> "I think it's fine that car companies are making 'disposable' cars since most people really don't keep cars for long nowadays."

 

I just got rid of a 2007 Civic LX at 125k miles. It was totaled by insurance due to hail damage. The engine/transmission probably had another 100k easily but it also had major paint issues on the roof (burned/bad paint) and the SRSystem never worked.

Prior to that I had a 95 4Runner and ~95ish Accord that lasted for 240k+ miles.

 

I lived in Manhattan for 35 years and didn't own a car from 1977 until my Fit in June 2014. I love it so much I hope to keep it for 15 years.

 

We typically (not always) aim for 10 years or 200K miles, whichever comes first.

es

 

12-20 years old. I'm about to get rid of a 20 year old Corolla with 270k on it. The interior wore out before the rest of it did...

 

Longest I ever had a car was my truck, 1996 Toyota Tacoma w/ 4 cyl & auto tranny. Bought it used in 1999 and it now has 198,000 miles on it, runs good. Bought my first Honda new in 1986, a Si hatch with 5 speed. Sold in in 1999 to buy the truck & it had 193,000 on it. Bought the Fit used 2 years ago, only 28,000 on it now. Shortest time I had a car was 1977 Toyota Corolla hatch SR5. Gutless little car, but I wish I'd kept it. Had it for a year & traded it in on a 1978 Ford Fiesta, which was the worst car I ever owned. Live & learn....

 

The shortest, about 1.5 years when I sold my '96 Honda Accord for the '97 Acura Integra GS-R. Best switch ever even though I lost at least 5K in depreciation, the driving dynamics are so much nicer in the Integra. Anyway, except for that, I typically keep them 10 to 15 years and they always look almost new when sold; paint, interior, etc. Aside from the exterior elements that are understandably and sometimes unavoidable if parked outdoors at night, I never understood how cars can get so trashed by people, especially the interiors where they have full control of the upkeep.

 

We put on low miles so we get more years.

1971 VW Beetle . . . . . . 9 years
1977 Ford F100 . . . . . 16 years
1980 Toyota Corolla . . . 9 years
1989 Dodge Caravan. . 11 years
1991 Toyota Truck. . . .24 years
1991 Honda Civic. . . . .22 years
2000 Dodge Caravan . .15 years (and counting)
----------------------------------------------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 years average

 

We keep cars until they start to rust. So the 'lifetime' can vary depending on the construction of the car (galvanized or fiberglass panels help) and the weather. (I try to wash the bottom of the cars at least weekly but sometimes it's too cold)

1970 Ford Cortina: ....9 years
1976 Audi Fox: .........5 years
1976 Accord: ...........6 years
1980 Dodge Colt: .....11 years
1981 Civic: ...............9 years
1990 Accord: ............9 years
1999 Acura TL: ........12 years
2002 Dodge Caravan:.13 years (but it's days are numbered)
2006 CR-V: ............. 10 years (and counting)
2007 Fit: ...................9 years (and counting)

 

Up here in the land of road salt, cars rust out before they wear out. I keep my cars until I start to worry about structural rot, usually 6-8 years.

If I lived where the car didn't rust, I'd keep it longer. My Harley is 22 years old with 200,000 miles. Anything else can be fixed, but there comes a point when it's not worth the money for major mechanical repairs on a "rustbucket".

 

i have a 11yr old and 6yr old car in my garage that i dont drive in the winter.

for dd i usually sell at about 4-5yrs as uncle gary noted above, salt and icemelt just corrodes the hell out of the undercarriages on my dd's.

 

i mean if u saw how ugly our cars get in the winter, you'd careless about wat you're driving. as long as it starts reliably and gets you from A to B, who cares.

 

They're consumables. I like them to last as long as they can, but they're all going to the same scrap pile in the end.

Of the last 4 cars we ditched, 3 were over 200k and the fourth was a cheap POS that we traded for plowing when I had to go to the desert for a year. They were 12, 9, 8 and 12 years old.

 

I had my 1995 Ford Escort for 20 years and 350000 miles before engine went south and not worth fixing. I was driving 100 miles a day when engine went to three cylinders. I bought my Fit in Oct 2015 and hope to have it a long time.


James

 

Cars I'm presently caring for

2015 Fit (mine) 0 yrs
2013 Venza (BossLady) 2 yrs
2002 Crown Vic (Son, was mine) 13 yrs
1997 Wrangler (Family Fun vehicle) 18 yrs (230k miles)
1995 Cherokee (Mine, toy) 20 yrs (220k miles)
1995 Cherokee (Son, graduation gift) 20 yrs (240k miles)
1969 Mustang (Mine since 1978) 46 years
1968 Mustang (Was Fathers, now mine) 47 years

 

As an official member of "chronic car buyers anonymous" I usually keep my cars 3-7 yrs. However we rarely put more than 12K miles / yr on our cars. Some used cars I have owned have had over 200,000 miles but over the past decade I have bought more current vehicles and now rarely have a car past 60K. Yet I treat / maintain them like I am going to keep them for a decade.
Though I really like my 2011 Fit (which I purchased new) I started thinking about what I am going to be replacing it with.

 

My last car was a 1995 Saturn. Good car. Bad feeling this one won't last as long.

 

We keep cars until the cost of upkeep passes the cost of replacement.
In order of departure, most recent first:

1998 Volvo V-70 - 17 years, 283,000 miles
2006 Volvo V-70 turbo - 6 years, 197,000 miles (traded on the Fit!)
2006 Scion xB - 3 years (until impact), 48,000 miles
1995 Volvo 850 turbo - a dog bought used, 2.5 years
1988 Hyundai Excel - 10 years, 117,000 miles
1978 Dodge Omni - temp car received as a gift, 2 years
1971 Honda 600 sedan - temp car, 2 years
1965 Chevy Corvair Corsa - cursed temp car, 6 miserable months
1959 Ford Custom 300 - 6 years, 70,000 miles

 

It matters when you're going down the road and a rear wheel lets go because the shock tower rusted out and collapsed.

 

Most of my cars 7-10 years. Chrysler products..3 years