How long do you keep your cars?

[Anonymous]

Bought a 2002 Corolla, kept it until last year but was at our vacation property for the last 5 of those, used just for errands. Have had a 2010 Accord since 2012, still going strong.

We don't drive much and do regular maintenance like the other PPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate cars and dealing with them and I’m starting to love leasing. I know financially it doesn’t make sense.

+1

I'm going to move to leasing when my current car dies, which probably won't be any time soon. I'm not particularly concerned about the financial aspects. This is one area of my life where'd I'd like to waste a little money to not have to deal with any troubles,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so not what I was expecting to hear. Very impressive DCUM!!

Its not reality though. All one has to do is drive around town and pay attention to realize its totally false. I drive a 10 year old minivan and have the oldest car on my entire street if you don't count cars people have handed down or bought used for their teens. And frankly most of the teens have a newer car than I do. And as I said upthread, I'm not in a particuarly fancy area.

yea, DCUM is an ...interesting crowd. Doesn't match reality of what I see in the DC area.

I live in a nice area (N. Arlington) filled with generally practical, not overly flashy, well-educated people. I don't see a lot of old cars around here. I think that is somewhat of an internet trope, that all the ACTUAL wealthy people are driving 20 year old Camrys. I see a lot of recent model Highlanders, Pilots, MDXs, Acura sedans, Camrys, Accords, CRV, Foresters, CX-5, Ascent, Civics etc. A new mid-range Highlander is still like $45k. And yes there are plenty of MBs, BMWs, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so not what I was expecting to hear. Very impressive DCUM!!

Its not reality though. All one has to do is drive around town and pay attention to realize its totally false. I drive a 10 year old minivan and have the oldest car on my entire street if you don't count cars people have handed down or bought used for their teens. And frankly most of the teens have a newer car than I do. And as I said upthread, I'm not in a particuarly fancy area.

yea, DCUM is an ...interesting crowd. Doesn't match reality of what I see in the DC area.

I live in a nice area (N. Arlington) filled with generally practical, not overly flashy, well-educated people. I don't see a lot of old cars around here. I think that is somewhat of an internet trope, that all the ACTUAL wealthy people are driving 20 year old Camrys. I see a lot of recent model Highlanders, Pilots, MDXs, Acura sedans, Camrys, Accords, CRV, Foresters, CX-5, Ascent, Civics etc. A new mid-range Highlander is still like $45k. And yes there are plenty of MBs, BMWs, etc.

I'm the PP with a (surprisingly) 7 year old Rav4, and it looks just like my neighbor's 6 month old Rav4, except for a detail on the side between the back window and trunk. I think that people moved here from states with extreme weather and are assuming that every car with no dents or different colored panels is under 5 years old. "Old" cars in DC that haven't been in wrecks look largely like newer versions of the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so not what I was expecting to hear. Very impressive DCUM!!

Its not reality though. All one has to do is drive around town and pay attention to realize its totally false. I drive a 10 year old minivan and have the oldest car on my entire street if you don't count cars people have handed down or bought used for their teens. And frankly most of the teens have a newer car than I do. And as I said upthread, I'm not in a particuarly fancy area.

yea, DCUM is an ...interesting crowd. Doesn't match reality of what I see in the DC area.

I live in a nice area (N. Arlington) filled with generally practical, not overly flashy, well-educated people. I don't see a lot of old cars around here. I think that is somewhat of an internet trope, that all the ACTUAL wealthy people are driving 20 year old Camrys. I see a lot of recent model Highlanders, Pilots, MDXs, Acura sedans, Camrys, Accords, CRV, Foresters, CX-5, Ascent, Civics etc. A new mid-range Highlander is still like $45k. And yes there are plenty of MBs, BMWs, etc.

I'm the PP with a (surprisingly) 7 year old Rav4, and it looks just like my neighbor's 6 month old Rav4, except for a detail on the side between the back window and trunk. I think that people moved here from states with extreme weather and are assuming that every car with no dents or different colored panels is under 5 years old. "Old" cars in DC that haven't been in wrecks look largely like newer versions of the same.

I am determining age off of model years/generation, not condition of the car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so not what I was expecting to hear. Very impressive DCUM!!

Its not reality though. All one has to do is drive around town and pay attention to realize its totally false. I drive a 10 year old minivan and have the oldest car on my entire street if you don't count cars people have handed down or bought used for their teens. And frankly most of the teens have a newer car than I do. And as I said upthread, I'm not in a particuarly fancy area.

It's not false, it's just not representative. You think people are lying about how long they keep their cars?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so not what I was expecting to hear. Very impressive DCUM!!

Its not reality though. All one has to do is drive around town and pay attention to realize its totally false. I drive a 10 year old minivan and have the oldest car on my entire street if you don't count cars people have handed down or bought used for their teens. And frankly most of the teens have a newer car than I do. And as I said upthread, I'm not in a particuarly fancy area.

It's not false, it's just not representative. You think people are lying about how long they keep their cars?

