I think I'll keep my older vehicle's for a while longer.

squatting dog

squatting dog

Remember when... thirty seemed so old.
Location
Arkansas, and also Florida
Watching Uncle Tony's Garage, and he stumbled onto another way the car manufacturers are putting the screws to the consumer.
How about wanting to replace a broken inner door handle on a 2024-25 Chevy pickup? Used to be simple. But, no... not today. Only $385 for the entire inner door panel because the handle is no longer a serviceable part. :mad:



 

I have always bought new and driven cars until they became totally unreliable, usually around 12-13 years.

As things get more and more complicated/expensive, I think it makes more sense, for me, to lease or buy new every two or three years and accept the cost of ownership as the price of transportation.

Actually, at this point in my life, I would be way ahead financially to buy my transportation by the ride using a car service like Uber or Lyft but I’m not quite ready to let go of my keys/fob.
 

Years ago my daughter bought a used Nissan compact and it was a lousy car. So I advised her to lease as a way to always drive a reliable vehicle.

I think turning over your car every 3 years keeps you away from expensive repairs. But it must take a toll on your budget to always have a car payment.

I've been driving a 19 yr old Accord and have no idea what I'll do if it stops being reliable.

I certainly don't relish a newer car with Turbo charged small cylinders and the notorious CVT transmission. Or hybrid technology. All expensive to repair.

In my lifetime, I've never bought a car priced over $13,000. Now the cheapest used car is over $20,000 for the same number of miles I was able to buy in years before.
 
I think there's an even bigger argument for hanging on as long as it isn't costing more than a monthly payment. The initial cost. I heard, I was working in the kitchen, on the news last night that a new car was averaging 50K a few months ago. 50K? A car? And they weren't talking Tesla.

I've always driven my vehicles forever as long as they were mechanically sound. My truck will be 15 yrs old in August. I have no plans replacing it in what's left of my driving career.
 
Just drove my 2009 Toyota AWD Matrix (180k mi) on a 400 mile round trip with no problems. This is our winter car. And for more local travel I use our 99 rusted out Toyota Camry (280k mi) which runs great but is ready to break in two from rust. And have two vehicles garaged up for the winter, a 99 Chev Suburban (my truck) and the 08 Corolla (95k mi) which is our preferred trip vehicle and back up car.
 
Currently drive a 2006 Subaru Outback that has 148k miles on it. The big 2.5ltr flat four engine is quiet and powerful, and coupled to the auto transmission is quite smooth as well. My wife drives a 2005 Ford Focus mk2 1600 that has just turned 100k miles. Like my Subaru, hers is an auto box and it's a good one too. The tappets are noisy, but other than that it's very reliable for her as she only drives around 3 miles per day during the week, going to work and back.

I don't think either of us will be changing our cars soon, as the ones we now have are more than adequate for the mileage and use we put them to.
 
Paco Dennis said:
After about 14 years of various vehicles i have owned here in mid Missouri they rust out from the bottom up. The winter salt is rough on the underside from the snow plows. I went through the floor of my old VW bug in an accident. I wasn't hurt but my car was. :)
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I had an old Buick that was rusted out like that back in 1980's. The floor was so rusted out that anyone riding in the back seat had to keep their feet up to keep from burning them on the muffler. And the exhaust sysyem was leaking pretty bad too. I always drove with the windows open even when it was cold so as not to pass out from carbon monoxide. :D
 
Trade said:
I had an old Buick that was rusted out like that back in 1980's. The floor was so rusted out that anyone riding in the back seat had to keep their feet up to keep from burning them on the muffler. And the exhaust sysyem was leaking pretty bad too. I always drove with the windows open even when it was cold so as not to pass out from carbon monoxide. :D
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I had an old 58 chevy wagon that had a huge rust hole in the floor of the back seat. Worked out good as I kept a bucket of ashes with me and on the hills, the passenger would shake some out the hole for traction. Also, in Vermont, it seemed that every Mopar had a rusted torsion bar mount and leaned to one side and every big Ford had a rope or bungie cord holding up the rear bumper. :ROFLMAO:
 
My Honda Civic is 23 years old. It still gets me where I need to go. Has 140000+ miles. AC and door chime alarm don't work, but considering the repair costs to these items (AC repair would exceed the car's wholesale value), it's not economically feasible.
New cars have so many bells and whistles that I don't need or would use and have to pay for them, phhhtttt!
 
squatting dog said:
I had an old 58 chevy wagon that had a huge rust hole in the floor of the back seat. Worked out good as I kept a bucket of ashes with me and on the hills, the passenger would shake some out the hole for traction. Also, in Vermont, it seemed that every Mopar had a rusted torsion bar mount and leaned to one side and every big Ford had a rope or bungie cord holding up the rear bumper. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
I remember seeing cars literally falling apart on the highways when I lived in Ohio. I once was following a Ford station wagon and the gas tank dropped out from under the car, but the driver kept going. I knew he was not going to get far, so I followed him. When he ran out of gas I pulled behind him and asked if he knew his gas tank fell out. He said “No.”

I also saw a headlamp fall out on a Chrysler and a taillight fall out on another Ford. Living up around the lake (Erie) it’s not unusual to see cars falling apart back in the 70’s.

Every year, it seems like auto manufacturers put a part on an automobile that needs a special tool to take it off, if needed. Many of the new vehicles have those super large covers or shrouds that go over the engine. You spend too much time to take them off so you can work on the vehicle. On GM vehicles, a lot of the fuel pumps are located in the gas tank. The new Equinox’s have 2 fuel pumps on them and both of them require hours to replace.
 
Been There said:
I remember seeing cars literally falling apart on the highways when I lived in Ohio. I once was following a Ford station wagon and the gas tank dropped out from under the car, but the driver kept going. I knew he was not going to get far, so I followed him. When he ran out of gas I pulled behind him and asked if he knew his gas tank fell out. He said “No.”

I also saw a headlamp fall out on a Chrysler and a taillight fall out on another Ford. Living up around the lake (Erie) it’s not unusual to see cars falling apart back in the 70’s.

Every year, it seems like auto manufacturers put a part on an automobile that needs a special tool to take it off, if needed. Many of the new vehicles have those super large covers or shrouds that go over the engine. You spend too much time to take them off so you can work on the vehicle. On GM vehicles, a lot of the fuel pumps are located in the gas tank. The new Equinox’s have 2 fuel pumps on them and both of them require hours to replace.
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Speaking of rusty cars, here's the Plymouth I had that still ran great even though the frame had broken, the headlight on one side fell out and the other fender fell off, plus, the gas tank was in the trunk because the holding straps had rusted away. :eek: Seeing that it stll ran, I used it, just the way you see it. (in the daytime of course) to get off the mountain and get some supplies. :)

Oh, the singer truck was there to fix the woman's sewing machine, (remember when repair people came to you), and got stuck in the mud. Called the local gas station guy to pull him out. I knew my Plymouth wouldn't do it, so, I didn't think the Pontiac wagon would do it, but, it did.
Oh, the memories.


54.jpg
 
Minor wear and tear with my 20 year old Honda; low mileage (63K). When mechanic tells me something needs to be replaced, i tell him oh i am going to sell it next spring. he said why? this will run forever if u take care of it.
 

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