I now drive a 2012 Honda Fit Sport that gets nearly 40 mpg on freeway. 
Posted on 04/02/2012 1:17:12 AM PDT by blueplum
The economy remains wobbly, unemployment is still high and yet people are buying new cars at a pace that would suggest a sweeping wave of prosperity.
Even auto industry analysts concede that it's counterintuitive … until you take a closer look at what's being traded in for new wheels.
[snip]
David Rodgers, senior vice president and general manager of the Sullivan Automotive Group, which oversees John L. Sullivan Chevrolet and Roseville Toyota in the Roseville Automall, said that, more than car age, he's been struck by the high mileage he's seeing on trade-ins.
"The average (age) is running about three to four years older than what we were seeing before (the recession), but the mileage is what is really noticeable," he said. "We're seeing 200,000 to 250,000 miles on some cars, where we were seeing 85,000 to 130,000 or 140,000 before."
[snip]
In last year's third quarter, R.L. Polk & Co. said the average length of ownership among U.S. motorists who had purchased a car new hit a record 71 months. Likewise, retention of vehicles originally bought used climbed to an all-time high of 50 months.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/01/4379965/as-us-car-sales-pick-up-trade.html#storylink=cpy
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Nobody trades in a car with 200,000 miles. A dealer will give you maybe $1000 bucks? Not worth it. Most are given away or held as a spare car. Story is bunk.
I would say that the only folks doing a 200k mile car trade-in....might be college kids who inherited dad’s old car and have finally graduated from college. Otherwise, a 200k car is virtually worthless and ought to be the families ‘third’ car for junior to drive or be dad’s back-up car.
I would say this as well....if this was a Honda Civic....it’s just getting broke-in at 200k miles and might still be around at 500k miles.
‘02 Civic Si - 262,000
Runs perfectly - 31 MPG 160 hp
Why trade?
Because Obama demands it to boost the economy.
Don't scaff, he's one Supreme Court vote from making Americans buy pretty much whatever he deems.
Because Obama demands it to boost the economy.
Don't scoff, he's one Supreme Court vote from making Americans buy pretty much whatever he deems.
Why? Because its a civic? :)
Notice how they don't even mention that Cash for Clunkers probably FUBAR'd the entire normal purchase cycles above and beyond O'bozo's economy, which was one of his deals and the RINO's went along with it (heck I think a RINO from MI was a big part of it Candice Miller).
On top of that..
They don't talk to Auto Engineers. Discussions with my "auto gnomes" have been in this arena as well. For all the crap "The Big Three" got over the years especially before 2 of them went belly up, their durability and durability testing in regards to the auto's life span would suprise many. They are lasting up to 250,000 miles without batting an eye-lash ( minus the mid life electrical stuff that needs changing and that is for the imports too, Starters, Alternators, Batteries etc ) .
Interesting how that never enters into the equation.
I become more amazed all the time at how dealers have Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks sitting on their lots that are 10 years old and may have 130K or more miles on them and they still want over $10,000 for them. About $12K is all I believe I can reasonably afford for a vehicle and even then I still end up financing it for about 3/4 of a year before I get it paid off. I wish cars still cost about $4K like my parents vehicles did when I was a kid.
I have a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 6cyl, with 176k and it runs well, bought cash and I’ll keep it. My other Grand Cherokees - 1987 LTD 6cyl, 1994 LTD V8 - all had 275k on them when I traded them in, and got a few thousand for each, since they were in perfect condition, yet high mileage. Screw the electronics-laden “new cars”. I never use 90% of that Blu-this/Blu-that/popping-up screens/drop-down screens etc etc. They all come thru “loaded” with crap. Maybe I’ll start looking around for an older, clean, used car next time wo/ electronics doo-dad junk.
“a 200k car is virtually worthless and ought to be the families ‘third’ car for junior to drive or be dad’s back-up car.”
For an increasing number of people this is “the” car. I don’t know why the guy in the article is surprised by the high mileage of trade-ins; where has he been the last 10 years?
“a lot of ppl putting off buying cars until they absolutely have to.”
Absolutely, and when they do have to the best ones are already a couple of years old with some original warranty remaining. The problem is that those now cost what the new ones cost ten years ago.
Who in hell can afford to purchase a brand new vehicle of any make when the cost of living is so inflated?While at the same time the amount of pay you get is basicly static.
I own a 2003 Nissan pickup and even though I want to replace it with a Ford F-150,The cost of the vehicle,Insurance,Finance charges and of coarse the sales taxes paid to the State of Connecticut would make a purchase prohibitive to me.
Our civic is a ‘98 with 125k. I had it painted and the headlight lenses polished and it looks like new.
It gets 32 mpg on the road if we drove it much on the road.
I have a 2004 Nissan Frontier and I cannot wait to get rid of that hunk of junk.
I long for the days when I had a ‘98 Civic. It was a 5 speed and I averaged 33 around town and 38 on the interstate. During weather where all I needed was a vent with windows rolled up I once got 42mpg on a 140 mile round trip once. That’s a little better than alot of hybrids.
I recently purchased a 1998 Camry with only 41,000 miles. The old lady that owned it couldn’t drive anymore. Under $5k and good for a very long time.
Sometimes the manufacturers offer crazy lease incentives. I bought my car in 2009, it was a bad time for the car companies anyway but they offered a 20% discount on the price if I leased the car. So I leased the car for 3 years, then bought it out of the lease with a 2 year financing deal. Roughly the same as financing it for 5 years but with a 20% savings off the top. Before I bought it I checked the value, I was 30% ahead of similar used car asking prices. To this day I don’t know why they offered that leasing discount. Maybe I ended up paying the sales tax twice, I didn’t think about that until now.
-—I own a 2003 Nissan pickup and even though I want to replace it with a Ford F-150,The cost of the vehicle,Insurance,Finance charges and of coarse the sales taxes paid to the State of Connecticut would make a purchase prohibitive to me.-—
Same here. We live in MA, have three cars, and the newest is a 99. In other states, where an equivalent home would cost 50% or more less, I guess you could afford $25k for a new car.
I now drive a 2012 Honda Fit Sport that gets nearly 40 mpg on freeway.
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