I have a 2006 Honda Civic Coupe with 85,000 miles. I commute 70+ miles a day. Car is good, no problems. I had heard on Car Talk recently that Tom and Ray reccomended a caller trade in her not-very-old-car as she commuted so much each year. I would just like to get others opinions. Thanks
Sounds like a keeper to me, keep up with maintenance as prescribed in the manual
It is almost time for the timing belt to be changed due to mileage, your transmission fluid should be changed, spark plugs, etc.
As long as you’re comfortable with the car, keep it
I would disagree strongly with T&R, these are easy highway miles, your car could well do 250k+ miles under these conditions. I can’t imagine why they would recommend trading, you’re saving big money by keeping this car.
Trading cars every 3 or 4 years will provide you with the highest cost per mile possible for your transportation needs, other than leasing, which is even MORE expensive…
Keep the Civic, follow the recommended maintenance schedule, and trade it when it has 285,000 miles on it.
70 miles a day it not excessive, and it’s actually better for the car than driving it 10 miles per day.
You have nothing to worry about.
The strategy with company cars is to get them new and trade them in when the still have decent residual value. Cars that go past a certain age and above a number of miles see a drop in value. Perhaps that is what Tom and Ray were saying. Your '06 is now 4 years old with say 60K miles.
In my company car days the replacement schedule was to get the company cars out of service at just under 60K miles or before they reached 4 years old. Older cars and higher mileage cars would get less on resale. This is fine for companies that lease cars, but doesn’t work for me with my personal cars.
If you keep your '06 you will find yourself spending more on maintenance, repairs, and perhaps you will have more “down time” when the car is in a repair shop. If you want, or need, to minimize these things then trade the car in soon.
Keep it. As long as you maintain it well, it will run reliably for a lot longer. It’s time to change the transmission fluid (automatic, I assume) and the timing belt should be changed soon, too. Maybe at 160,000 miles you might consider buying a second car and keep this Civic for commuting. You won’t get much in trade for a car that is driven between 25,000 and 30,000 miles per year.
Thanks to everyone for your input. I’m gonna keep the car. Much rather travel than pay car payments.
I would be interested to know if T&R recommended a trade on a car similar to yours under the same conditions.
Otherwise, are you happy with the car and the tasks it performs for you ? Are you satisfied with it’s safety features and don’t feel it’s necessary to upgrade for those reasons ? They are both legitimate reasons to trade a car that is barely broken in with many more miles of useful life.
That’s my free humble opinion and worth every cent.
Regards.
Is it possible the caller had a low gas mileage car? Or, perhaps one that was failing a lot. That would make sense to recommend trading a gas hog when driving a lot of miles. It would make no sense to trade in a nearly new Honda Civic in great shape.
With out hearing the show, it is difficult to tell why they recommended the trade, I suspect it involved more than just the miles.
dear honda owner,
I had had several hondas, and each one has gotten at least 275,000 of only regular, expected maintenance and repair costs. I worked my commute hondas heartlessly, and they, like dogs, were ever faithful and forgiving. I would suggest keeping your car, unless you are plagued with unexpected repairs, maintain it well, and use it until it lets you know it needs to go out to pasture. I prefer to keep what I know, as long as it performs well, pay maintenance and expected repair bills, and avoid paying thousands of dollars plus tax on buying a new or new/used car.
good luck,
bobbi
I just sent a reply, and misspoke. I meant to say that I had gotten at least 275,000 miles on my hondas, with only the usual, expected maintenance and repair costs.
bobbi
Thanks for your reply. I feel so grateful I asked for input. I’m keeping the Honda.