How long do you keep your car(s)?

[Jennsnoopy]

My husband and I hate having a car pmt so we don't mind driving the same cars for very long periods of time. Question is, when does the cost of maintenance get so high you feel it is better financially to replace the car? One of our cars is 10 years old and it still runs great. 120k miles on it. We just took it in for a tune up and due to it's age and our climate, some things need to be replaced. It will coust a few thousand, but we still feel this is a better decision than buying something else. It did make me wonder where that break point is though, where you have to get a new(ER) car from a financial perspective.
Thoughts?

[GREENBACK]

I have A '98 Sierra 4wd p/u with 115000. It's in decent shape and does everything I need. It's probably only worth about 4k now. Replacement for this vehicle could be from 15-25k for something reliable. I'm willing to do major repairs on this truck to drive it a few more years. The thing about replacing vehicles is you still may have to do repairs on something newer and you'll be out of thousands to buy it before the repairs begin. I say stick with a known quantity as long as possible.

[humandraydel]

The best way to look at it is to figure out the "monthly" cost of a new car and compare it to the "monthly" cost of maintaining your old car. New cars have the advantage of less maintenance, but obviously have a car payment and higher insurance costs. Older cars are the opposite.

Roughly speaking, a new car ($15k financed for 4 years at 5%) will cost you $17,000. Assume you keep the new car for 8 years, that $17k is $180 a month. Assume insurance is an extra $50 per month for full coverage and you get ~$230 per month. So, if a $2k repair increases the life of your car by 10 months, you will break even.

EDIT: Also, are you sure you need a $2k "tune up"? There are very few things you NEED to replace before failure. My car has 145k on it and all I have ever done is replace the belt & brakes.

[MonkeyMama]

Depending how much they are driven - I have never had a car last more than 20 years. I expect our cars to last 15-20 years at 10k miles per year driven. If we drove less I am sure we could keep our cars longer.

Knock on wood, but I have personally never had to make that choice - never had an overly expensive repair. Of course, have had many friends buy brand new cars rather than replace the spark plugs. 100% serious. I expect to maintain batteries, tires, brakes, belts, etc., etc. All these things need replacing once in a while, but are far cheaper than buying a newer vehicle. All that said, after driving OLD cars for many years, I am amazed how little maintenance our newer vehicles need. My dh's car has 120k-ish miles and it has never needed much of anything (original brakes. Original battery lasted 100k miles). Before these 2 cars purchased at 1-year-old, we usually bought our cars at around 150k miles - so am used to replacing minor things more often.

My old Toyota ate water pumps and was it's undoing at 200k miles (over heated and cracked the engine). My old Saturn ate belts. But I have never had bigger/expensive problems. Every car just seems to have its quirks.

I've seen people have more expensive repairs on brand new cars, so I have to agree with Greenback. Older does not automatically mean more repairs than newer.

Another thing that people tend to overlook with new cars is the higher annual tags/taxes and more expensive insurance. I have always come out FAR ahead with repairs, taxes, insurance, and everything, driving an older vehicle. I only replace things when they brake - an honest mechanic saves us a fortune. We don't do a lot of preventative maintenance (pretty much just oil changes), but the second something appears wrong with our cars, we fix them. Have a good track record of driving cars 15-20 years.

[KiwiJo09]

My rule for getting rid of cars is simple: when it costs more to fix the car than it's market value. But you still have to have some savings for the new car.

[Like2Plan]

Originally Posted by Jennsnoopy

My husband and I hate having a car pmt so we don't mind driving the same cars for very long periods of time. Question is, when does the cost of maintenance get so high you feel it is better financially to replace the car? One of our cars is 10 years old and it still runs great. 120k miles on it. We just took it in for a tune up and due to it's age and our climate, some things need to be replaced. It will coust a few thousand, but we still feel this is a better decision than buying something else. It did make me wonder where that break point is though, where you have to get a new(ER) car from a financial perspective.
Thoughts?

