Posted on 08/31/2007 10:27:15 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
By keeping your car for 15 years, or 225,000 miles of driving, you could save nearly $31,000, according to Consumer Reports magazine. That's compared to the cost of buying an identical model every five years, which is roughly the rate at which most car owners trade in their vehicles.
In its annual national auto survey, the magazine found 6,769 readers who had logged more than 200,000 miles on their cars. Their cars included a 1990 Lexus LS400 with 332,000 miles and a 1994 Ford Ranger pick-up that had gone 488,000 miles.
Consumer Reports calls the Honda Civic a "Good bet" to make it to 200,000 miles.
Calculating the costs involved in buying a new Honda Civic EX every five years for 15 years - including depreciation, taxes, fees and insurance - the magazine estimated it would cost $20,500 more than it would have cost to simply maintain one car for the same period.
Added to that, the magazine factored in $10,300 in interest that could have been earned on that money, assuming a five percent interest rate and a three percent inflation rate, over that time.
The magazine found similar savings with other models.
To have much hope of making it to 200,000 miles, a car has to be well maintained, of course. The magazine recommends several steps to help your car see it through.
Follow the maintenance guide in your owner's manual and make needed repairs promptly.
Use only the recommended types of fluids, including oil and transmission fluids.
Check under the hood regularly. Listen for strange sounds, sniff for odd smells and look for fraying or bulges in pipes or belts. Also, get a vehicle service manual. They're available at most auto parts stores or your dealership.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
If your car is an Acura you barely need to do anything to get it to 200 miles other than keep it and let a good mechanic (not a Jiffy Lube) do your oil changes and inspections. They just live long. I’m over 150K on my 1993 now.
That has got to be the ugliest mobile home facade F*** up I’ve ever seen.
Older cars don’t have the latest features and some of the old features probably won’t work when needed. If it’s over ten years old it should not be on the road. My 1987 Caprice excluded.
I drove a ‘72 VW bus for 12 years that I paid $1500 dollars for. It never saw the inside of a shop. I put in a rebuilt engine early in its career and replaced the clutch and transmission about half way through.
I sold it in ‘99 and got an ‘87 VW Vanagon Syncro Westfalia in cherry condition that I still drive. I put a rebuilt motor and new transmission in that one almost right away and its been trouble free. It’s actually going up in value quite a bit.
Refrigerators no longer belong on that list, microwaves are questionable and practically all of the flashlights are pretty much disposable.
Oh, I almost forgot. In Montana I have permanent tags on it, no yearly fee and no smog, ever!
1996 Buick Roadmaster w/ LS1 engine 195,000 and no signs of dying. Best road car I ever have had. Although my 1978 Buick Riveira was great too.
Trying to hold out for the new Wildcat or Roadmaster Coupe.
It.s a pain stopping better than others.
1984 Toyota Supra. 270,000 miles. Paid $1500 for it in 1998. Runs like an absolute top. I think I’ve gotten my money’s worth.
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I have a cousin who is well off, half a dozen rental houses all paid for, a condo at Myrtle Beach, etc. He drives a Honda Accord that cost him $2000. I might buy one too but I can’t find a used Accord at that price.
My father bought a 1962 VW camper used. Imported from Germany, it had options never offered in the U.S.
My dad died in 2000, my brother now has the camper. On its’ third motor, my brother put a Porsche engine in it. (real aerodynamic) Needs a bit of work on it, but still driving strong.
It’s a pain stopping better than others.
Last year he got his driver’s license in it.
That reminds me of a 1971 Toyota truck we used to have. We bought it in 1973 as a repossessed vehicle from our credit union, for $1850. Got a loan on it in 1982 to help with the downpayment on our first house. It finally died completely in 1997 with 360,000+ miles on it (odometer broke somewhere after 300K miles). We submitted the truck for one of those Toyota commercials they ran back in the early 1990's using old Toyotas. We actually signed a contract with their ad agency to do a commercial, but were never scheduled to do it .... sigh. You got a new Toyota out of the deal if you were chosed to actually do the commercial.
Cars are not an investment. They depreciate over time.
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Well, I once bought an eight year old 57 Chevy BelAir for $500., had I put it in a building and taken care of it what would it be worth today? Just kidding, I know you are right, I doubt if I will ever own another new car, my latest purchase is a 95 F-150 EddieBauer edition extended cab with 90,000 miles for $3000., it runs and drives like new. The gas mileage is naturally awful but I don’t drive it much so it is a lot cheaper than paying a fortune for a vehicle. In my book it is one of the most comfortable vehicles I have ever ridden in, far more enjoyable than most cars.
I am green with envy! I've been casually looking for one of these for a few years, but they are now getting pretty rare, and expensive.
I had a '71 westfalia for a few years. A great vehicle. When I moved to Arizona, I had it shipped there (I had several cars that needed to go). The shipping company put the thing on the top level of the transport trailer, all the way forward. Sometime during the transit, the wind got up underneath the fiberglass pop-top, and partially lifted it. When the rig passed under the next overpass, the top hit it and ripped it right off.
Surprisingly, insurance paid to have it fixed (rather than declare it totaled). I drove it for a while, but I think the steep terrain between Sedona and Flagstaff got to it. It died one day while driving up Oak Creek Canyon.
I sold it to a college kid in New Jersey. He paid to have it shipped back there (this time in an enclosed transporter). Several months later, while he was on spring break, he showed up in it at my workplace (out in the boonies outside Flagstaff). He repaired it (the camshaft was snapped in two), and was out touring the country before school started again.
2002 GMC yukon denali............189,000 miles
1994 Olds Cutlass Supreme.....263,000 miles
2002 GMC yukon denali............189,000 miles
1994 Olds Cutlass Supreme.....263,000 miles
I never owned a Windstar but I wonder why they seem to get so much disrespect now. My brother-in-law had one and I thought it was very nice as far as minivans go. I remember talking to a veteran car salesman who said he had owned every brand of minivan made and the best of all was the Windstar, this was back in 2000.
My 65 PU has over 1.3 million miles on it and I plan to die befre I get rid of it or quit driving it.
It may be great advise, but only for those who need to follow it for pure budgetary reasons.
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Unless you are loaded to the limit with money, it is still a matter of priorities, I have known some very well off people who simply hate to spend a lot on a vehicle, they look at it as simply a way to get from point A to point B. Of course some people consider the journey the whole point, as soon as they reach a destination they are eager to go somewhere else.
They were never common and are getting less so. I noticed, reading some of the descriptins over on GoWesty that some of the “Syncro” campers the are selling for outrageous prices aren’t really Syncros at all.
http://www.gowesty.com/vehicles_for_sale.php
I’ve been tempted to sell mine and get a Honda Ridgeline, but not that tempted. I could probably sell it and get a Ridgeline straight across without too much trouble. I have a co-worker that sold a so-so 2 wheel drive online for $15,000!
I’ll take it out grouse hunting tomorrow and then on a weeks vacation the week after. I’ve only got 140,000 miles on it and am accumulating miles at less than 5,000 per year.
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