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by Ever wonder how much money you spend on your car? Do you feel the itch to buy a new car as soon as the new smell goes away? A recent study by Consumer Reports magazine gives us 31,000 reasons to stick with the car you currently have until it bites the dust. They even include some that will take you to the 200,000 mile plateau - and some cars to avoid.
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I think this is a good rule of thumb in general. I find most people always want the latest car, TV, phone, computer, etc. Funny enough, the same people will always speak of the "deal" they got or how much they "saved." Oh well. I'm sure social security will make up the difference.
[snickers; stuffs money under mattress]
We have two cars both from new over 10 yrs old, a landrover defender and an A4 Audi, both now 100,000 miles. In that time we could've changed cars but that would've = 6 tons of waste plus the vehicles. When you think of the CO2 produced from manufacturing, i reckon even with my diesel thirsty defender we polluted less than the motorist who changes his average car every three years.
Here in New Zealand, it is common for people to drive old cars. The average car age is 11 years, and slowly getting older as cars get more reliable. Cars here generally last between 20-25 years before being dismantled, unless they have major accident damage.
If you are from the northern part of New Zealand, I imagine there is not much of a call to salt the roads for winter conditions like in the New England part of the U.S. where I live. The salt is what always takes the life out of our cars before their time. Of course without the road salt, major accidents would occur ending their life anyway. Aside from the temperate weather, why do you think the average age of cars is so high in your country?
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I was one of Those.. by gnifyus :: NR7 :: on 05 September 2007
O.K.; I am one of those people who drove a vehicle for 20 years and put almost 200,000 miles on it. I bought a new Chevy pickup truck when I was in my last year of college, and for some reason the thing ran and even looked good for at least 12 to 14 years. After that it became a game. We of course had other cars in the family, I just used this one to drive a relatively short distance to work and back, and it always came in handy for removing yard waste and such. Eventually though, the rust and wear (and the fact that I was 40 years old and still driving my first car) got the better of it and I gave it to my father who's name was still on the title because he had to co-sign for it all those years ago.
The thing is; where is my $31,000?
When you have teenagers there was just no more fun than pulling up somewhere to pick them up in a truck like that, especially if their friend needed a ride too. One day the rear view mirror just decided to fall off into my son's friend's lap as we rode. Just for fun, when the stereo died, I "installed" an old one from a tag sale and rigged up a CD player out of a computer and duct-taped it to the bottom of it. It skipped a little over bumps, but worked for the most part while fitting the decor and overall ambiance of the vehicle. "Never spend more than 3 dollars for anything for this truck," I would say. Too bad the gas station wouldn't listen.
A recent column titled "Summer Ode to a Beloved Rust Bucket" by Jay Bookman really sums up this whole mentality in a hilarious way.
My 1994 Nissan Sentra by Anonymous :: NR0 :: on 11 September 2007
I just ran across this page when I was thinking of moving on to a new model. My 94 Sentra has only 60,000 miles on it, since I use it only for short city trips and I hate to drive. The paint job is getting burnt off by the hot Florida sun, and that's the only major thing wrong with it.