?

[Bret Maverick]

Now that's some low miles.

Yeah, don't drive much since I retired.

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[Sevesteen]

I've owned cars since 1982. Until my new 2018, the most I'd spent on a car was $2600, drove that one for 7 years. The tentative plan now is to replace one of our two cars every 5 years or so depending on reliability and how much better the latest vehicles are.

 

[huunvubu]

So, what do you do, keep it forever, or sell it young?

"Cradle to Grave" on New Vehicle Purchases.

I had a terrible experience with a Olds Calais that I bought new in 1985. Only kept it for 2.5 years and in that time it was in the shop twice for replacement transmissions, bad electrical system that burnt out every light on the car and when I first got it it blew the main 50 amp fuse whenever I turned left then right. Luckily I had purchased extended coverage but what a lemon.

With that experience I wanted to avoid american cars and in 1987 purchased a Mazda 626 which I kept for 11 years and 145,000 miles. It was still working great when I again purchased american.

In 1998 I purchased a Ford Ranger XLT Super Cab that I kept for 16 years. This was my first truck and I loved it. The reason for giving up the Mazda for the Ranger was that I used the Ford Branded Mastercard and earned $700 in rebates annually and had earned $2836 in total rebates on it that I had to use on a new Ford Truck/Car or lose those rebates. I also had an additional rebates of $1000 and $500 so I had a total of $4336 in rebates.

I ordered the Ford Ranger XLT with the Preferred Equipment PKG 867A, 4.0L V6 Engine, 5-SPD Automatic O/D Trans, P225 Steel OWL Tires, Flip Pivoting Quarter Windows, Full Face Chrome Wheels and BodySide Protection Moldings. Total MSRP on the Window Sticker was $20,270. I negotiated a price of only $110 over invoice which was $18,335

The only dealer option I picked up was a full drop-in bedliner for $200.

Total paid in cash was $15,066.70 for everything out the door. There was no trade-in with this purchase.

I loved the Ranger but it was experiencing issues late in life which caused my MPG to drop to around 12 MPG overall. This Ranger was only rated as 16 MPG for City and 21 MPG on the Highway. With gas prices over $3 a gallon I decided to purchase a new fuel efficient car. When traded in it only had 75,000 miles on it.

I traded in the Ranger for a new Honda Fit EX. The Fit is now 7 years old and I will be trading it in or selling it outright when my new Ford Maverick XLT Hybrid gets built and delivered.

I am only keeping the Fit for seven years because I miss my truck and the Ford Maverick XLT Hybrid will get even better city MPG than the Fit. Current milage is 42,350 on the Fit.

With the current used car shortages I have been offered a $12,500 cash offer from a Honda Dealership.

 

[medgar]

I dont go above a $300/month car payment on a 5 year loan for a car

Once the repair bill/time in shop/convenience is greater than $300/month will look for another auto

Our Hondas and Subarus have made it 12-14 years of our ownership but they both had 3 years already on them

Im hoping a Ford Maverick makes it that long but depending when other certain manufacturers enter compact truck market I will put a for sale sign on it early. Fingers crossed for a Toyota on Rav4 platform or Subaru Baja on the Outback platform. If rumors are true Subaru should be soon.

 

[Big Kahuna]

14-15 years if I buy new.

Been about 4-7 years on used cars that are already 3-4 years old so maybe 7-10 years when I buy are used car.

Generally it's not so much years but miles - when we hit 220,000 is usually when we start looking unless of course a car has problems which requires you to look sooner.

 

[ToyotaTurncoat]

Thanks for all of your replies! As expected, they cover the full spectrum. Interesting reading everyone's reasons.

I'll be 40 about two weeks, and have had many cars in my life. Some were junkers and were just temporary cars to get me through a period of time. Most good vehicles I've had I had full intention of keeping for as long as they ran, but things tend to happen. I fell asleep driving my first Tacoma and crashed it into a telephone pole. I rolled my Isuzu Trooper. My 2nd Tacoma's frame rusted away to nothing (only 136000, but not eligible for a frame replacement). If it weren't for the Maverick, I would probably keep my current Tacoma for a long, long time (only has 136000 on it now...which is funny now that I think about it, maybe that's my personal limit for Tacomas). The fuel efficiency is just too poor for the long road trips I do.

The Maverick will be the first brand new vehicle I've ever purchased. I'm pretty excited to see that odometer with such a low reading. And to clarify, when I say I plan on keeping a vehicle for 8-10 years from now on, it will still be about 200000 miles, as I've put 25000 miles/year on my Tacoma the last three years (which is coincidentally when I got divorced. Freed up a little more time for spontaneous mountain bike road trips).

And who knows, maybe the fuel efficiency of the Maverick will free me up even further for more road trips...

 

[r100gs91]

My longest was 2 Toyota X-tra Cabs '91 and a '08, kept both about 10 years each. The shortest was a 1985 Ford Tempo Sport, awesome looks but a horribly made car. Also only kept a '05 Honda Accord for 3 years it just wasn't well made, a rolling trash can. My 2018 F-150 has been a good reliable vehicle, just too frackkin big.

 

[Maven]

I usually drive my cars till the wheels fall off. Still using my 2005 Infiniti FX35 @285K miles so 16ish years.

 

[GApeach]

i drive them until I can’t trust them anymore.
First car 11 years
Second car 19 years
current car is 23 years old (overlaps time with 2nd car) and I still love it…keeping it even after I get my Mav

 

[staryoshi]

I've had 3 vehicles in 18 years on the road. Current Forester (my first and only new car, built to order from Japan) just turned 8 and the upgrade itch has finally set in.

 

[Eagle11]

IN the last 25 years I keep ar for 3 years, I lease, I do have some cars in my collection, but my daily driver is leased.

 

[olie64]

This will be my first new car.. I have always had junkers or cheapos for my cars. I try to have a better car for my wife. We are now finally in a place to have two nicer car. We just got here a newer used SUV hope to have that for years and this maverick I hope to have as long as it runs. my daily round trip to work its about 4 miles.

 

[UberGadgetFreak]

Shortest time I've had a vehicle: 9 months.
Longest time I've had a vehicle: 14 years, 10 months (and counting)

But overall, I try to keep a vehicle 5 years at a minimum. If I really like it or it's unique enough, I will keep it longer (hence why I am not giving up the 2 I have now - one is rare enough, the other I enjoy way too much LOL).

 

[JibbersCrabst]

I've typically kept cars about 5 years or so. I get bored easliy and I like to sell them when they're still worth some money.

I have a 2013 Focus ST now that I bought with 20k miles on it in 2015. That's the newest car I've ever bought so the Maverick will be my first brand new vehicle at 40 years old. I'm planning to keep the ST when I get my Maverick, I like it too much to get rid of it. The Maverick will also be my first truck because I'm not counting the 1998 Ford Ranger I owned for 2 months this year that I never drove because it was a clapped out POS.

Before the ST I had a 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 for a about 4 years, and I had a 2000 Mustang GT for 5 years before that. Had a 1996 Trans Am for a short time while I had the Mustang. The cars I owned before those aren't even worth mentioning.

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