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I am posting in the retirement forum because I think people here would understand some of the things I am contemplating. DH (76) and I (72) own two cars. The newest is a 10 year old Lexus and the oldest is a 17 year old Accord. The Accord has a little over 100,000 miles on it. The Lexus has more. Both cars have been conscientiously maintained by DH, who really does take care of our cars. I drive the Accord around town, and DH drives the Lexus wherever we go together, including some travel.
I am a little concerned about taking two older cars into our elderly years. I am concerned that at some point we will need to buy a newer car, even though our oldest car has relatively few miles on it. I also would like to have some of the newer safety features, but that is not a huge want for me.
I don't want advice so much, as a way to think about this. I don't feel confident in my thinking. If there is no need to buy a car--probably a late model used car--then I don't want to spend the money. I wonder if we should replace the Lexus, instead of the Accord, but I suspect we should replace, if we replace, the older car. I know that mileage is usually the measure of the age of the car. So, should I simply not worry about this?
I guess what I worry about is learning a new car at an advanced age. New cars have safety systems and alarms. I think I could be OK now, but in 5 years? Who knows?
You can see that I am all over the place on this. Can you help me think this through?
I suspect that DH would buy a new car if I was enthusiastic. But I hate spending the money if we don't have to.
The Accord drives fine. It has been recently serviced, and it has good tires. It has minor body damage and some damage on the wheels.
My van has over 260K miles on it, and someone I know has a Toyota with over 500,000 miles on it. Mileage by itself is no longer the deciding issue it once was. I set a dollar amount per year on repairs to the van. Any left over from the previous single year gets added to that. If the repair costs in a year top that aggregate, I'll be looking for new wheels.
One aspect of driving that some people miss is that it takes time to "know" exactly how a vehicle drives and what it is capable of. One you reach that understanding your driving is safer. Knowing what mine does and just exactly how it tracks saved me from a couple of multiple car pileups. If your cars are in good condition and have been properly maintained, you might consider keeping them longer.
"You can see that I am all over the place on this. Can you help me think this through?"
1. money. if both are paid for...drive them until death.
2. safety. sell both to buy the latest in technology.
3. other. this is where "all over the place" comes in.
Some of the safety features that have come out in the past five years would be a good reason to get new. You don’t have to spend a great deal to get them either. Subaru has a lot of vehicles with the features as standard. Not the most luxurious cars but they are reliable.
Yes, newer cars have safety systems but they also tend to have annoying "eco mode." On a Mercedes C class sedan I had as a loaner, ECO stop/start was so frustrating I vowed I would never buy another Mercedes. The car shuts the engine off when you're at a stop light. Then there's a delay in acceleration because it only turns it back on when you press the accelerator -- and it's not instantaneous.
I guess it's great for people who 1) like to fool themselves into thinking they're saving the planet and 2) are OK with the notion that the designers of the car know better than they do.
Why not go for some test drives of the current models? Might help make up your mind. Or you can do what I used to do, though it's a bit extreme: Rent a car for 28 days at a time.
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