# How Often Do You Buy a New Car?



## imp (Nov 8, 2015)

Or, put another way, how old is your car, and when (or will) will you replace it. Brand new? Or used?   imp


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## Kadee (Nov 8, 2015)

I replaced my car last Christmas not because the old one had broken down , but due to the fact it had done 300.000 km it was still running as good as it did when I bought it 17 years earlier ,but I decided I'd update it to a newer car considering we were at that stage traveling to Adelaide almost 400 km return trip every other weekend for dancing my old faithful was a Holden Nova which was made by Toyota .. My newer one is a Toyota Corolla 2004 model .. we are thinking about maybe only having one car between us next year as we rarely go out alone and don't travel to Adelaide as much


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## QuickSilver (Nov 9, 2015)

We just replaced both our cars in the last 2 years..   Traded a 2002 Jeep LIberty for a 2014 jeep Cherokee

and a 2008 Jeep Commander for a 2015 jeep Cherokee.


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## Bobw235 (Nov 9, 2015)

We're just starting to have that discussion again.  My wife's 2002 Lexus has about 150,000 miles on it and we just spent over $1,900 on it for repairs.  Hoping it will last another year, but the brutal New England winters and lack of a garage, have taken a toll in terms of rust in the underbody.  My Acura is about 7 years old, but because I primarily used it to commute to the train station for most of those years, it has low mileage.  My mechanic told me last week that it needs new tires, as even though I've had low mileage, the tires are showing rot due to age.  Between that expense and the fact that the car is low to the ground (sport model), we're thinking of replacing it with a new SUV.  Normally we'd keep a car at least 10 years, but may have to bite the bullet and get something more suitable and comfortable for the amount of driving we anticipate doing over the next few years while we tour the country.


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## ronaldj (Nov 9, 2015)

I have a new 2015 pick-up truck ...my old one was a 2001.......


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## Ameriscot (Nov 9, 2015)

We bought our Citroen Xsara Picasso new in 2003.  Had 82,000 miles on it but is getting to the point where things need replacing/fixing.  We were thinking about trading it in for a smaller used car next year, but then decided to keep it since it's good for transporting our electric bikes.  The bikes are too heavy for a normal bike rack, and we can take the back seats out of car and put the bikes in.  

We don't do a lot of miles since we get the bus for free all over Scotland.  One year we only did 2,000 miles.  

Before retirement we had two cars.


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## jujube (Nov 9, 2015)

My car is 13 years old and running/looks just fine.  Every now and then I get an urge for a new car but manage to beat it down.


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## Sunny (Nov 9, 2015)

Jujube, your car is a mere youngster compared to mine! We bought our Toyota Camry in 1999, and it's still going strong, with only 73,000 miles on it. (We mainly used the other car when my husband was alive.) I also occasionally get tempted to get a new car, mainly because I like all the safety features, but can't bring myself to do it.


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## AZ Jim (Nov 9, 2015)

2008 Chevy Malibu (2008 "car of the year") with less than 34k miles on it.  Bought it new and it will be my last car.


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## Lon (Nov 9, 2015)

My present and only car is a great looking 2001 Toyota Camry XLE with only 86,000 miles. It is my last car.


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## Don M. (Nov 9, 2015)

I have a 1997 Dodge Dakota 4wd pickup with only about 85,000 miles on it...looks and runs almost like new.  We keep it in case of bad weather in the Winter.  Our primary car is a 2006 Impala LTZ with only about 55K on it...and again, in good shape.  Outside of routine oil/filter changes, and normal stuff like tires and batteries, every few years, both vehicles have had minimal troubles.  I get the new car/truck itch every now and then, but it doesn't take long to see the futility in spending 10's of thousands to replace these vehicles.  Since we probably only put 6 or 7 thousand miles a year on these, anymore, It seems a waste of money to trade vehicles.  I sure don't need some of these Gee Whiz things like built in WiFi, and cell phone ports, etc.  
I supported Detroit long enough, when I was driving 25K a year...now, its kind of nice to put that money to something else that we can enjoy.


