How long do you keep your car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A nice car makes me happy. $200 or even $1500 a month for a car is s rounding error for me. This thread is very depressing.

I'm not sure I agree the thread is depressing any more than a thread talking about jeans where people say they like baggy ones but I like skinny ones. But I agree with you - I'm comfortable with up to a $1,500 car payment for each car. We pay $5k mortgage to live in our house, so why not pay 1.5k for a car which I actually get a lot more enjoyment out of.

[Anonymous]

250k

2012 Sienna bought new. 130k miles. still have it
2006 RX400h bought new. 110k miles. still have it

She still has the lexus because it's running fine. I still have the minivan because...well...I guess I lost that battle.

[Anonymous]

HHI about $170k/year

We own three cars:

2010 small SUV (purchased new in 2010)
2012 minivan (purchased new in 2012)
2013 small sedan (given to us in 2020 by my elderly parent that is no longer able to drive--We have 3 teens that drive so this extra car was very welcome!)

[Anonymous]

HHI $250k

2007 Saab bought new
2010 Honda Odyssey, bought used in 2017 w/40k miles when we sold our 2013 Subaru Outback.

I maintain our cars and do bits and pieces of preventive maintenance also, so don't mind older cars. Honda/Toyota's w/50k miles or less are practically "new" mechanically...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$1M

2018 Honda
2019 Mercedes
2021 Mercedes

We generally replace our cars every 3-6 years, depending on the car and if we really like it. More recently it's been closer to the long end with both my wife and I holding on to our cars for 6 years before replacing them.

I don't drive cars until they die because it's usually a poor financial choice. I enjoy working on my own cars and just did a brake flush on the Honda this past weekend.

A Honda can last for 20 years with only some minor maintenance. I know because i had one. It was still running 100% fine but I had to get rid of it because after 20 years I hated that car! It was paid off for over 15 years, I paid NO Va property tax on it because it wasn't worth very much and insurance was incredibly cheap. I saved a TON of money by driving that car for as long as I did.

You live in fantasy land if you think replacing your car every 3 years is a good financial decision. Or you sell cars for a living...

Anecdotes aren’t evidence.

[Anonymous]

Not too much money. Buy 10 year old cars to use for 10 years. Then give away to friend or worker who can fix if breaks.

[Anonymous]

250K+

We're still using a car from my high school days (2007 prius). I think it has 100K miles on it; runs fine.

We live in a rowhouse, in an area without street cleaning; so it mostly just sits there collecting dust, unless we need to go to costco.

We usually rent a new SUV/sports car (depending on if the kids come along) for actual road trips. So much more convenient that dealing with ownership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Per omnia saecula saeculorum.

Amen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HHI 315k

One car almost 18 years, the other 10. Keeping them until the next repair isn’t worth spending the money.

This is us exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HHI $220K

2012 Honda CRV has 135,000 miles
2007 Honda Element has 100,000 miles

Will drive both until they die (I'm hoping that's 5-7 years), then probably buy another used CRV or maybe an Acura MDX

Have you had any big repairs? I was planning to drive my last vehicle (a 2011) in the same manner, but I didn’t want to pay for an $800 transmission repair at around 125,000 miles.

DP, but why not? I've put $800 into a car with 135k and more than that into cars with more miles. I think about the monthly costs and how many months I'd need the $800 repair to buy me, and it's not very many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A nice car makes me happy. $200 or even $1500 a month for a car is s rounding error for me. This thread is very depressing.

I'm not sure I agree the thread is depressing any more than a thread talking about jeans where people say they like baggy ones but I like skinny ones. But I agree with you - I'm comfortable with up to a $1,500 car payment for each car. We pay $5k mortgage to live in our house, so why not pay 1.5k for a car which I actually get a lot more enjoyment out of.

Absolutely. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
I would probably have a nicer car but struggle with life inside the beltway where the "joy of driving" is a distant memory. It's just an appliance to get me from here to there, hopefully with good AC.