196K on a 22 year old car - that’s impressive. 300K on a 10 year old car - not so much.
they want to rent you one.
I keep getting mailers from the local Acura dealership wanting them to bring in my fully paid for TL, sell it to them for bluebook tradein value, and then lease a car.
… So you want me to give up something that I own in exchange for something that I only borrow for awhile and in 3 years I won’t have that anymore either? Talk about getting nothing for something.
Back in the 1950s many people wanted the latest models and the manufacturers made certain you could tell what year a car was just by looking at it. The styling became ridiculous. The quality really slipped, but it didn’t matter to many new car buyers because they were going to trade the car when the last payment was made. Maybe it’s because I am a geezer, but I have a hard time distinguishing one make from another.
I keep getting mailers from the local Acura dealership wanting them to bring in my fully paid for TL, sell it to them for bluebook tradein value, and then lease a car.
And unfortunately some people will think that’s a great deal.
I no longer feel funny about owning 4 cars after seeing the posts here!
'00 S2000
’01 Saab 9-5
’04 Chevy Avalanche
’07 Mustang GT
Above average age, 12.25 years. 67,900 miles average. The Mustang really drops the mileage average being the only one under 100K miles.
To put it in perspective:
@shadowfax a neighbor bought a new Mark VIII when they first came out and I was struck by them but buying one at 40 grand was not on the agenda. They suffered horrid depreciation and that’s where I came in.
I don’t normally gush about many cars but I do with the Marks. They’re by far the most reliable, comfortable, and pleasant driving cars that I’ve ever owned. They’re slippery aerodynamically and lower themselves by 1.5 inches at highway speeds.
Over the years I’ve had a few people approach me at the gas pumps and ask about the car while telling me of the one they used to have and now regret getting rid of. One old farmer said it was the finest car he ever owned and loved the way it ran when he punched it on the road.
He also said he would carry a grudge against his wife for the rest of his life for coercing him into trading the car in for a Lincoln with 4 doors…
Mine is now 19 years old with a shade under 250k miles and with any luck I hope to drive it for another 19 years and additional 250k miles.
Interesting graph. My wife used to kid me that at 60 years old I was driving a car twice as old as the one I had in college when I was broke.
This thread sounds like a set up excuse to boast. With that in mind we have an '86 for a pet, an '09 daily driver and a '13 for Sundays and long trips. When something that we like better comes on the market, we have the ready money saved up to jump on it. I don’t need to make up excuses here to justify keeping an old car, reliable or not, and for that I am thankful.
I’ve got an F150 that’s old enough to drink this year, and an '08 Cobalt that I got from the PennDot motor pool last year. The older truck has less miles, though: 187K vs 220K. I suspect I’ll keep the truck as long as I can keep rust away (and hopefully nobody wrecks into it); I just might sell the car! (Makes no sense financially, but it’s nice to own a vehicle that seats more than 3 (or 2 if you aren’t overly fond of your passengers!)
Agree with Triedaq, cars don’t seem to age as fast. When I was a kid, my Dad’s '76 Ford Country Squire caught fire and burned up in '84 with 62k miles, my Mom’s 76 Ford Maverick was a barrel of problems at 9 years old, under 50k miles. Other relatives had a 80 or 81 Plymouth Volare which never made it to 60k miles, a 85 Dodge Daytona which made it to 100k but spent half its time at the dealer being repaired. My first, or technically second car, an 87 Chevette, at 101k, used a quart of oil with every tank of gasoline, got t-boned at an intersection, sold it to somebody who somehow kept it going at least another 2 years. As a kid, a 10 year old car seemed old and used up. Today it seems like 10 year old cars still sell for half the price of the new ones.
Some of it, no doubt, is selective memory related to youth. My grandparents had an awesome '66(?) Plymouth Fury III that they drove around (plus towed a camper with)…back around '78, I suspect. I used to love riding with them in the “cool antique car” (that was all of 13 years old.)
SOME of that was due to cars being replaced more often, but I suspect most of it was the memory of a child. Things sure seem a lot older if they happened prior to your birth, whenever that might have been!
A friend of mine once said"an average tells you nothing" kinda true it seems,sorta like the Snowbirds who flock to a place and are dismayed when the mercury plunges and the pipes freeze,I’ve had my pickup for 9 yrs now and its in pretty fair shape-but it fights Me tooth and nail to be a junker,it wants to disintregrate,no matter how scrouplesly I wash the salt off and try to maintain it(this manufacturer{the lesser of the big three domestics} will probaly never have my business again
It wasn’t uncommon for cars in the 60s to early 70’s to have rust-through at 3-4 years or 2 if it was a Vega or Honda in the rust-belt. Mufflers dropped off at 3 years, water pumps lasted 35 to 50,000 miles. Plastic timing gears in GM cars went 60,000 tops. You got oil changes at 3000 miles or every 6 months, tune-ups with plugs and points every 10,000 miles and carb rebuilds at 50,000 miles. A car was “old” at 80,000 and it was an event to hit the magical 100,000 miles although with used car dealers rolling back odometers, that took longer than it should.
I didn’t start the thread to boast. But you can think whatever you want, Wha Who.
A car was “old” at 80,000 and it was an event to hit the magical 100,000 miles
My dad drove quite a bit for work in those years, and he was kind of proud that he managed over 200,000 miles on a 63 Fairlane, 69 Skylark, and 78 Caprice. But two of those cars had a valve job, every one went through a transmission rebuild, timing chain, carb overhauls, countless radiators, alternators, water pumps, brake jobs, etc…I think he once said that by the time the 63 Ford hit 220K miles it had had 10 sets of tires.
And today people complain about not getting warranty assistance to fix the air conditioner on an 8 year old car. How far things have come!
@Mustangman Yes, I remember Car & Driver testing a Chrysler with the 383 engine and saying it could easily last 100,000 miles, referring mainly to the power train. They also said in California cars could go to 125,000 miles easily because of the dry air and long distances commuted.
So we’ve come a long way since the late 60s.
You nailed it Db.
@kmccune: I had a Dodge Ram pickup (back when they were Dodge and not just “Ram”) I bought mine used from a guy that frankly, was an idiot, so my experiences are likely skewed. The 5.9L V8 was not the most powerful or efficient engine you could find at the time, but it started instantly every time regardless of weather and was always raring to go. The instant start and the old-school whiny starter were kind of endearing really. The transmission was pretty bulletproof too. Wish I could say the same for the A/C which gave me a lot of trouble, the bad ball joints I had to replace (the previous owner had big tires on it), and the build quality of the interior especially. I will say it was a tough truck that was comfortable to drive and simple to maintain. Among other things, I drove it through a flood once when I took a wrong turn and it never missed a beat. I also had a 1994 LHS which was a very good car that never let me down and owed me nothing. I recently got rid of it and it was still on the original starter, exhaust, and fuel pump approaching 300K miles. Perhaps part of the issue was the truck was built in Mexico and the LHS in Canada? No way of knowing.
My current vehicle is a 10 year-old Mopar which is ready to hit 100K miles. I’ve had a few repairs and it has a few quirks, and I’m a bit rough on cars, though I do good PM and use good oil. I have my fingers crossed, but I’ve overall had decent luck with Mopar. Maybe I just like the underdog–Fiat/Chrysler has taken a beating from every direction and teetered on the brink of disaster off and on and risen from the ashes several times. (and unlike GM without screwing over their partners and dealers) Maybe you could at least say their vehicles have “soul” if nothing else.
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