Our target is 8 years and we stagger our purchases every 4 years. We have owned 9 cars between DH and I over the last 27 years. We have kept my Subaru Forester 12+ years (DS still drives it--it doesn't quite have 100K miles on it). We dumped our Oldsmobile Silhoutte after owning it only 6 years (and 130K miles) because even though we loved the vehicle (very comfortable and good gas mileage)--the repair bills/estimates exceeded the value of the van. Also, the down time to get the van repaired was a major pain. It was a real shame because it had been a pretty reliable vehicle up 'til about year 5. We gave another one of our vans to a family member and it is still being driven with over 230K miles on it (almost 17 years old now) and had been pretty reliable for them up 'til about last year.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

right now a 99 corolla with 110k miles. However long. We had a 2000 focus that lasted until last year 2010 so 10 years. It was gotten rid of because it just had a ton of repairs. Personally if the corolla needs $3k or more work I'm getting a newer car, doesn't have to be new but even a say a 2005 corolla or something.

I'd like latch and side airbags. But since the car works i won't get rid of it. But if the engine, tranny, axel, etc needs replacement then i'd like something with better safety features, not necessarily new but newer.

[disneysteve]

How long do I keep my cars? Right now, I'm coming up on 13 years with the current one. It is a 1998 Camry. I bought it used in August 1998 (dealer demo) with 11,000 miles. It now has just over 140,000. I have no plans to replace it.

My wife is approaching 9 years with a 2000 Sienna purchased used in September 2002 with 34,000 miles. It now has about 140,000 also.

[snafu]

I value reliable transportation. We mostly drive our cars at least 12 yrs, 200,000 km [120,000 miles] and buy something 2 y/o when they become aggravating needing some kind of repair every few months. Our last 3 cars came with free, dealer, oil change cards. It's a neat marketing tool for dealerships. When you pick up your car, they try to scare you with a list of serious, dangerous, repairs needed. When I take the list to our honest mechanic, she nearly roflol.

We listed the maintenance recommendations from the manual on our scheduler and other than quirks, that seems to be enough for 12 years. When our cars get old we've had brakes and lights done for cost of materials at the technical high school. We don't use new parts on really old cars since there is an efficient on-line ordering service for things that break.

I like the idea of using a cost benefit analysis and will note that in my file.

[maat55]

I and DW's plan has us saving 400 per month for car replacement. We replaced her car last July and are now saving for my next auto. My 02 Ford runs great and has 123k on it. I will be saving away cash for another 2 years at least, but I may just keep it until I don't like(unreliable and costly to upkeep) it and buy then.

[bjl584]

I had an 2005 Elantra with 102K on it, but I recently sold it outright and replaced it with a 2009 Kia Rio that I got a good deal on. I'm planning on keeping my current car for 10 years.

[shanecurran]

My experience with cars is that when it rains it pours. I have never had just one fix and then it ran fine for a while. It seems like cars just get to a point where everything wants to go at once. I recently got rid of a 99' suzuki grand vitara when the repairs started mounting. The best cars I have ever owned were Honda's. My first car went over 200,000 miles before it was totaled by my sister and I fully expect it would have gone much longer. It also depends on the environment. The sacramento valley is not too hard on vehicles. The coast on the other hand will destroy your car with the salt air.

[DebbieL]

We live on the coast (Vancouver Island) in Victoria which is right on the ocean and cars don't get destroyed by the salt air here. I've never had a problem because of that no matter how old the vehicle. My current car is a 2000, and I'll drive it until it starts to nickel and dime me to death - then I'll get another used car.

[shanecurran]

Originally Posted by DebbieL

We live on the coast (Vancouver Island) in Victoria which is right on the ocean and cars don't get destroyed by the salt air here. I've never had a problem because of that no matter how old the vehicle. My current car is a 2000, and I'll drive it until it starts to nickel and dime me to death - then I'll get another used car.

Maybe it only happens in warmer coastal climates?

[couchrobt]

I think I would keep my car as long as it serves me well. At this times when the economy is not quite moving upward as what we all been expecting, it is fine to own the old things that still work. Just being practical.

[snafu]

I believe, anyone who needs to replace an unreliable car would likely be able to negotiate a better price, terms and conditions in an uncertain or down market than in buoyant circumstance.

[emanon1501]

Consumer Report suggested to replace the car if the cost of the repair is equal or greater than what the car is worth.

[shanecurran]

Originally Posted by emanon1501

Consumer Report suggested to replace the car if the cost of the repair is equal or greater than what the car is worth.

I wonder how many economists it took to come up with this idea. LOL

[tripods68]

When you blow a "piston, valve engine, or axle "replacement" thats when you say "screw this!" its time to buy another car with low mileage, reliable, used vehicle.