Do you drive cars "into the ground"?

I find comments about resale strange as I also tend to drive any car I own "into the ground." Two I'm sure were used as parts cars and one was shipped to Germany (it was a Mercedes and the unification had started).

 

I'll have to ask my 1989 Honda Civic Hatchback, 216k and going strong.

 

I come from a long line of people who drive their cars into the ground.

I got rid of my first car, an 84 Chevy Celebrity, at 198,000 miles. (Still wasn't burning oil either)

I got rid of my second car, a 94 Ford Explorer at 196,000 miles.

My wife's car, a 98 Chevy Malibu, currently has about 150,000 miles on it. We might dump that one early, at around 165,000 miles.

People who trade in their cars every 2 or 3 years are insane. I'm quite happy to go 5 to 7 years without a car payment once I pay off the car.

 

From what I have read here, Prius owners are a practical lot.
Trading in a car every 2 or 3 years is just not economical.
I vote to run them in the ground. I average about 12 years on each car.

Now, if my '89 Accord can just last until Jan when my new Prius is delivered...

 

i drive a car until the monthly repair cost is about the same as a new car payment would be...

 

I plan on driving my Prius 'into the ground' too!

My current car I've had for 9 years and it has almost 180K miles on it...the main reason I'm upgrading to a Prius is because I need something larger (my car's a 2-door, compact seats-2-comfortably, seats-4-uncomfortably and we're planning on starting a family within the next 2 years), with excellent gas mileage (I work in real estate and am constantly on the road), low emissions, lotsa cargo room, with all the fun gadgets that my old car doesn't have (unless you consider power windows, door locks, and cruise control 'fun gadgets' LOL).

 

I usually drive cars into the ground, if they last that long. VW Bug#1 got 100K miles before it was stolen. Bug#2 reached over 350K when I parked it and drove the VW Type3 for another 150K (still have it). Then an '81 Pontiac for about 40K, but the motor was getting fried with the awful computer control and EGR problems. Next was an '89 Corolla that got about 185K. Next was an inherited '94 Buick that was costing me too much in towing fees, alternators, and batteries so I traded it in when I bought the Prius.

I drive them until their breakdowns cost me either too much money or too much time. The American cars, sadly, hit the repair limit long before normal wearout. The German and Japanese lasted the longest.

My plan is the same for the Prius: drive it forever or until it becomes unreliable or costs too much to repair. I bet the former will never happen; the latter maybe when the battery give sup the ghost. I'm planning on a good 200K before giving it up.

 

Drive into the ground camp.

My first car was a '76 Plymouth Valiant (slant 6) with a lot of rear quarter panel body rot. Didn't drive it into the ground so much as I rolled it. (Young and stupid, sharp turns on rural highway with wet leaves).

The second car was a Chevy Malibu early 80's model. Sold it when the gas fumes on the passenger side got to be too much for my wife. Can't tell you the milage on either car.

Then there is the 1991 Honda CRX with 230k miles. Still have it but thinking of selling cause we don't use it anymore and I am still paying insurance for it.

All the above cars were also bought used to start with!!!

We still have the 1990 Toyota small pickup with 165k miles on it. She bought new before we met.

And of course the '04 Prius my first new car ever. Now with 38k miles on it. (too many 1000 mile round trips to Seattle)

 

As a qualification to my "drive it into the ground" response...the only time I got rid of a car early was after I bought my first minivan (Plymouth Voyager). I liked it so much I sold it after 3 yrs and bought a newer one with all the bells and whistles. I would still have it except at 130K my son totalled it. I bought an identical replacement which is now at 121K.

That said, I will "upgrade" to a newer hybrid only if the "payback" will make it worth it. Hard to imagine that with this car, but you never know.

I have a '97 Sebring convertible that I hope to keep until it is a classic......STOP laughing!!!!!

 

I had said someplace else that evaluating the quality of a car purchase based on potential resale value was foolish. Cars are the only durable good consumable which folks talk about resale value. A washing machine is a durable good, and nobody talks about the resale value of a washing machine as a justification for its purchase. In fact most folks run their laundry equipment into the ground. Why don't more people choose to run their cars into the ground.

After growing up with very financially conservative parents, here is what I have learned about car ownership.

