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> Based on what you all are saying, a typical Honda or Toyota (10 year old car) owner should keep owning the car for at least 10 more years.
There are two more factors. There is the risk of a sudden failure that keeps you from work or other essential things. And there is the improved safety features of newer cars. Only you know how important these things are to you.
Another factor to consider is life. Each new generation of vehicle design has substantial safety improvements and increases the risk of surviving a crash should someone "do it to you".
Another factor to consider is life. Each new generation of vehicle design has substantial safety improvements and increases the risk of surviving a crash should someone "do it to you".
I highly doubt that. I don't think the 2013 Civic is substantially safer than the 2001 Civic.
In 2007 I bought a 2001 Subaru Outback from a private seller for $4600 (way below what these usually sold for then). 110,000 miles. I sort of knew the sellers. They had done a lot to maintain the car but it had a crackly paint job defect and the CEL code said it needed a catalytic converter, so it was priced cheap. The paint job looked fine from the drivers seat, and I punted on the cat conv. (It's been fine still.)
I'm still driving that car and expect to for at least a few more years. It has developed other issues that bring the resale value way down. They are issues I understand and can live with, the car is reliable for me, so the car is worth more for me to keep than to sell cheaply.
It has what my bf calls "ideosyncratic shifting." It's a 5pd manual. The reverse fork is loose in the trans and it make noise in reverse, and sometimes the shift lever gets stuck in reverse. If it roll the car a couple more inches it releases. Deal breaker for other people probably. I have talked to my mechanic about it and it has not gotten worse in a few years. I may have a tranny put in eventually, but for now I'll keep driving it.
I ride my bike mostly anyways and put about 5000 miles/yr on the car. I don't hesitate to take it on road trips.
Um.....not really. A $22,000 Accord or Camry can last 22 years. That would be only about $1,000 a year.
If you bought and drove an Accord or Camry for 22 years, the total cost would be a LOT higher than the initial purchase price with just regular maintenance. In 22 years, there are bound to be plenty of repairs too, to bring up the cost.
If you have an aging car (say over 10 to 15 years old) and the risk of high repair bills is increasing. At what piont would you trade it in, instead of continue keeping it?
If I understand the question correctly, you want to know when you should trade you car in for a new one and get something for your trade, instead of waiting until say the engine seized up and you get nothing for it. I think this poster said it best:
Quote:
Originally Posted by raveabouttoast
It almost always makes financial sense to get a used car and drive it into the ground.
You far better off keeping the car for as long as possible, even if it occasionally cost you an occasion $1,000 repair. If you drop $1,500 to fix your car, yes it hurts, but if you paying $400 a month to finance a new car, that's only 4 months of car payments before your ahead. Of course there's a point when the repair bills mount up to more than the car payments would have and it's time to get rid of it, but I wouldn't be afraid of an occasional expensive repair bill to hold onto it longer.
Based on what you all are saying, a typical Honda or Toyota (10 year old car) owner should keep owning the car for at least 10 more years.
Why not?
If it serves your purpose, drive it.
We have two 2001 trucks and a 2003 Subaru, all with decently high miles and all in good running condition and all with enough safety features to make me feel comfortable.
If one of them were to give up the ghost suddenly, we'd be fine......drive one of the others and take our time finding a replacement.
If you bought and drove an Accord or Camry for 22 years, the total cost would be a LOT higher than the initial purchase price with just regular maintenance. In 22 years, there are bound to be plenty of repairs too, to bring up the cost.
True. However, the regular maintenance cost is also there for any other car.
Um.....not really. A $22,000 Accord or Camry can last 22 years. That would be only about $1,000 a year.
The $4-5K, i was referring to was during the 5-6 yrs for you to pay off the loan.
After that, you might be near 90-100k miles on the car where alot of basic maintenance is required at that mileage, so you might have to spend about $1000-1500 for a tuneup, trans fluid flush, coolant flush, power steering fluid flush, new battery, struts, timing belt(if your car has one) and maybe tires and brakes too, but after that the car is basically new and can go another 100k easily.
So if you purchase a car new your paying easily $5-6k a year in car costs, since most new cars are 22-30,000+ now.
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