How long do you generally keep a vehicle before thinking about a replacement?

[nsl]

Have two vehicles, and my newest is about 11 years old, and has about 135K miles.
Never really had any issues or been stranded, but am getting more and more concerned about little things starting to lead to bigger things, etc.
I know some people run their cars into the ground, but I don't want to have to constantly be working on something.
Anyway, when do you usually give in and pick up a newer vehicle?

 

[H Richard]

We are a two car family. I am a believer one of the cars should be new enough and low enough mileage that if the need arose we could take off for a several thousand trip without worry. The other car 10-12 years and up to 150000 or so, as long as was reliable enough and not nickle and dime us.

 

[Whitwabit]

last couple have been 7 and 8 years .. My last Jeep Rubicon was 7 years old and only had 19K on it .. got a really good trade in price on the 4 door Jeep Wrangler I have now ..

Wife has a jeep with 36K and its 2011 so its 6 years old .. and we are going to trade this fall .. My 1974 Jeep went to Colorado 6 times and was never touched beside normal maintenance and tires .. we put 187K on it when we trade on another jeep ..

 

[WuzzFuzz]

I used to trade them in when the ash tray got full...Then I'd go to 100,000 and trade...Now...When the wheels no longer turn, I suppose it's time to trade.

But a 06 F-250 pushing 247,000 miles...why trade now, still no smoke, no motor rattles, body....only a couple of small rust spots, and I don't drive as much as I used to.


WuzzFuzz

 

[jeffsmith]

I am taking my V-8 2006 Jeep Commander (140000 + Miles) to Texas & back
It checks out Fine with both my Mechanic and the Shop I sometimes use

I believe with good care & maintenance it could go to 300,0000 Miles

It depends on the car ie how its standing up and how good your Maintenance of it is

 

[LittleCooner]

I consider 275,000 to 300,000 the replacement point.

 

[Rpg]

My 4 runner is 18 years old with 220,000 miles.

I don’t intend to replace it in the foreseeable future.

I figure it’s good for 275,000-300,000 miles.

Other than routine maintenance, the only thing it’s needed is a fuel pump.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...newest car we have is 15 years old...and we have had it 12 years...

...oldest car we have is 71 years old...and I have had it 49 years...

 

[WuzzFuzz]

Any of you remember seeing a T V ad from years back...A older fellow fellow driving a Model A, is leaving a Midias muffler shop and leans back out the window, and "See you Boys." Midias had a life time warranty on their mufflers, so the fellow just keep driving, and would come back when it needed a new muffler.


WuzzFuzz

I'm probably going to give out before the truck does.

 

[old bear]

Having been a “car guy” most of my life, I generally bought the make and model of vehicle I wanted; this meant that I needed to keep my cars two to three years longer than most people and keep them in good condition. I don’t keep track of the years I’ve owned a car, but once one passes 125,000 miles I start to think about replacing it.
I know across the board, the build quality of todays cars is better than ever, but 125K is my point of starting to become concerned about breakdowns and big $$ repairs.

 

[SC_Mike]

100 to 125K or ten years, which ever comes first. But there are always exceptions.

 

[jrd1976]

I have always driven vehicles much longer than many people. Many times financial circumstances made the decision for me when another monthly note was impossible.

My 2002 Tahoe has 288,000 miles on the original motor. It does use some oil between changes. The original transmission lasted 90,000 and the second lasted 180,000. I have a newer one, but this one fits my lifestyle perfectly.

In 9 more years I'll put antique plates on it.

 

[Goldstar225]

Kept some 7-8 years, a couple of others 1-2 years (needs changed). I plan on keeping my 2014 F-150 15 years or 200,000+ (really like the truck) unless I have a series of serious issues.

 

[Golddollar]

I have a pair of 2008 Mercury Grand Marquiss. Bought one new and one used. They have been garage kept while I've owned them. Unfortunately Ford discontinued the whole Mercury line. They are great cars and not unduly expensive to keep up considering their mileage. So my plan is to hold onto them until 1) they are totaled and/or 2) I am totaled.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

My last new vehicle was a 2004 Ford F150 XLT SuperCab 4X4, purchased new and driven for 12 years. It received very good regular maintenance (oil changes, transmission service, alignment, tire rotation, etc) and despite its 170,000 miles I had no doubt that it would easily go another 10 or 12 years. Unfortunately, it had also been pounded out by hail twice and struck on the side by a car sliding across a snowy intersection.

Had my wife convinced that I was getting a new pickup truck. Had her pick me up and drive to the dealership, where I had arranged to have her new car rolled out for her approval.

Sold the Ford truck. Took my wife's old car as my daily ride. Two-and-a-half years later (about 3 months ago) I bought a new Nissan Titan 4X4 truck. Everything I want and more (390HP V8, 7-spd automatic, AC, cruise), but nothing excessive (rubber floor mats, utilitarian upholstery, nothing that can't be hosed down when necessary). Now has about 4400 miles, including a 2600 mile road trip, and I think it will carry me through my remaining years (assuming no more hail storms or traffic incidents). 19.2 MPG on the road trip, by the way.

Wife's 2015 Nissan Altima SE looks like a keeper, with 19,000 trouble free miles, and a recent road trip averaging 38.4 MPG.

When I was in high school (50 years ago) we thought nothing about pulling a car into the garage overnight for a top-end, or bottom-end, job and have it ready to go by morning. Now I don't know what I'm looking at under the hood! All I know for sure is that good regular maintenance will make just about any new car last as long as the owner can use it.

 

[nachogrande]

UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF.

While driving to school one evening other drivers were beeping & pointing at my Ford Pinto, It was on fire. After class I drove it home, no problem.

 

[Farmer17]

I use my vehicle for work and put about 45k miles per year on one so I need to keep one a long time to keep my dollars spent/miles driven low. My previous vehicle was a Nissan Titan truck that went 256K miles with virtually no problems and my current vehicle is a Toyota Rav SUV that has 190K miles and problem was a wheel bearing. I really need a pick up for work so I may be getting one soon even though I don't really want to.

 

[427mach1]

My wife and I are on an alternating 8-year purchase cycle. We trade our cars in when they are about 8 years old and generally have 100K on them. Except my wife kept her 2008 CRV longer because she couldn't find anything new she liked. Finally decided she wanted a new 2017 Civic Touring Sport hatchback and we traded in the CRV with all of 60,000 miles on it. I decided I wanted a new F-150, so I recently traded in my 2011 Ridgeline (95K miles) for a 2018 F-150 crew cab, 5.0, 10 speed.

 

[427mach1]

While driving to school one evening other drivers were beeping & pointing at my Ford Pinto, It was on fire. After class I drove it home, no problem.

Consider yourself lucky.....A girl from my old neighborhood in Seattle was killed on I-5 when her Pinto was rear-ended by a motorhome. The car caught fire and she couldn't get out.

 

[timjake]

We drive them "until the wheels fall off."

Or, more correctly, until the maintenance gets more expensive than car payments...such as when the '94 Caravan had a catastrophic transmission failure. The repair would have cost more than the van was worth.