1. Don't trade in cars. If you must sell them, private sell them. You will make a lot more money than in trade
2. Don't trade in cars. If you can afford to keep it around, do so. Everyone needs a beater, junker or utility vehicle that will help you preserve the nice car you just spent a lot of money on.
3. Don't trade in cars. Use the old car during the winter when some idiot is more likely to run into you than during the summer. You may know how to drive in snow and ice, but they most definitely don't.
4. Drive them till they drop. If you have crossed over 150k, you have done well. If it runs to 200k you have actually gotten more value out of the vehicle than the manufacturer ever intended.
5. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. You can't overestimate the value of good regular maintenance. Use good filters, good fluids and good parts and a competent service department when necessary and the car will keep going longer than you might expect.
6. Servicing a car is less expensive than making a car payment. Especially when the car has been paid off for years. If an average car payment is $400 and you spend $600 a year in service of an older but paid for car, you are still way ahead of the guy driving the new car with the payment.
7. When your car is paid off, keep saving that money you would put on a car payment. Makes it easier to buy the next car cash.
8. Cars are not an investment, they are a capital expense and a long term liability. You own a car so you can go to work, enjoy vacations, shop, travel, visit people and make your life easier, however the car will never pay you back, it will only require money out of your pocket for as long as you own it.

I still have the old car I drove to college. It runs. So, I keep it and use it mostly in the winter.

 

Wiser words have rarely been spoken.

I guess I'm lucky in that I can claim a lot of business mileage on my cars. Even with a gas guzzler I break even, with the Prius it's making me money. A local taxi operator, Duffy's, has reached the same conclusion and is ordering more Prius taxi cabs.

With good practical common sense, and a bypass oil filter system, almost any motor will last +300,000 miles, like the 302 V8 in my 1984 Ford F-150. Lowest compression 135. Not a desirable daily driver but sentimental attachment and it's easy to fix.

The shortest interval of any vehicle I've had was my 2000 GMC Sierra. That thing developed very troubling reliability and maintenance issues, especially the knocking Vortec motor.

 

"In fact most folks run their laundry equipment into the ground. Why don't more people choose to run their cars into the ground."

Because you don't park your washing machine in the driveway to impress the Jones'.

And you don't get hotter dates because your dryer can handle 13 towels, not 12.

 

I love this! I qualified my answer to the 100,000 to 200,000 range, because I tend to donate cars when the nickles and dimes will approximate a new car payment. I don't want to be stranded somewhere..so they probably still have a couple of good years left in them. However - I still brag the best wedding anniversary present I got was a new washer and dryer -- because you use those items every single day!!

 

I generally keep cars until I start to feel like they're unreliable (usually that means about 3-4 reasonably serious problems in, say a six-month period). That tends to work out to about 10 years / 100,000 miles. Then I trade them in (as opposed to selling them privately) because "this car is kind of unreliable" turns out not to be a really good sales pitch.

 

I drove my piece-of-junk 1976 CJ-5 Jeep for 13 years, and traded it in with about 65,000 miles on it because I wanted a car with shoulder seat belts. The Jeep had only lap belts. I got a 1989 Civic wagon and had it for about 15 years and traded it in with 106,000 miles on it (it sat unused for 6 years while I was out of the country) because I wanted a car with ABS and air bags. I was poor in those days.

I plan on trading in my '04 Prius for a new Prius as soon as they come out with the next major model revision, which I expect to be to my Prius what my Prius is to the 2001-2003 model. I would expect the next generation Prius to have greater charging/discharging efficiency, perhaps mediated by capacitors, and I'd hope it will have more battery storage for more efficient load balancing. Regardless, I expect it to be a significant advancement.

 

I have read on another Prius Message board of people taking advantage of the tax credits, tax rebates, MSRP markup, and impatient new buyers willing to pay a premium in order to significantly profit.

There is one guy from Oregon who calculates that his new 2006 Prius will be virtually free from all the buying and selling since 2001.

 

I'm kind of in-between. I usually buy used 2 or 3 year old vehicles and drive them for about 5 years. After 5 years, I'm ready for something different and newer. I also like to get some of the safety and feature advances that have come out. Also, I actually NEED a 4x4 vehicle and buying used allows me to keep things more affordable.

My wife will drive a car forever. So, I had no problem buying her a brand new Prius because I know whe will drive it for at least 8 year without complaint. By that time she will be approaching 150K on her Prius. I'll probably encourage her to get something new at that point even if she doesn't want to, because of the safety advances.