OT - What is the longest you kept a car?
- Thread starter Crimedog2
- Start date
I had a '98 Ford Ranger that I finally sold in late 2005 when I bought my first A4. It was basically a "station car", was in mint condition and had 93,000 miles on it when my "for sale" ad in the Asbury Park Press sparked a bidding war that I finally stopped at $4500.00 - for a little stripper pickup that cost me $10,600.00 when it was new.
I still have my '07 Saab 9-3 that I bought CPO in 2009 but it doesn't get driven much anymore.
Beyond that, I tend to turn over my daily drivers about every 3 years.
I still have my '07 Saab 9-3 that I bought CPO in 2009 but it doesn't get driven much anymore.
Beyond that, I tend to turn over my daily drivers about every 3 years.
2002 Saab 93 Convertible...102,050 original miles. Mostly garage kept...you know, if anyone wants a nice summer beach car...lol
Funny, I bought a 1996 Maxima brand new (manual transmission) and kept it until 2011. A tree fell on it in late 2010 denting the roof and back trunk. Insurance company totalled it even though it still ran perfectly, just looked real ugly. I took the money and still drove the car until April 2011 when I traded it in on our MDX.
My '98 Ford Windstar is just shy of 200,000 miles, still runs strong, never had a major problem with it. It's semi-retired now...I use it occasionally to haul oversized objects like furniture, drywall etc.
I usually buy... in fact, I've only leased twice. The aforementioned Ranger was a lease ($99 a month for 36 months) and my current Escape is a lease (expires in November). I guess my wife would say that 3 years is the limit of my automotive attention span, which probably isn't too far from the truth. I also tend to put a lot of miles on a car and hold a strong conviction about not owning them once they're out of warranty.
'01 Honda Accord for 13 years. 165k. It still ran fine but had to get rid of it because the salt from living at the beach had rotted out the car to the point where a mechanic told me the engine might fall out.
I have a 1995 Civic which I've owned since about 2001ish. Approaching 200k, only about 70k which are mine. Great car, only issues I ever have are superficial, broken door handle, or windshield wiper switch(which my girlfriend actually fixed by stuffing a plastic bag in there, Im not questioning it, lol).
Keep you car/truck maintained and they will run forever. I have taken 3 vehicles over the 250k mark. A Ford Bronco II well over 300k, a 1995 Ford F-150 to 260K and a 2004 Ford F-150 to 280k. I loved the 1995 truck and searched for a few years to find a low mileage, in good shape version. Finally I found my current vehicle a year ago with 88k. A 1995 Scarlet Red Ford F-150.
My current car is a 2001 Saturn that I got used in 2005, so that's 10 years (and a total car age of 14 years). The next closest is a 1986 Honda that I got used in 1995 that I had until 2004, for 9 years (total car age of 18 years).
Currently driving a
2002 Chevy Avalanche 2500, V8 8.1 L engine.....150K miles on it (This is my secondary car and is the family truck to borrow when things need to be moved)
2005 Sable 115K miles on it
I plan on driving both of these till they drop.
Had a 98 Chevy Lumina last until 2013 (it was hard to kill that car, but daughter figured out a way to do it)
2002 Chevy Avalanche 2500, V8 8.1 L engine.....150K miles on it (This is my secondary car and is the family truck to borrow when things need to be moved)
2005 Sable 115K miles on it
I plan on driving both of these till they drop.
Had a 98 Chevy Lumina last until 2013 (it was hard to kill that car, but daughter figured out a way to do it)
I just had to replace the catalytic converter of my 98'Cavalier.122K.
The way I figure it:If the cost of repairs exceeds the additional car insurance on a new vehicle for 3 straight years,it's time to junk it.So far,it hasn't.I'm still ahead.
Of course other considerations are the car's safety and needing it for work.
Finally,there is the matter of the sales tax.
There has to be a enterprising group in Delaware who could run a bogus charity/foundation to split the difference with residents of nearby states.When computers were expensive and gas cheap,I twice went to Wilmington to pick up a computer.
The way I figure it:If the cost of repairs exceeds the additional car insurance on a new vehicle for 3 straight years,it's time to junk it.So far,it hasn't.I'm still ahead.
Of course other considerations are the car's safety and needing it for work.
Finally,there is the matter of the sales tax.
There has to be a enterprising group in Delaware who could run a bogus charity/foundation to split the difference with residents of nearby states.When computers were expensive and gas cheap,I twice went to Wilmington to pick up a computer.
good luck getting 2k for it on a trade in. My friend traded in an 02 Corolla with 145k miles and had to fight the dealer to get a little over 1k.
In a year or so you will probably be over 160-165k miles.
My first new car, my 1987 Monte Carlo SS: kept it for 18 years and 256K miles. I loved that car (and had done some work on it), but, unfortunately, it had been a daily driver for the first 10 years of its life, including during the winter when I had a separate set of rims and snow tires I'd swap on, so it had major body rot and got failed for inspection. To remedy that would have been a huge amount of money, so I donated it.
