Trade them or Drive them.

[BigAl52]

I thought about this on the way to work this am. Just curious what others might do. So I thought I would post this question to others. Do you keep youre vehicles for a long time or trade them often. I have a mixture of both. But Im getting ready to downsize my fleet as I don't need all these vehicles headed into retirement.

[markiver54]

I thought about this on the way to work this am. Just curious what others might do. So I thought I would post this question to others. Do you keep youre vehicles for a long time or trade them often. I have a mixture of both. But Im getting ready to downsize my fleet as I don't need all these vehicles headed into retirement.

We don't believe in buying new Al. We put very few miles on them per year. Don't want the big hit one takes regarding value once you drive a new one off the lot. We love our Toyota 4-Runners. Both the wife and I have one. They are the same year and model.
We will be letting go of the other two vehicles we own for the same reasons as you.

[BrokenolMarine]

When I was working for the state, I drove 110 miles per day round trip to get to HQ, so I bought my vehicles new and did the maintenance on them. Never had a breakdown. I put two hundred, to two hundred and fifty thousand miles on them, then upgraded. My daily drivers the last ten years had all been midsized trucks, and they had treated me right. We also added the full sized 2010 Titan and have put about 70k miles on it. The last new vehicle upgrade was to the 2015 Frontier, so we have both a Titan and Frontier. We are covered.

We don't plan on trading up again, just maintaining the trucks, and they should outlast us both.

[CT_Shooter]

I bought both of my vehicles new when my wife was alive and we needed two vehicles. I drive a 2008 Mercury Sedan and a 2006 Chevy Colorado truck; the truck was hers. The sedan now has 103k miles and the truck only has 53k miles. They have always been maintained and I don't put more than a couple of thousand miles per year on both of them combined. Like BoM, I don't expect I'll be buying a newer version of either of them.

[Mags]

.
We rarely buy replacements. When we do, we look for a good used/certified. Prior vehicles we drove until it was time to replace them. Donated them to auto/shop class at a local high school.

[JEBar]

we generally buy new vehicles to meet a given need .... example with my wife's family being 1,600 miles away, we are compelled to keep at least one 4-wheel drive vehicle capable of cranking at a moment's notice and make the drive form central NC to east central SD .... we tend to keep them until we no longer have the need or until they begin giving more trouble than we are willing to put up with .... we currently own and drive 5 vehicles ....

an inherited 2000 Buick Park Avenue that is daily driver for our daughter and spare vehicle for us

a 2005 Chevy Trailblazer .... our round town vehicle + first choice to drive in city traffic and / or tight parking areas

a 2007 Sportchassis .... our tow vehicle and only one to drive when we are away from home

a 2011 Chevy Silverado that is my main vehicle when we are home

a 2016 Chevy Camaro .... my wife's main vehicle when we are home, may well be her last one

longest we've ever kept a vehicle, 24 years .... a 1978 Jeep J10 pickup that we sold in 2002

my next possible purchase will be a 2021 Chevy Silverado that will probably be the last vehicle I'm likely to buy

[markiver54]

IMO, I'ts always been cheaper to fix than replace. If someone just wants a change, then I understand.

[Old Syko]

I travelled extensively throughout my working career so I never left the wife to drive anything more than a couple or 3 years. She and the kids were always my first concern. I always drove some sort of junk or a hot rod or bike when I was home until 97 when I bought my first new 4x4 pickup. Kept it until 07 and went back to hot rods and bikes for me and still kept the wife in something new. Got my Jeep new in 14 and have been modding it ever since and intend to keep it from now on. Just bought the wife's last new car less than a year ago and we'll replace it in another year or 2.

Long story short, keep the Mrs. in something new no matter what you drive if for nothing more than peace of mind. It's more than worth the cost.

[bandit1250]

Most of my friends think I keep my vehicles to long. I have been driving my Tundra pickup for 15 years and still going strong with almost 190,000 miles. I have had my Chrysler 5th Avenue for going on 26 years and it seems like a part of the family I have had it so long.

