How Often Do You Buy a New Car?

I

imp

Senior Member
Or, put another way, how old is your car, and when (or will) will you replace it. Brand new? Or used? imp
 

I replaced my car last Christmas not because the old one had broken down , but due to the fact it had done 300.000 km it was still running as good as it did when I bought it 17 years earlier ,but I decided I'd update it to a newer car considering we were at that stage traveling to Adelaide almost 400 km return trip every other weekend for dancing my old faithful was a Holden Nova which was made by Toyota .. My newer one is a Toyota Corolla 2004 model .. we are thinking about maybe only having one car between us next year as we rarely go out alone and don't travel to Adelaide as much
 
We just replaced both our cars in the last 2 years.. Traded a 2002 Jeep LIberty for a 2014 jeep Cherokee

and a 2008 Jeep Commander for a 2015 jeep Cherokee.
 

We're just starting to have that discussion again. My wife's 2002 Lexus has about 150,000 miles on it and we just spent over $1,900 on it for repairs. Hoping it will last another year, but the brutal New England winters and lack of a garage, have taken a toll in terms of rust in the underbody. My Acura is about 7 years old, but because I primarily used it to commute to the train station for most of those years, it has low mileage. My mechanic told me last week that it needs new tires, as even though I've had low mileage, the tires are showing rot due to age. Between that expense and the fact that the car is low to the ground (sport model), we're thinking of replacing it with a new SUV. Normally we'd keep a car at least 10 years, but may have to bite the bullet and get something more suitable and comfortable for the amount of driving we anticipate doing over the next few years while we tour the country.
 
We bought our Citroen Xsara Picasso new in 2003. Had 82,000 miles on it but is getting to the point where things need replacing/fixing. We were thinking about trading it in for a smaller used car next year, but then decided to keep it since it's good for transporting our electric bikes. The bikes are too heavy for a normal bike rack, and we can take the back seats out of car and put the bikes in.

We don't do a lot of miles since we get the bus for free all over Scotland. One year we only did 2,000 miles.

Before retirement we had two cars.
 
Jujube, your car is a mere youngster compared to mine! We bought our Toyota Camry in 1999, and it's still going strong, with only 73,000 miles on it. (We mainly used the other car when my husband was alive.) I also occasionally get tempted to get a new car, mainly because I like all the safety features, but can't bring myself to do it.
 
2008 Chevy Malibu (2008 "car of the year") with less than 34k miles on it. Bought it new and it will be my last car.
 
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I have a 1997 Dodge Dakota 4wd pickup with only about 85,000 miles on it...looks and runs almost like new. We keep it in case of bad weather in the Winter. Our primary car is a 2006 Impala LTZ with only about 55K on it...and again, in good shape. Outside of routine oil/filter changes, and normal stuff like tires and batteries, every few years, both vehicles have had minimal troubles. I get the new car/truck itch every now and then, but it doesn't take long to see the futility in spending 10's of thousands to replace these vehicles. Since we probably only put 6 or 7 thousand miles a year on these, anymore, It seems a waste of money to trade vehicles. I sure don't need some of these Gee Whiz things like built in WiFi, and cell phone ports, etc.
I supported Detroit long enough, when I was driving 25K a year...now, its kind of nice to put that money to something else that we can enjoy.
 
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Why I Asked

Our primary ride is a 2004 Explorer, with the Overhead Cam V-6. The Explorer Forum I am on has many threads related to this engine. One guy has 416,000 miles on it, others say 100,000+ is asking for trouble. Ours has 150,000 now, bought it in 2010 (while my wife was away helping her Mom with the new "knees"), with 92,000 miles on it. We had been discussing selling the old one, but still, not being part of the decision process to buy annoyed her some. It was an opportunity as the seller was a young woman who had taken a job with the State of Alaska, and they gave her 2 weeks to "be there"; she left the Exp in the hands of her boyfriends mother and her uncle. Clean as a whistle, I gave $7,000 for it, I think Bluebook then was about 10-11.

I want to sell it while it is still saleable. She says no. Our other vehicles are 1990 F-150 pickup and a 26-foot F-700 ex-Ryder Rental box truck. Our finances are not laudable. We will try to get $6000 for the big truck, have no idea if it's saleable here. Registration (Missouri) expired, no insurance, it sits like a huge yellow behemoth beside the garage.

Explorer engine designed and built in Cologne, Germany, has the usual German-Engineering complexity not usually seen in Ford products. I know what it's likely failure faults are, timing-chain guide failure, requires removal of engine from vehicle to fix. Don't know if I'm still up to that type endeavor. Want to believe I am.....imp
 
Sunny said:
Jujube, your car is a mere youngster compared to mine! We bought our Toyota Camry in 1999, and it's still going strong, with only 73,000 miles on it. (We mainly used the other car when my husband was alive.) I also occasionally get tempted to get a new car, mainly because I like all the safety features, but can't bring myself to do it.
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Can't beat those Toyotas for longevity. Mine is a Corolla. I used to have a Camry but sold it when it hit almost 200,000 miles. It was still running but the air conditioning was shot and I couldn't see putting that much money into it. Years ago I had a diesel Mercedes that I had "inherited" from my parents, who had picked it up at the factory in Germany in 1970. It got to almost 275,000 miles before giving up the ghost. I sold it to my mechanic, who put a gas engine in it and used it for a demolition derby car. A fitting end.
 
I personally would not consider buying any other car than a Toyota . I've had toyotas most of my driving life they just go and go .. and rarely give any trouble (I have never had any trouble with mine ) The first Toyota I had, I bought new in 1980 .. Only had Toyotas since
 
I bought a new (to me) car last December...I'd had the previous one for 2 years ( used Skoda fabia saloon) and it kept breaking down, so I got rid of it and bought this Ford Fusion SUV , which touch wood has been great so far ..I've only ever bought a brand new car once on finance..it took me 3 years to pay off with all the interest..never again..I always pay cash now and buy used..preferable 2 or 3 years old!
 
I usually pay cash.. and did so for the 2014... However I took a 0% interest loan for the 2015.. which I won't be paying off early... It defeats the purpose of a 0% loan...
 
Butterfly's Remark

"Car prices now are ridiculous"

Agreed and understood. Nonetheless, I'm told that adjusted for inflation, loss of value" of the dollar, and whatever other B.S. the economists factor in, the prices today are in line with prices of the 1960s.

I maintain, dollar for dollar, that may be true. But, overlooked is the huge change from back then when labor intensity was very high, to today, with the robotics which have replaced assembly line workers. Robots get: no Company benefits, insurance, etc. More importantly, no Employer-matched Social Security taxes are paid on them. No paychecks. Begin no lawsuits against the employer. Nom paid breaks during the workday. Work 24/7. Pay no Union dues.

Robots are "in". Still, when the Mustang was introduced in April, 1964, the base price was a tad over $2000. Today it's ten times that. Also, looking at an ad yesterday, a car with base price of $28,000 was priced "as equipped" at $45,900! WTH could possibly have been hung onto that car to double, almost, it's price? imp
 
The first time I bought a new vehicle was in 1986(Nissan truck); I just bought a new Toyota Corolla this past April for my coming-out-of-retirement transportation. I kept my '99 Ford F-150 rather than using it as a trade-in.
 
"I always pay cash now and buy used..preferable 2 or 3 years old!"

Best possible way to go. My brother in law always said as soon as you drive a brand new car out of the showroom, it loses 20% of it's value. imp
 

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