Average US vehicle age hits record 11.5 years

Associated Press ^ | Jul 29, 2015 7:29 AM EDT | Dee-Ann Durbin

[Olog-hai]

In the age of Apple’s CarPlay, a lot of cars on the road still have tape decks.

The average vehicle in the U.S. is now a record 11.5 years old, according to consulting firm IHS Automotive, a sign of the increased reliability of today’s vehicles and the lingering impact of the sharp drop in new car sales during the recession.

Drivers behind the wheel of older cars aren’t enjoying some of the latest advanced safety features or infotainment systems that effectively turn cars into cellphones on wheels. Then again, they don’t have to worry about hackers finding their way in to the car’s computer network through the cassette or CD player.

IHS said U.S. registrations grew to a record 257.9 million cars and trucks, up 2 percent from a year earlier. …

[CatherineofAragon]

I’m driving a 2004 Honda Civic. We bought it new and it hasn’t needed a single repair, other than maintenance. There’s no reason to buy another when this one is doing so well.

[MrB]

I’d love to have one of those... how many does it seat? With car seats?

[KC_Conspirator]

In the Obamaeconomy, no one can afford anything new.

[Charles Martel]

Careful there. Let your insurance company know that you added those heaters (and, yes, your rates will increase) because if the add-ons torch your car, Allstate might not want to pay. Comprende?

I added the seat heaters to my '97 Mountaineer; USAA didn't bump my rates at all (though, heated seats were an option in that year and model).

[Paladin2]

Is that a pic of the front or is it of the back?

[Charles Martel]

....the extra pull on the battery will probably compromise the electric system [as it is].

Avoid heating the cigarette lighter at the same time and you should be okay. ;-)

[sheana]

I drive a 2006 Jag that is still mint. Has been a darn good car too. I’ve test drove some new cars, Lexus, etc., and just don’t like them any better than my Jag.
Hubby has a 2012 Mercedes GLK that he has put about 7000 miles on. lol
Don’t see us buying another car real soon either.

[Bluewater2015]

Toyota
•1.5L (1A-C, 3A-C & 3E) Interference
•1.5L (3E-E & 5E-FE) Non-Interference
•1.6L DOHC (4A-F & 4A-FE) Interference
•1.6L DOHC (4A-GE & 4A-GZE) Non-Interference
•1.6L SOHC Non-Interference
•1.8L Diesel Interference
•1.8L DOHC Gasoline Interference
•2.0L Non-Interference
•2.2L Diesel Interference
•2.2L Gasoline Non-Interference
•2.4L Diesel Interference
•2.5L Non-Interference
•2.8L Non-Interference
•3.0L Inline 6 (Except 1998 2JZ-GE) Non-Interference
•3.0L Inline 6 VVT-i (1998 2JZ-GE) Interference
•3.0L V6 Non-Interference
•3.3L V6 Conflicting information, treat as though interference
•3.4L Non-Interference
•4.7L Interference

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/List_Of_Interference_Engines

[IYAS9YAS]

Let your insurance company know that you added those heaters (and, yes, your rates will increase) because if the add-ons torch your car, Allstate might not want to pay. Comprende?

Only if you carry comprehensive insurance. Why would you do that on an old car?

[Nowhere Man]

slowing becoming Cuba with a declining economy that’s worse than the phony government numbers portray ...

Looks that way. I drive a 2004 Hyundai Sonata that was Mom's after she passed. The mechanic said it still looks new on the underside. They are great cars although Hyundais of that vintage, you have to change the timing belt every 60K miles. Here in Eastern Ohio where I live now, it is resembling Cuba with the cars.

[central_va]

•3.0L V6 Non-Interference

Good news! Drive it until it breaks.

[keats5]

Huge change in our culture. I remember back when my father, a general laborer at Republic Steel, would buy an new care every year, paying “cash on the barrelhead.” Back then, people thought a 3 year old car was old.

[Nowhere Man]

Got a couple of extreme examples. I know an old amateur radio operator who has been driving the same Rambler American 990 that he bought in 1964. He drives with the wheel in one hand and the radio mike in the other, jabbering as he drives. Looked him up in the amateur radio database, he was born in 1914, 101 years old and still able to drive. He's waiting for them to improve the car before buying a new one.

There is another guy I've seen, he drives a 1905 Buick, only car he has what I'm told. Well, at the time it was fast, 62 MPH top speed and powerful with a 2 cylinder engine. B-)

[DaxtonBrown]

Dodge Intrepids, had to bury one of those. A fatal flaw from over heated oil gunking the timing chain.

[Nowhere Man]

If I ever need another car, I’d like to have one from the 1980’s.

[Nowhere Man]

The government has a solution for cars lasting longer. It’s called gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol.

I know, I had to get my fuel injector system clean out because of it. Some say that if you use injector cleaner twice a year, you might be able to prevent that. I'll give it a whirl FWIW.

[Cementjungle]

My 2005 Toyota 4Runner is still doing great... it has all of about 19,000 miles on it now. At this rate, it’ll last another 40 years!

[ctdonath2]

“I still see plenty of two-decade-old Toyota Camrys and Corollas on the road.”

Cash For Clunkers happened in 2009, wiping out a huge swath of used cars which people _would_ have sold but were paid to destroy. That meant that the large percentage of used-car drivers didn’t have much to choose from when their cars died, so (presuming they didn’t just run out and get a new car, cost being _why_ they drove old cars) they had to keep those 5-10 year old vehicles on the road until the normal used-car supply gradually refilled. Having been suitably maintained, those >10yo cars are still on the road, skewing the normal used car age average.

Tangent: I want a Jeep. Can’t afford a ~$30k for one, so am looking at the low end used. Amazing how many Jeeps up to $10k are pre-2000 models.

[Nowhere Man]

What's a tape deck?

Well, you could have a reel-to-reel in the Studebaker. B-) Seriously, back in the 1950's, Chrysler had the option of putting actual record players in cars.

[Popman]

slowing becoming Cuba with a declining economy that’s worse than the phony government numbers portray ...

Though I agree with the economy part of your statement..

I had two 1999 Toyota Camry ...We sold both a few years ago, they had over 250,000 plus miles on them...ran like tops...

I had no reason at all to buy a used or new vehicle...(I haven't done that since 1988)

The wife totaled one and the other one I sold when it had 268,000 miles on it and needed a new condenser for the AC and a complete brake job...

About a $ 1,000 for both on a car that was quickly running out of time before major work was required...

I bought a used 2006 Frontier cash to replace it...Plan to drive it until the wheels fall off it...

Anybody with more money than brains buys a car today with one in the garage with less than 200,000 miles on it, since the life of a vehicle is far, far better than in the earlier American models where getting 100,000 miles on it was a miracle...