[BigAl52]

My daily drive now is a car that was given my wife while she still owned the assisted living home. Lady gave it to her to drive her mother around. when she passed she told the wife to keep it. Its a good car. 2005 Pontiac Bonneville has the 3.8 V-6 in it. easy to work on and gets good mileage. Only has 132,000 on it no oil leaks and that engine is one of the best GM engines ever made. 2014 ford F-150 Lariat gonna sell it has 37000 miles on it just dont need 2 trucks with the 2006 Dodge Dually I have for pulling the 5th wheel. It only has 81000 on it and is like brand new. Its the Laramie edition. Wife has a 2016 Jeep Wrangler with 20K on it. She loves it. Im set I think Once I sell the Ford I dont think I will need another vehicle.

[markiver54]

I don't want bells, whistles, vibrations or back up cameras. I can also put on the brakes and park myself without sensors. Heck, I don't even like anti-lock brakes which our 4-Runners DO have. I am the one in control of my vehicle and have been for decades. Personally, I will keep it that way. Sorry..not wanting to offend anybody...just different strokes for different folks.

[Mags]

.
[update: Oh ya forgot about the 1968 CJ5 Jeep I drove to and from college in. V6, manual transmission, 10 gal gas tank. Ran out of gas frequently. Carried to 5 gallon jerry cans on the rear rack either side of the spare tire. Kind of a pale split pea green.]

These are long gone. Longest kept, the Suburban. Worst, the 95 Windstar lemon. 2nd worst, the Bonneville. The Camry was the best of the bygone bunch. A family member needed an upgrade badly so they got the Camry. Newer vehicles (all used) we currently have are all Toyota make (Tundra, Prius, Lexus).
73 Mustang
74 Granada
75 GMC Suburban
83 Pontiac Bonneville
95 Windstar
2001 Camry

[Cofisher]

Yeah, I am one of those drive em til they give up the ghost people. My 95 Dakota has 302K and still impresses me. And, my love, a 1989 Honda Transalp. The truck is fading, the bike I will never give up.

I want a early 70's ford for my next dependable truck.

[markiver54]

Well put Jim! ☺

[Mags]

Best safety features, anti-lock brakes, anti-skid control and seat belts. Under appreciated until they save your bacon.
Cars with lots of mirror blind spots, backup camera is a must.
Most useless feature, the radio/media player. Never used.
Most annoying feature, parking assist alarm and indicators. Parking in the garage every alarm and indicators is clamoring for attention. So turned off.

[BrokenolMarine]

Longest owned? Bubba Truck... A 1980 Ford F150 Camper Special 4x4. Dual gas tanks, heavy duty supension, straight six 300 engine, 4 speed tranny with granny 1st gear. It had 450,000 miles on it to go with the FarmTruck tags we were running when we sold it to a friend who was in need of it. I had a new small truck to drive the 110 mile round trip to work by then, but we had held on to Bubba for real farm use. Banging around hauling gravel, hay, firewood, etc.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

Always buy good used, private party and run them till they are pretty well wore out. Always buy selectively, choosing a good quality car that will not only last, but run efficiently with very little repairs. Always buy US Made cars and always GM. We usually have at least two at a time, with my wife mostly using the better one. Once we get another one, I then take her's, lol. Been working out pretty well now for the last 35 years.

[RanchRoper]

Wife's F350 2005 diesel has 350k miles on it. My 2010 F350 diesel has 208k miles on it. Drive 'em.

[dddrees]

All my other expenses of this amount or larger either retain or actually return a bit on my investment. I really hate the fact that as much as I spend on this necessity ends up depreciating so fast and so much. It's much more fun spending that kind of money on a toy and I don't view cars as toys. I actually have started determining how many more of these things I will actually have to purchase before my time on earth expires.

I just ended up paying a good bit of change repairing some items on my car. It's 9 years old but with low mileage for it's age. Unfortunately our roads stink so that certainly had an effect on the repairs that where necessary. When you drive on what they call a highway in my area and see 5 to 10 cars on the side of the road because of blown tires because of pot holes the highway could hardly be called a highway. The thing is the cost of repairs although more than average is still much less than payments would be for a new car in just a few months would be.

No, I try to drive and maintain a vehicle as long as possible. Money matters and I have many more things I would rather spend or save my money for. I won't drive a heap but I don't require a new car every year or every couple of years.


I now know more and more younger people who don't need and thus don't own a car. Personally I don't live in an area where this would be possible and I do love the freedom it affords but I do certainly envy them a bit because they can do without a car.

[RanchRoper]

If I didn't have to haul a trailer around, I like the look of the new Jeep pickup.