My dad bought a 1988 Honda Accord Lxi hatchback with a 'salvage' title in '94. Being a mechanic at the time, he fixed up the frame and body panels nicely. We kept it until 2005. Up to 130k miles it ran great with no major issues, just a busted A/C he managed to fix and snapped rack-and-pinion component that was easily replaced from a junker. Still a little sad that my first car was traded in for a $1k lease down payment deduction.
Despite renting in the city, I don't plan on giving up my 2011 WRX anytime soon. Still looks great, incredibly fast, and unsurprisingly practical wagon interior/AWD.
Despite renting in the city, I don't plan on giving up my 2011 WRX anytime soon. Still looks great, incredibly fast, and unsurprisingly practical wagon interior/AWD.
I had a 2001 Nissan Sentra that I put 250,000 miles on it. The day before hurricane Sandy it died in my driveway. I had a mechanic look at it and he told me its not worth fixing at this point. The next day it was in 3 feet of water and then my chimney cap blew off and it hit my car smashing the rear windshield. I think the car gods were telling me that they wanted to make sure this car was sent to the junkyard.
One of my friends is a car salesman at a dealer. Cars that are more than 5 years old and have more than 100K miles are sold to auction houses producing profits in the range of $200-$300/car. That's terrible, but they'd rather get something for it than keep it on the lot where it would take up precious real estate.
I'm going to attempt to sell it privately (for around 2K, which folks on Civic forums are currently paying for similar vintage). But if that proves to be more trouble than it's worth, you're absolutely right -- $1000 it is.
I have a 1996 Plymouth van that was GIVEN to me in 2004.........11 years later it still runs like a top!
'04 honda accord coupe...still going strong. granted, I have only 80k miles on it. combination of short commute at my last job, and lots of air travel and working from home at my current job, not too many opportunities to rack up miles.
You won't get that much for a trade-in. Last year we tried to trade in my wife's 2000 Honda Civic EX (over 160k miles) but the dealer wouldn't budge over $700. Our mechanic offered us $3000 for it so we took the money and ran.
As for the longest I have had a car, I bought a leftover 2003 BMW Z4 in 2005 and still have it (71k miles).
Last edited:
Bought a '91 Civic in '93 and drove it until Jan 2008, when it died on the way home from the International Bowl in Toronto, with 250K miles on it. Some may recall the story: it had had a slow oil leak (I thought slow) and on the ride home the oil light came on and within a minute or so I heard the horrible grinding that can only be the pistons and pushrods and associated parts being torn asunder, due to a completely oil-free engine.
Fortunately, I was able to coast down an exit ramp in Scranton, PA, right into a parking lot. Was ugly when I popped the hood. More fortunately, my buddy silentwillie was about an hour behind me and actually picked up his cell phone when I called and picked me up and drove me home with his family (nice guy). Still not sure why the light didn't come on (I had topped off the oil on the way up and the light usually came on when I was down 1-2 quarts). Might still have that car otherwise.
I keep my cars for a long time.
Daily driver is a 1999 BMW Z3 coupe with 155,000 miles/16 years
Recently donated my 2001 Ford Expedition with 267,000 miles/14 years. 5.4L engine and transmission were still running like a champ, but needed other services that cost more than the value of the vehicle
Gave my 1996 Bronco to my daughter. It has 160,000 miles and keeps on running
Past high mileage vehicles:
Daily driver is a 1999 BMW Z3 coupe with 155,000 miles/16 years
Recently donated my 2001 Ford Expedition with 267,000 miles/14 years. 5.4L engine and transmission were still running like a champ, but needed other services that cost more than the value of the vehicle
Gave my 1996 Bronco to my daughter. It has 160,000 miles and keeps on running
Past high mileage vehicles:
- 1983 RX7 died in driveway after accumulating 250,000 miles/12 years
- 1995 Saab 900S, replaced the RX7 and got 230,000 miles/12 years of use before it was totaled by a driver running a red light
- 1996 Bronco (bought used in 2007) donated after accumulating 260,000 miles and significant rear panel rust
- 1991 Explorer sold to a neighbor for $1 after reaching 250,000 miles. Replaced it with the 2001 Expedition.
Last edited:
I have a 2002 GMC Sierra pick up truck. I bought it new and have 288,000 miles on it. I'm thinking of buying a new truck, but it runs great and it's great for tailgating. It's been nice not having a car payment for the past eight years.
Mine is 13 years 2 months. Bought it brand new when it had 7 miles on it. I was kicking around the idea of buying a new car about 6 months ago but it is still running fine and the insurance is now dirt cheap. It's a Hyundai. It still looks good and I still love it, I just wish it got better fuel millage.
In 1999 I bought a new 911Carrera convertible. By the end of the next winter I bought a new 2000 Grand Cherokee- anything more than an inch of snow will paralyze the 911. sold the 911 a few years later but still have the jeep 15 yrs, 120,000 miles and multiple nanny dents later.
I have a 2002 Buick LeSabre which I bought new. I take the train to work,, so only have 55,000 miles on the car. It's in very good condition. Recently I had to have some significant front end work done but have no intention of getting rid of it. It runs well and I expect to have it at least another 4 or 5 years.
Latest posts
-
-
-
Basketball Rutgers Basketball suffers 81-74 loss to Michigan State at MSG
- Latest: colonel_rutgers
