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I keep my cars until they are no longer worth it (financially, etc.) - stupid (IMO) to do otherwise. Some people think a car "defines" them and throw money away - oh well.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whogo
I find at about 175000 miles even excellent vehicles start having maintenance costs that probably justify getting a newer vehicle. I tend to buy at 30000 and sell at 150000 which is about nine years.
What are your Maint costs? I track mine very diligently. They are typically very minimal. If something serious goes wrong and potential repair costs exceed $0.10 per future expected miles. I may choose to donate the car to a local charity who trains homeless people to become mechanics. They resell the repaired cars with a good warranty. They house 300 homeless every night and daily feed 3x that number. I have taken them several cars.
I bought an '84 Saab in 1987 and drove it until 2003. It was still running okay -- I would have driven it from California to New York and back -- but little things like power windows quit working and fuel mileage had fallen to around 25 mpg.
So I bought a new Golf TDI in 2003 and I still put a couple of hundred miles on it every workday. I liked it so much that I bought another 2003 Golf TDI in 2014, and then a 2003 Jetta TDI wagon in 2019. Same reliable engines, same 5-speed manual transmissions, similar but not identical upgrades.
So whenever the original Golf TDI finally reaches the end of its life, I already have two other TDIs to take its place. No EVs or SUVs or CRVs for me.
Almost all cars I bought brand new were kept for about 10 years. The cars that I commute in were bought used and I kept them from the time I acquired it to about 120k miles before buying another. Currently, all our cars were manufactured in 2008 and 2009 with one dating back to 1997. My current commuter was bought 3 years ago with 9000+ miles and was built in 2008.
I bought an '84 Saab in 1987 and drove it until 2003. It was still running okay -- I would have driven it from California to New York and back -- but little things like power windows quit working and fuel mileage had fallen to around 25 mpg.
So I bought a new Golf TDI in 2003 and I still put a couple of hundred miles on it every workday. I liked it so much that I bought another 2003 Golf TDI in 2014, and then a 2003 Jetta TDI wagon in 2019. Same reliable engines, same 5-speed manual transmissions, similar but not identical upgrades.
So whenever the original Golf TDI finally reaches the end of its life, I already have two other TDIs to take its place. No EVs or SUVs or CRVs for me.
Just curious, do you need a block heater there in the frozen Nawth? At least in the winter?
Probably your Diesel fuel is winterized from the pump. Or do you have to use additives, blend in #1 Diesel, or what?
I may choose to donate the car to a local charity who trains homeless people to become mechanics. They resell the repaired cars with a good warranty. They house 300 homeless every night and daily feed 3x that number. I have taken them several cars.
What a great ideal! Thumbs up for supporting them. Wish there was a program like that around me... I'd donate my commuter cars to them after I am done. Is there a link?
I buy new, I maintain them myself. In the last 25 years I have bought only 3 used cars (one was a hold over until my new car came in, 2 were hard to find new models and slightly used).
Longest I have ever kept 8 years/175K miles. Shortest 10,000 miles, 6 months 1 day (truck sucked, electrical gremlins).
I don't buy with the intention of a timeline. I just get to a point where I feel I have extracted the most amount of miles with the least amount of repairs (brakes/batteries/tires/fluids+filters are wear items, not repairs).
Just curious, do you need a block heater there in the frozen Nawth? At least in the winter?
Probably your Diesel fuel is winterized from the pump. Or do you have to use additives, blend in #1 Diesel, or what?
A block heater would be nice, but my landlord won't let me run an extension cord to the parking lot. As for the fuel, I do add 3 or 4 ounces of PS to each tank. Just to be on the safe side.
I always hear it from people who just bought a car. I also promised this to myself when I bought a car 5 years ago but I can't imagine myself driving the same car in 2025.
I'm tempting to buy a Tesla Model X next year and keep it for 10 years
Did you promise that to yourself when you bought your car? Did you keep your promise, why and why not?
I'm coming up on my 14th year. Still only have 99k miles, so time to change my timing belt and keep it for at least another 3-5 years. It's a Honda.
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