Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yup, currently holding onto (and paying ins and tag) on a 01 Sierra. My dad bought it new in 01 and I bought it from him in 08. it has 325,000 miles but still runs good, but obviously has seen better days. I could probably fix a few small things and sell it for $2500. I probably should. My dad told me to sell it lol
With more than one driver in the household, I think it is nice to have a spare if you have the room to store it and insurance is not too much. Currently we do not have a spare, but I primarily work from home, so if one car was out of commission for a day or two, it would not be a big deal. Wife will get a new car soon and I plan on keeping her old, high mileage Civic for a spare. If a year goes by and we never use it and its a hassle storing it, then we will get rid of it.
A few weeks ago, my wife was at work and I was doing some repairs to my Suburban and needed a part from the store. I really missed not having a spare car that day. If you have frequent visitors that would otherwise need a rental car, nice to have a spare car for them also.
With a car that old, it makes sense to keep doing repairs you can do yourself. When it needs something major, junk it or donate it and get a different one. They are only good for so much and when a car has hit that point, it is not that costly to replace it with something a little newer/better. We have gone through a lot of those older cars (Family of 7 people), so we have learned the hard way when to recognize it is time to let it go. I had four down at one time and only really needed 1 for a spare, so I traded on craigslist. A mechanic came and fixed the one I wanted to keep and I gave him the other three broken cars in trade.
Now we do not really have a spare (the spare will be used by our youngest ho is in high school if he ever gets round to getting his license). I would kind of like to get another spare, but I am thinking I might get a Volt to drive to work and let my truck be the spare. However, I really like driving a truck all the time. It really lets me be prepared for anything that comes up.
It is not worth he cost of a Volt just to get the fuel savings, but there is a coolness factor to never having to fill up.
I have done that. In my case I had a couple of cars that were useful to haul stuff from Home Depot and that kind of thing, without worrying about messing up my nicer cars. I have given a few older high mileage cars away to family or friends who needed something to drive, because I held onto them for a while. So there was that advantage.
We have a bunch of vehicles, one that is getting to be in pretty rough shape (body and frame-wise) is registered as a 'farm' vehicle. (A 1990-something Jeep Cherokee Sport with more than a quarter million miles on it.)
I did see the mention the cost of insurance but what about the cost of license and state inspection and emission testing? Perhaps if I had another spot in the garage, I would like a Miata . I had to sell my dad's very low mileage S-10 which I did not want to pay for insurance, tags and inspection. I did not want to use it as a Daily driver did not want it to set out in the sun all the time.
I blame my father for this, he currently has 10 cars I think. He was always buying and selling cars when I was growing up, keep them for a few years then move on, but some of them he wouldn't get rid of, so his collection kept growing.
My own buying habits of cars tends to follow his, just with a lower budget and less room to store them. Every now and then I see a good deal for a new car... but I'm not quite ready to get rid of any of the cars I have.
Personally I think 6 is my magic number, that gives me a sports car, a convertible, a luxury car, an SUV, a truck/van, and the wife's car/SUV.
At this point I pay for insurance for our 4 cars individually, but my father has a blanket policy that covers all his vehicles. I don't know how much he pays, but I know it is cheaper than insuring all the cars individually by quite a bit.
I did see the mention the cost of insurance but what about the cost of license and state inspection and emission testing? Perhaps if I had another spot in the garage, I would like a Miata . I had to sell my dad's very low mileage S-10 which I did not want to pay for insurance, tags and inspection. I did not want to use it as a Daily driver did not want it to set out in the sun all the time.
Since you only put PL/PD on a car like that, the insurance is cheap. We have no inspection or emissions testing. Registration on a car like that runs about $30 a year. Well worth it to have a spare in a pinch. With seven people (now 5), we always had (have) at least one car in need of oil change, tire rotation, or repairs, so it is good to have something to drive while whatever is being done. .
I have a 1992 4Runner that I bought in 1994. I haven't had any issue with it in at least the last 15 years. I change the oil once a year since I only put about 3K miles a year on it. Still starts and runs like a champ. I will probably keep it until it dies or I win the lottery which ever comes first.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