A lot of "new car" people probably aren't on dcum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so not what I was expecting to hear. Very impressive DCUM!!

Its not reality though. All one has to do is drive around town and pay attention to realize its totally false. I drive a 10 year old minivan and have the oldest car on my entire street if you don't count cars people have handed down or bought used for their teens. And frankly most of the teens have a newer car than I do. And as I said upthread, I'm not in a particuarly fancy area.

It's not false, it's just not representative. You think people are lying about how long they keep their cars?

Yes, I stand corrected. I don't think people are lying. But I also don't think these replies are representative of the area at large. Definitely not in my area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is so not what I was expecting to hear. Very impressive DCUM!!

Its not reality though. All one has to do is drive around town and pay attention to realize its totally false. I drive a 10 year old minivan and have the oldest car on my entire street if you don't count cars people have handed down or bought used for their teens. And frankly most of the teens have a newer car than I do. And as I said upthread, I'm not in a particuarly fancy area.

It's not false, it's just not representative. You think people are lying about how long they keep their cars?

Yes, I stand corrected. I don't think people are lying. But I also don't think these replies are representative of the area at large. Definitely not in my area.

So you assume all of us live next door to each other? You know the "Town of Old Car Families"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow you all drive some real junkers. I’m amazed by this. This is not at all representative of what o see driving around town.

Because zero car payments are fantastic.

Cars are a massive waste of money. Even if you pay cash it is stupid. Throwing a huge amount of liquidity into a furnace on a depreciating asset is a terrible way to generate wealth.

We drive a 2016 Mazda 3. Bought it while were poor. We make far more money now, yet keep driving it because it is paid off and it works. I just paid to fix the suspension and did a lot more maintenance. Hope it lasts another 5+ years so we don't have car payments.

The additional $1000 a month in car payments is immaterial to us. We have plenty saved. I’m not driving some crappy car. Do some of you not even have Bluetooth? Back up cameras? These seem like necessities these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow you all drive some real junkers. I’m amazed by this. This is not at all representative of what o see driving around town.

Because zero car payments are fantastic.

Cars are a massive waste of money. Even if you pay cash it is stupid. Throwing a huge amount of liquidity into a furnace on a depreciating asset is a terrible way to generate wealth.

We drive a 2016 Mazda 3. Bought it while were poor. We make far more money now, yet keep driving it because it is paid off and it works. I just paid to fix the suspension and did a lot more maintenance. Hope it lasts another 5+ years so we don't have car payments.

The additional $1000 a month in car payments is immaterial to us. We have plenty saved. I’m not driving some crappy car. Do some of you not even have Bluetooth? Back up cameras? These seem like necessities these days.

LOL. Your definition of luxury is very VERY high. Thanks for the laugh...

[Anonymous]

My 2010 Highlander has back up cameras and blue tooth. It has been very well maintained. It doesn't look or feel like a "crappy" car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow you all drive some real junkers. I’m amazed by this. This is not at all representative of what o see driving around town.

Because zero car payments are fantastic.

Cars are a massive waste of money. Even if you pay cash it is stupid. Throwing a huge amount of liquidity into a furnace on a depreciating asset is a terrible way to generate wealth.

We drive a 2016 Mazda 3. Bought it while were poor. We make far more money now, yet keep driving it because it is paid off and it works. I just paid to fix the suspension and did a lot more maintenance. Hope it lasts another 5+ years so we don't have car payments.

The additional $1000 a month in car payments is immaterial to us. We have plenty saved. I’m not driving some crappy car. Do some of you not even have Bluetooth? Back up cameras? These seem like necessities these days.

LOL. Your definition of luxury is very VERY high. Thanks for the laugh...

who said anything about luxury?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow you all drive some real junkers. I’m amazed by this. This is not at all representative of what o see driving around town.

Because zero car payments are fantastic.

Cars are a massive waste of money. Even if you pay cash it is stupid. Throwing a huge amount of liquidity into a furnace on a depreciating asset is a terrible way to generate wealth.

We drive a 2016 Mazda 3. Bought it while were poor. We make far more money now, yet keep driving it because it is paid off and it works. I just paid to fix the suspension and did a lot more maintenance. Hope it lasts another 5+ years so we don't have car payments.

The additional $1000 a month in car payments is immaterial to us. We have plenty saved. I’m not driving some crappy car. Do some of you not even have Bluetooth? Back up cameras? These seem like necessities these days.

Lol .

Imagine being oblivious to the fact that a) the cheapest kia has had Bluetooth for like 10 years and b) backup cameras are mandated by law and every car has them now, regsrdless of price point.

There's little expensive cars do that make their value worthwhile. They just add more useless bells and whistles. 95% of driving is for daily use, not for performance driving, so paying for performance is asinine.

[Anonymous]

For a very long time. I do most of my repairs and maintenance plus I'm cheap ..lol. So my Porsche, AMG and Toyota's are keepers. Now the wife POS Mini Cooper I'm ready to push off a cliff. That's the one car I should of NEVER kept once the EXTENDED warranty expired.