I'm in sales and drive about 40k a year so I kill cars fairly quickly. Drove my Buick lacross, Cash car I bought with 50k miles on it from a family member, to 150k miles in just over 2 years. Thing started having weird ass problems so I just traded it in for a Prius with 40k miles on it. Hoping I can drive this car for about 3 more years up to 200k miles. If I ever get a job that involves me driving less id probably buy a decent truck and Keep it for as long as possible. I hate car notes.
I had just paid off the last one when the steering wheel jammed and I was going through a bottle of steering fluid each day. I took it to that Goodyear mechanic around 14000 Memorial three times and dropped multiple k n repairs and they couldn't figure out the issue long term. So I just traded it in a Westpoint and bought the car I have now. I'm getting close to paying off this one, already had to replace the battery over Thanksgiving and am in a cold weather climate again; so I imagine I'll probably have to trade it in soon, about 4-5 years each time.
I do like to keep a "beater" car in case I need to drive to a rough part of town for some reason (ie sporting events at UH). So I keep a 3 year old Lexus around for those circumstances.
We have a 2010 Explorer (paid off) to drive kids around on the weekends, etc. I'm going to drive it into the ground since there's no car note. I traded in my Pilot for a 2013 Sonata which I call my "commuter car." All I use it for is driving up and down the Eastex to work and gigs. 33 mpg. I'll drive it into the ground as well.
I'm pretty frugal when it comes to cars. As long as they run without major work being needed i'll keep driving it until the end. Currently i'm on year 10. Luckily i've never had any significant issues yet, but from now on, if a repair/fix is going to cost more than $1000 i'm pulling the plug on her.
I never ever pay car notes. I just hate the whole process. I just pay cash straight up. So I keep my car until I have enough bank to straight up buy a new one. First car was a 2008 Camry which I kept until 2012 at which point I sold it and bought a BMW 3 Series. I want to keep my BMW for years and I started putting several miles on it so in 2014 I bought a Mazda 6 for my every day drive and use the BMW sparingly.
new 86 BMW 325e - 10 years used 89 Civic - 8 years new 94 Saturn - 8 years used 98 Camry - 8 years new 02 Tahoe - 13 years still own new 10 Accord new 15 Tahoe but the Accord will become my son's first car in 18 :s
Cars are the most expensive thing you'll buy that will 99% of the time go DOWN in value. I drive a 2003 and a 2005 and I put the car payment into my kids 529 college fund.
My cars seem to have a death timer on them to where they will crap out with some major repair job needed at about 10 years old to where the repair cost is more expensive than the value of the car at that point.
End up trading in or selling whatever car I buy after 5 years. Whenever I get a new car I always tell myself, "I'm going to drive this car until the wheels fall off" but I never get to that point.
I had my first car (a truck actually) from 2006-2011, then I had my 2nd car from 2011-214. Got a sports car but had to sell when I moved to Dallas. So on average, not that great, approximately 3 years. But I loved my truck and was forced to trade in by my parents, and I was forced to trade in my sports car. I just got bored of my 2nd car. I plan on keeping my latest car for a good while as long as it holds up.
I have a 2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid which I use to haul kids and their crap...it has 60K miles on it (I was overseas for 2 years and it was in storage) and I dont see me selling it anytime soon. Just wish the bluetooth wasnt from 2009. Really old school.
9.5 for my current one Only 4 on my last one but didn't really like it It's weird to me owning multiple cars. I don't see how that saves money
I currently lease....typically 2 years. I know it doesn't work for everyone but I have a small note and trade out every 2 years for something new. I did VW for a few years (CC) and now I am in a GMC Terrain
I don't do car notes.I buy cash used cars. 93 Toyota MR2 lasted me 3 years before totaled Scion XB 06 20k miles sold with 123k 4 years BMW E39 bought with 60 k miles still have it but has 100k miles. 3 Years going up for sale soon. Current car Maxima 2014 50k miles bought earlier this year hope lasts me 5 years
95 chevy 2500 pickup bought new almost 250,000 no real problems. 02 Elantra used 30,000 miles now has 180,000 AC does not work and the body looks pretty rough but it works great to drive to work. I'm seriously considering getting something newer soon most likely Toyota or Honda.
10 years. New car for me on five year loan 5 years later a new car for the wife on a five year loan 5 years after that a new car for me on a five year loan Rinse and Repeat
