Community Forums

GlenB · 03-10-2020, 10:10 AM

I have a 2008 Honda Odyssey Van. It has 175000 miles on it. I have never kept a car this long. But with retirement and the cost on new ones I am more open to it. The Honda has had all service kept up and it drives great. Your thoughts on driving older cars..tks GlenB

KiteSquid · 03-10-2020, 10:16 AM

Run it till it costs 60% or more of its value....

Arch Hoagland · 03-10-2020, 10:40 AM

We own a 2000 Lexus and a 2004 Lexus. They will be inherited by our kids.

The new cars are a real pain to repair when the electronics go out plus they cost a fortune to purchase.

The profit at a car dealership doesn't come from the sales, it's the repair department that brings in the dough. Same with RVs.

TonyMac · 03-10-2020, 10:51 AM

I still have the 65 Impala Convertible I graduated from college with in 1979. My 95 Surburban I bought in 2002 has 275,000 and my 2000 Blazer ZR-2 I bought in 2006 has 300,000. If one takes care of these things, they will last. Or one can eat a big depreciation loss every few years.

A32Deuce · 03-10-2020, 10:56 AM

If you can do your own maintenance and some repairs, keep it. Took DWs Escape in for an oil change. 2004 with 136000 miles. They said it needed $6000 in repairs for oil leaks. I looked up the gaskets and at Rockauto under $100. I understand shop costs but I can fix for a lot less then $175 an hour.

RickNC · 03-10-2020, 11:00 AM

I always kept business trucks and vans for 6-8 years or until they weren’t safe or cost effective. Our personal cars we usually kept 3-4 years. That was dumb but they were as much toys as transportation. Currently we have a 2008 Toyota that just cracked 100k miles and the 2012 Tacoma that I drive has 71K on it. We won’t replace either of them until they are no longer viable. Motorhome will probably catch up to them in a couple of years.

RickNC · 03-10-2020, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A32Deuce

If you can do your own maintenance and some repairs, keep it. Took DWs Escape in for an oil change. 2004 with 136000 miles. They said it needed $6000 in repairs for oil leaks. I looked up the gaskets and at Rockauto under $100. I understand shop costs but I can fix for a lot less then $175 an hour.

6K will buy a whole lot of oil. [emoji3]

rgvtexan · 03-10-2020, 11:28 AM

I have a 74, 75, 01, 12.

The 12 Flex ( bought 15) is the toad and daily driver, but the others are in great shape and very dependable.

We had an 02 Odyssey, my Son's SIL still drives. >250K

Many times I wish I kept it.

vsheetz · 03-10-2020, 11:39 AM

If the car is in good condition and runs well, keep driving it till in requires a major money to fix something.

We typically keep a primary vehicle 10+ years. Secondary vehicles longer.

Currently:

1991 Ford Pickup

2005 Jeep Wrangler (toad and toy)

2018 Toyota Avalon (recently bought from Hertz used cars - to replace a 2009 Nissan Altima whose transmission went bad (a known issue...)). If the Nissan had not died a early death we would still be driving it.

Mark_K5LXP · 03-10-2020, 12:08 PM

I've owned a few cars now long enough they were old enough to vote. No question as they decompose there are repairs that need to be made that those who trade in every few years never encounter, like batteries, tires, brakes and other sundry events. The way I look at it is most anything that happens amounts to a car payment or two on a newer car, and they don't happen very often. So I enjoy many years of payment free ownership which frees up funds for other stuff. I know a number of people that can't see owning a car after the warranty is expired and are literally so scared of having a failure of any kind, writing that check every month is a ransom they happily pay. I think about the purchase and insurance costs I've saved over the years and that far offsets any repairs I've made. I'm also not afraid to spend what an old car is worth to fix it. I think if you use that metric I've bought my 25 year old ranger a couple times now. But when you run the numbers the cost of ownership is still far less than newer cars plus opportunity cost. If someone bashes into it I have no angst just walking away and not deal with the issues of insurance recovery and replacement. DW has the "nice" (newer) car but I'm perfectly content in the "seasoned" vehicle I knock around in.

Much like RV's, it really helps if you're "handy", or at least willing to try fixing your old cars. I will gladly buy any specialized tool or equipment to perform any job required. Even if chances are I'll never need it again the cost of the tool is cheaper than paying some guy a hundred and a quarter an hour to do something you could do yourself if you had the tool. So overall I'm still ahead and have a well-stocked tool chest to show for it.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

Itchytoe · 03-10-2020, 12:23 PM

I had 1 truck that made it a little over 400,000 miles. I had another one that was around 250,000 miles. My current one is knocking on 160,000. I'm not afraid of a high mileage vehicle. Oldest vehicle age wise that I've had was 12 years old.

baraff · 03-10-2020, 12:38 PM

DW has a 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover with 140,000 miles on it. We will keep it til we move in a couple years or until it needs something major, whichever comes first.
It has been a great car. Been rear-ended twice and repaired, wife used it for commuting.
It's a shame Suzuki pulled out of the US market because we would have bought another.
I have 2012 Subaru Impreza, 5 speed manual. I will drive that til it collapses underneath me. It's getting pretty difficult to find manual transmission cars these days. Makes a great toad, too.

Xmcdog · 03-10-2020, 01:06 PM

I envoy folks that can run the same vehicle for years.
Here in Nova Scotia Canada, they salt the roads. I mean heavily. Why? I still haven't figured that out. Teach people to drive on winter roads. There are more killed because now they expect the same traction in the middle of a blizzard as they do in summer. Ain't necessarily so.
The result is that cars rust and in spite of undercoating every year, by the time a few years have passed the body is seriously weakened and cannot protect the occupants in a realitivly minor accident. So we wind up replacing the vehicles every 4-5 years. It sucks but what can one do?

TCollins · 03-10-2020, 02:05 PM

I have a 2013 Toyota Camry with around 130K on it. We bought it from Hertz rental company. The only problem I've had was with the torque converter. Toyota replaced it under an extended warranty. I will probably get rid of it this year since it sits fairly low and is difficult for me to get in and out of.