Hi all! So i’m curious to know how long folks have been driving the vehicles they own, and what their process is for determining when it’s time to get rid of the clunker and get a newer one? My wife and I have 3 vehicles right now. I have a 2008 Honda Accord with about 220,000 miles on it (runs like new). It sits for the most part and is the most reliable. We actually drive on it trips all the time. Last year we went to Mississippi in it with zero issues. There’s a 2005 Suburu Outback that has 230,000 miles on it and currently needs wheel bearings and a few other things.Then there is a 2001 Hyundai XG300. This is my wifes car and has only 100,000 miles on it. It’s no beauty, but because my wife works from home it also sits most of the time. I drive it now until I can get the Outback repaired (waiting on parts). I’ve been considering getting a newer Outback. Not new, but new to us since our cars have so many miles and we must have an AWD because of the snow heavy area we live in. Let me know what your thoughts are. Thanks!
Oh yeah. Did I mention I freekin hate car payments?? Yeah…I hate car payments. We haven’t had one in 6 years. Uggh!
We drive our car until it breaks down
I bought a 2000 Subaru Outback in 2010 and drove it until 2019. It had about 170k miles on it. I sold it to a friend just before moving out of state. It needed a new catalytic converter, but not much else. I dumped some money into it over the years, but it was reliable with upkeep. I wish I kept it.
I ended up buying a 2018 Subaru Impreza wagon (basically a mini Outback) with a salvaged title. Th salvaged title was a risk, I know, but it’s been very reliable. Plus, I was able to buy it in cash at the time, so no car payments. The plan is to drive it for 10+ years at least.
Our other car currently is a 2010 Toyota Corolla. Only about 100k miles on it and it needs a brake job. I’m sure it’d make it to 200k+ miles easy. We don’t really need two cars, so the Corolla mostly just sits in the garage. If we moved again, we’d probably sell it.
In my opinion, cars are money pits. I want something safe and reliable that will last a decade plus. Not concerned about having bells and whistles as long as it safely gets me and my family from A to B.
@will.s I absolutely love that approach. I’m so different than I was 7 or 10 years ago in terms of bells and whistles. I’m all about safe, reliable and affordable transportation! Great!
on a fixed income just paid mine off not looking for another car payment any time soon pray it keeps running well
I drove my 2005 Vibe into the ground. It died in November 2021. Bought it in 2012 right after I finished college. I had no idea what I was getting myself into at the time & I just prayed I didn’t get screwed over. She had about 150k miles & when she finally stopped running she was at 230k. I was so annoyed with driving a stick though that I was almost glad… but having our ONLY vehicle be totaled was super stressful. I ended up buying a used car but I know I paid too much. Even “family business” car dealerships can be sketchy… It’s especially hard to even think about buying a car when I can barely afford my basic bills. But I had to do something, otherwise I’d lose my job. So now I have a car loan & a lot of angst about it. At least the new car is an automatic & doesn’t have heating issues…
I do believe in taking care of my vehicles as best as I can to use them as long as I can. That Vibe I had was beat to hell with hail damage, was covered in dog hair, & missing a portion of the taillight- it was still better than nothing, right?
I’m not a huge car person, so as long as the vehicle isn’t beyond repair, or if the repair expenses don’t exceed buying a new car, then I’d just keep the car.
But if you’re moving to a new area with snow and you now require AWD, then I’d say that’s a good reason to exchange cars - since you shouldn’t sacrifice safety just to save some money. When I used to live in Colorado, I just drove a 2WD (that automatically turns into AWD when it slips) Honda CRV. Works great. Though I have friends that just purely drove 2WD when I lived there. It also worked great, except if the front wheels are stuck in some snow.
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@mountainfan I can completely identify with the ONLY car deal. I think that’s why i’ve held onto these 3 for so long. Even though they have a ton of miles, they still run. Car payments are straight from the depths of hell as far as I am concerned. I’d hate to have to dance with the devil for 3 to 5 years to pay it off! We were down to one vehicle and it made scheduling and working insane. I literally would come home and leave the Corolla running and my wife would get in and go to work. It was nuts! But we made it work for 6 mos. Hang in there
@Angie P. I like the way you’re thinking. I do require an AWD something because of my obligation to be at work. Even when it snows I have to come in. As long as I can keep the Outback rolling, i’m good I think. When the costs start to mount, i’m going to let it go. Thanks!
@angie.p Had to shout out for Colorado, haha. I’m currently here & definitely agree that safety should be priority. I’ve never had issues with any of my front-wheel drive vehicles here but I appreciate my new car’s traction control abilities. ?
@aj.young.jr - I absolutely agree about car payments being from hell! & that sounds very hectic! At this point my spouse is looking at finding a part time job on weekends since we only have the one car. If the climate was better here, she could just bike or use her scooter- but not when it’s -7° & we have a foot of snow, lol.
Until recently my husband and I were a 2 car family, no car payments. The 2018 Subaru Forrester came from Carmax with a trade in I could not stand to drive another day. My only necessity was heated seats. The other was a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe as a beater car, used for trips to the dump, gardening, you know-the dirty work. It was totaled by my son who borrowed it. Wish I could replace it, but thankful he is alive.
I drive a Nissan about 6 months