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## fureverywhere (Nov 9, 2015)

I have a 90's Nissan that I will drive till it looks like the Flintstone mobile


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## tortiecat (Nov 9, 2015)

I have a 2009 Corolla with 20,000km. on it.  Hope to keep driving for another
couple of years if possible.  At my age (85) there will not be another car.


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## imp (Nov 9, 2015)

*Why I Asked*

Our primary ride is a 2004 Explorer, with the Overhead Cam V-6. The Explorer Forum I am on has many threads related to this engine. One guy has 416,000 miles on it,  others say 100,000+ is asking for trouble. Ours has 150,000 now, bought it in 2010 (while my wife was away helping her Mom with the new "knees"), with 92,000 miles on it. We had been discussing selling the old one, but still, not being part of the decision process to buy annoyed her some. It was an opportunity as the seller was a young woman who had taken a job with the State of Alaska, and they gave her 2 weeks to "be there"; she left the Exp in the hands of her boyfriends mother and her uncle. Clean as a whistle, I gave $7,000 for it, I think Bluebook then was about 10-11. 

I want to sell it while it is still saleable. She says no. Our other vehicles are 1990 F-150 pickup and a 26-foot F-700 ex-Ryder Rental box truck. Our finances are not laudable. We will try to get $6000 for the big truck, have no idea if it's saleable here. Registration (Missouri) expired, no insurance, it sits like a huge yellow behemoth beside the garage. 

Explorer engine designed and built in Cologne, Germany, has the usual German-Engineering complexity not usually seen in Ford products. I know what it's likely failure faults are, timing-chain guide failure, requires removal of engine from vehicle to fix. Don't know if I'm still up to that type endeavor. Want to believe I am.....imp


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## jujube (Nov 9, 2015)

Sunny said:


> Jujube, your car is a mere youngster compared to mine! We bought our Toyota Camry in 1999, and it's still going strong, with only 73,000 miles on it. (We mainly used the other car when my husband was alive.) I also occasionally get tempted to get a new car, mainly because I like all the safety features, but can't bring myself to do it.



Can't beat those Toyotas for longevity.  Mine is a Corolla.  I used to have a Camry but sold it when it hit almost 200,000 miles.  It was still running but the air conditioning was shot and I couldn't see putting that much money into it.   Years ago I had a diesel Mercedes that I had "inherited" from my parents, who had picked it up at the factory in Germany in 1970.  It got to almost 275,000 miles before giving up the ghost.  I sold it to my mechanic, who put a gas engine in it and used it for a demolition derby car.  A fitting end.


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## Butterfly (Nov 9, 2015)

I've got a 2002 Saturn.  I'll probably drive it till it falls apart in the street.  Car prices now are ridiculous -- I can't afford huge care payments anymore.


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## Kadee (Nov 9, 2015)

I personally would not consider buying any other car than a Toyota . I've had toyotas most of my driving life they just go and go .. and rarely give any trouble (I have never had any trouble with mine ) The first Toyota I had, I bought new in 1980 .. Only had Toyotas since


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## Pappy (Nov 9, 2015)

My Kia Borrego might be my last car. Can't really take on car payments and it does have everything on it that I want. It's a 2009 and only has 53,000 miles on it.


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## hollydolly (Nov 9, 2015)

I bought a new (to me) car last December...I'd had the previous one for 2 years ( used Skoda fabia saloon) and it kept breaking down, so I got rid of it and bought this Ford Fusion SUV , which touch wood has been great so far ..I've only ever bought a brand new car once on finance..it took me  3 years to pay off with all the interest..never again..I always pay cash now and buy used..preferable 2 or 3 years old!


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## QuickSilver (Nov 9, 2015)

I usually pay cash.. and did so for the 2014...  However I took a 0% interest loan for the 2015.. which I won't be paying off early...  It defeats the purpose of a 0% loan...


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## imp (Nov 9, 2015)

*Butterfly's Remark*

*"Car prices now are ridiculous"

*Agreed and understood. Nonetheless, I'm told that adjusted for inflation, loss of value" of the dollar, and whatever other B.S. the economists factor in, the prices today are in line with prices of the 1960s.

I maintain, dollar for dollar, that may be true. But, overlooked is the huge change from back then when labor intensity was very high, to today, with the robotics which have replaced assembly line workers. Robots get: no Company benefits, insurance, etc. More importantly, no Employer-matched Social Security taxes are paid on them. No paychecks. Begin no lawsuits against the employer. Nom paid breaks during the workday. Work 24/7. Pay no Union dues.

Robots are "in". Still, when the Mustang was introduced in April, 1964, the base price was a tad over $2000. Today it's ten times that. Also, looking at an ad yesterday, a car with base price of $28,000 was priced "as equipped" at $45,900!  WTH could possibly have been hung onto that car to double, almost, it's price?   imp


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## Butterfly (Nov 9, 2015)

I think that $2,000 in the 1960s was a hell of a lot less than $28,000 is now -- to me, anyway.


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## tnthomas (Nov 9, 2015)

The first time I bought a new vehicle was in 1986(Nissan truck); I just bought a new Toyota Corolla this past  April for my _coming-out-of-retiremen_t  transportation.  I kept my '99 Ford F-150 rather than using it as a trade-in.


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## QuickSilver (Nov 9, 2015)

I made $90 a week in 1967...  so $2,000 was a whole lot of money...


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## imp (Nov 9, 2015)

*"I always pay cash now and buy used..preferable 2 or 3 years old!"

*Best possible way to go. My brother in  law always said as soon as you drive a brand new car out of the showroom, it loses 20% of it's value.  imp


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## Manatee (Nov 9, 2015)

The situation for us has never been the same twice.  Most recently we bought a convertible, between my wife and I it is the 17th convertible we have owned.  It may be our last car, we are 80 and 81.  Altogether we have owned 41 cars over the years, only 3 were bought new.  Paid for is beautiful.


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## Davey Jones (Nov 25, 2015)

I use to say exactly what the guys on here said "this will be my last car",then 3 years later I buy another one and repeat the same sentence.

Wonder what the year 2020 car will look like?


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## Falcon (Nov 25, 2015)

I get rid of them when the ash trays get full.  So far they're pretty clean, so I'm still driving this '05 Envoy.

I usually stick to GMC products.

Never owned a "rice burner".


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## tortiecat (Nov 26, 2015)

Have a 2009 Toyota Corolla with 18,000km on it.  It is our 3rd Toyota, the first 2 being Camrays.
This will definitely be my last car, hope to be able to drive for another 2 or 3 years.


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## Ruthanne (Dec 8, 2015)

I have never bought a brand new car.  My current car is a 99 Chrysler Concorde.  I bought it 7 years ago.  I'm saving to buy another one.


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## debodun (Mar 26, 2016)

I will have had my Honda Civic 14 years come this July. I will get a new car when it costs more to fix than the value. Now that I'm retired, I don't put so many miles on it, but if I get any more people on my home-delivered meals route, I may be traveling just as much (it's now a 23+ mile drive). Every time I go to but a car, I find the cost has roughly doubled. I never bought a used car - my dad used to say buying a used car is buying someone else's problem, because nobody ever gets rid of a good car.


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## CoMoJayne (Jun 7, 2016)

About every 8 years normally, however my husband has become highly attached to his 2005 Dodge Dakota pick-up and he doesn't put a lot of miles on it so it's still under 100K.  Plus he doesn't want a car payment.  I just bought a Toyota Highlander two years ago and expect to keep it a long time.  I was better off to finance it than take it out of my retirement, tax-wise, but I'll be glad to finish the car payments too.


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## Lon (Jun 7, 2016)

I am on my last car.


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## Goldfynche (Jun 7, 2016)

I have bought several new motorcycles but never a new car. My very first car was a 1939 Rover 10 which my mum bought me for £20.00. I even passed my driving test in it. That was about 1966. I currently own a 2004 Peugeot 307 diesel estate. Still drives smooth as silk.

I would like to give up driving. But my daughter doesn't drive and it would be impractical not to have one.


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## Ruthanne (Jun 7, 2016)

debodun said:


> I will have had my Honda Civic 14 years come this July. I will get a new car when it costs more to fix than the value. Now that I'm retired, I don't put so many miles on it, but if I get any more people on my home-delivered meals route, I may be traveling just as much (it's now a 23+ mile drive). Every time I go to but a car, I find the cost has roughly doubled. I never bought a used car - my dad used to say buying a used car is buying someone else's problem, because nobody ever gets rid of a good car.


My car was a good used car.  There was nothing wrong with it when I bought it used.  Of course there are bad used cares but there are also good ones out there.


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## Butterfly (Jun 7, 2016)

I don't buy brand new cars; they lose WAY too much value the minute you drive them off the showroom floor.  My last car, a 2002 Saturn bought at the end of the model year, was considered a used car because somebody bought it for his wife who didn't like it, had only 82 miles on it and I bought it for several thousand dollars less than I could have bought the identical car sitting next to it which had never left the dealership.

I drove that car with no significant problems at all until April of this year, when the transmission went out and would have been too expensive to replace. 

I found a 2014 Kia Forte in perfect condition, low mileage and one owner, and with a clean Car Fax report, always serviced by the dealer.  I had it gone over by an independent mechanic and he pronounced it perfect.  I like it a lot.  I think I'm going to add a backup camera, though.

I don't really think the old saw about buying a used car is buying someone else's problems necessarily holds true anymore because so many people buy a new car every few years.  There were a lot of very nice late model low mileage used cars out there when I was looking.  It was true in my dad's time, but not so much anymore when some people think they always have to have the absolutely newest of everything.


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## tnthomas (Jun 7, 2016)

I've had 2 new cars in my life, a 1986 Nissan pickup truck, and a 2015 Toyota Corolla, for commuting to my new job.

Oops, just realized that I had previously replied to this thread.   :shrug:


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## Guitarist (Jun 7, 2016)

My 18-year-old car died 3 1/2 years ago, just before I moved to where I live now. I couldn't afford to get it fixed and it was in such bad shape it didn't seem worth it to try when I needed to pay for this place.  
I haven't been able to afford to replace it so for the first time in nearly 50 years I'm without transportation.
They say there are freebies out there for low-income seniors but I haven't found one!


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## Butterfly (Jun 8, 2016)

Here, everything is so spread out and we have really lousy public transportation and cabs are VERY expensive, so if you're without a car it's really hard.  I was without one for a little over a month right after my car died, waiting to see if it could be fixed, etc., trying to find a new one (hard without transportation).  I wound up begging rides to go to the store, drop me off at the dealership, etc.  I seriously tried to find ways to get to places on the bus, but it just wouldn't work.  Fortunately I have very kind neighbors who let me tag along to the grocery store

My sister depends on me for transportation, so she couldn't get anywhere, either.  Bummer!


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## Guitarist (Jun 8, 2016)

Butterfly said:


> Here, everything is so spread out and we have really lousy public transportation and cabs are VERY expensive, so if you're without a car it's really hard.  I was without one for a little over a month right after my car died, waiting to see if it could be fixed, etc., trying to find a new one (hard without transportation).  I wound up begging rides to go to the store, drop me off at the dealership, etc.  I seriously tried to find ways to get to places on the bus, but it just wouldn't work.  Fortunately I have very kind neighbors who let me tag along to the grocery store
> 
> My sister depends on me for transportation, so she couldn't get anywhere, either.  Bummer!



Welcome to my world for the past 3 1/2 years.


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## Buckeye (Jun 8, 2016)

My Harley Davidson motorcycle is a 2009, has 13k miles on it and it will be my last bike. Hope to ride a couple more years though.  Born to be wild....


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## Don M. (Jun 8, 2016)

CoMoJayne said:


> About every 8 years normally, however my husband has become highly attached to his 2005 Dodge Dakota pick-up and he doesn't put a lot of miles on it so it's still under 100K.  Plus he doesn't want a car payment.  I just bought a Toyota Highlander two years ago and expect to keep it a long time.  I was better off to finance it than take it out of my retirement, tax-wise, but I'll be glad to finish the car payments too.



I hear ya on the Dodge Dakota.  I have a 1997 Dakota SLT with about 90K on it, and it is a great truck...still runs and looks almost new.  I like the mid-size trucks...big enough to do anything I need, yet still small enough to keep in the garage.  I look at the new trucks occasionally, and the sticker price of $40k to $70k quickly makes me appreciate the old Dodge.  We only drive about 7 or 8 thousand miles a year anymore...most of that in the Impala, so buying a new car is more of a Whim than a necessity.  If I buy a new car, I may take a serious look at one of these small SUV's...a Ford Escape, or Subaru Forester, etc...easier for our old bodies to get in/out, and plenty of cargo space....easy to load/unload.


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## Lethe200 (Jun 8, 2016)

It varies, depending on the mileage we're running up. When we bought a home after being long-time renters (while still working), we found in our city we needed a second car. There were just too many times when DH and I were going in separate directions. Public transportation is available but slow to most places. 

We usually keep a car to at least 100K or more. Today's cars are very well built and have much better safety equipment. I can attest that stability control, ABS braking, and airbags are A MUST for us, based on our experiences.

Now that we're retired, we run the car often but usually shorter trips (anything under 75 miles RT is considered "nothing" in California, LOL). But when we travel we prefer driving trips, so we rack up 400-1000 miles on a single trip. 

Our SUV is a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe, V6. GREAT car, thousands under the Hondas/Acuras we drove before, just as good if not better. Extremely happy with it. This is what we take on our travels.

Have a 2010 Ford Fusion sedan, V6. Good car, lots of HP but lousy auto trans gearing. Still, it moves when I stomp on the accelerator, which I do quite a bit [smile]. Not an Accord beater, though; ergonomics are poor, controls were designed by an engineering/design sadist. It comes sooo close, and there are features I love about it, but overall I liked my old '85 Taurus better. 

The Hyundai has about 79K miles on it and the Fusion 39K. However, I would like to have a luxury SUV or crossover. I want a quieter, more comfortable ride for very long trips. I figure this will be the last new car we buy. Up 'til now we couldn't afford the cars I really wanted. 

Now we're finally able to afford one. So it's a matter of figuring out what I want to buy (DH lets me make all the car decisions; he doesn't care about autos). I've narrowed it down to five models just based on specs and on-line reviews. In another month I'll start doing test drives to compare them. 

One issue I have is the SUV which appears best is noticeably wider (but not longer) than what we have now. We will be going down to this one car, and many places we go have very tight parking slots. I need to decide how big an issue this is going to be. We live in a crowded urban area and it's a real consideration when driving anything bigger than a Prius -- and this is MUCH bigger than a Prius!

Our current two cars are paid for, and we'll be giving them to friends who could really use a good used car. We keep our cars in top mechanical condition, always.


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## Guitarist (Jun 8, 2016)

Buying a used car is not necessarily buying a problem.  That said, my dad never bought used cars either, not even for his kids.  He did however, buy a new car every 5 years, so whoever bought the cars he traded in were getting good cars with low mileage, that had been well cared for and serviced regularly.  They lived outside once we enclosed the carport, but not through months of hard winters or heavy traveling, and only the Impala was ever in a fender-bender.  We only ever got two lemons, a '70-something Pontiac and my Escort.


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## Manatee (Jun 21, 2016)

Falcon said:


> I get rid of them when the ash trays get full.  So far they're pretty clean, so I'm still driving this '05 Envoy.
> 
> I usually stick to GMC products.
> 
> Never owned a "rice burner".



The "rice burner" we had was a Nissan Xterra which was built in Tennessee.  It was a good car, so they stopped making them.


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