I stumbled into this on Twitter, and it caught my eye, as I’ve never seen anything comparable. Given that I have kept several new cars for right about 15 years (’85 Cherokee, ’92 Caravan, ’00 Forester, and my ’05 xB is almost there), it is interesting to see what new cars others chose to keep for the long haul. The choices don’t exactly surprise me, for obvious reasons. Not one American brand on the list. Is that a reflection of the cars or the owners?
I’d say both; the question being how much weight to give to each. Clearly the kind of folks who are more practical, self-controlled and financially conservative are of course likely to reach for the brands that have a long-established reputation for durability and reliability, whereas American brands seem to attract buyers who might more likely be impulsive and less happy to ride in the same car for 15 years or more.
In any case, the list is interesting because these are precisely the kind of cars that are very predominant in my part of the world, and helps explain why there’s so many older cars around. In fact, 15 years might be on the low side for same-car ownership in Eugene.
So have you owned a new car for 15 years? Can you see yourself doing so? (Jim Klein and a few other of our COAL writers are exempt from answering).
I kept a Brazilian-built 1992 Fiat Elba (4-door station wagon based on the Fiat Uno) until 2008, but it only had 110.000 km on the odometer. Main reason….money, but I sold it to a neighbor who kept it for about 4 more years. Comfortable, space efficient, agile car.
I had an ’87 Audi 4000 quattro from just after Xmas 1999 to August 2015. 154K miles when I got it, 264K when I sold it. Best driver’s car I’ve ever owned. I sold it only because parts were getting harder to find.
This one doesn’t meet the criteria, as it was bought used. But my father-in-law (pay attention, Paul, this is for you) got a 1965 Peugeot 404 station wagon (two seats) in 1970, and kept it until 1986. It was imported as a semi-knocked-down car, and finished in Uruguay. All fenders, hood and tailgate were locally made of glass reinforced plastic. Interiors, glass, tires, and other bits and pieces were also locally sourced. As he was only 30 or so at the time and power steering and brakes were unheard of in Uruguay save for very expensive American cars, those were shortcomings he wasn’t even aware of. He was a carpenter by trade, and the 404 was his daily workhorse. He got another car after some 10 years for family use. That 404 probably carried a half ton of wood plus 4 well-fed workmen everyday. He built a roof rack as the factory plates for attachment proved not strong enough. When I first met the car in 1982 the roof had given in in the center, with what loked like a big dent, about 4 inches. As it had quite good headroom, he didn’t bother with repairing it.
The car was rear-ended by a drunken driver, and the insurance company offered to have it totaled. He had it rebuilt (left B-pillar rearward to the end of the car) and kept it for 4 more years. He sold it to another carpenter, who drove it to the ground (there was more in it than my FIL thought).
There were a couple secrets to that long life, though. Very regular maintenance, oil changes, refrigeration system always in check, not just fluids but pipes, generator, battery, brakes. The car would always be taken in for service, and any needed mechanical spares would be changed. There was a trained mechanic who had begun Puegeot”ing” with the 203 many years before, and knew by heart how much time or kilometers would any part endure. There were three new carburetors in 21 years, one engine rebuilt (regrettably, I don’t remember mileage, but the car was probably sold with not more than 400.000 km on it, which is a lot but not too much over 21 years).
He replaced it with an Argentinian Peugeot 504 sedan, which was a nice car but not nearly as dependable as the 404.
Yes, my (February) 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser 90 3.0 D-4D. 346,000 km (216,250 miles) on the odometer now.
My Trooper is 17 years old but was delegated to non-daily use 4 years ago. The Saab is 14 years old but serves as weekend-fun racetrack car.
Longest I’ve ever had a car was 14 years, sold my 2001 Bullitt Mustang to buy a 2015 Mustang. That list could also be called some of the most boring cars in the world to own.
exactly, Guardstang–I fell asleep halfway down the list!
I have to confess I only looked at the first two or three, then moved straight on to the Comments – bound to be more interesting!
Lol I was thinking the same thing. I would rather walk than get stuck driving one of these soulless appliances for 15 years
Stranger–I would agree, if youre talking about most of those as an ‘only’ vehicle. But to have something cheap and reliable as a dirty daily, eating up the commute miles and taking the door dings at Safeway while giving me a multi-car insurance discount while my Challenger is for nice days, date nights, roadtrips etc. theres a definite value to having a 10 year old corolla parked down the street.
Actually, no. I have a ’15 Highlander and love it. It’s THE closest thing in spirit to what my old ’88 Volvo 240 DL wagon was. Safe, reliable, and drives and feels like a tank, without any false pretensions of sportiness.
That said, I also have a ’96 BMW Z3 Roadster (manual, of course) for the weekends to keep life interesting until the Highlander reaches hippy-mobile street cred status.
I daily-drove a 1990 Civic LX sedan (5-speed) that I bought in 1993 for 15 years. This was in the era of Peak Honda.
An interesting bit about the methodology: “Models with fewer than 100 cars sold or which were no longer in production as of the 2017 model year were excluded from the analysis.”
I don’t think that knocked too many out of the running, but the Americans have been much more frequent with their name changes than others.
The first point is reasonable, the second one is hard to justify.
I wonder what it might exclude though? Stuff like the Lincoln Town Car & Ford/Mercury cousins would be a fairly safe bet. Toyota T100?
Given all the Toyotas on the list it is almost surprising the Corolla isn’t there. Then again, this list probably says as much about the owners as it does the vehicles.
My late Grandma’s Volvo is going on 18 years of ownership and my Uncle has had a Saab for nearly 20 years. Usually cars rust out and/or are too worn out to make it 15 years in Central New York.
I bought a 93 Camry in 2016 that had been owned by the same family since new. Who knows how long that Camry will last. I bought an 04 Sienna last year that was also a one owner vehicle and I hope to keep it forever.
I bought a 1990 Acura Legend and kept it until 2006. I sold it to one of my employees in 2006 with 228,000 miles on it. It was nice to go for eleven years with no car payment. I replaced the cv joints once and the battery three times. New timing belt and water pump twice. It was a good car. The interior was still in good shape after sixteen years. I bought a 2005 PT Cruiser and kept it for ten years. I moved to Mexico and gave it to my son. His daughter is still driving it thirteen years old. My current car is a 2003 Ford Escape. Still running good and lasting fine after fifteen years. As I am now in my seventies the Escape is probably my last car.
We have two cars on that list and one just hit the 14 year mark. Like all our cars, we plan to drive them until they die. 15+ years seems like it will be much easier to accomplish with Toyotas and Hondas than domestics, though we did have a Saturn SL2 for 17 years that still ran great when we sold it with 200,000 miles…
Interesting how many on the list are Toyotas. I would’ve expected at least a few more Hondas if nothing else. No surprise with the domestics, I’m sure there are some older “traditional” folks who still keep their domestics long term but probably not a statistically significant number of them.
I’ve never bought a new car, not sure if I ever will as the high initial cost and depreciation scare me. The longest I’ve kept a car is 11.5 years (and counting) for my 95 Altima, though I haven’t driven it for the two (nothing wrong with it, just ready for a change). My daily drivers are often 15+ years old, and my current ones are as well (01 Grand Vitara and 01 Silverado).
I think it’s more interesting that 11 of the 15 on the list fit today’s definition of a “truck.” As an import brand, Toyota has always had a strong presence in the truck market which is probably a factor in their strong showing.
Based on that truck bias, I am a little surprised that none of the Detroit full sized pickups made the list (as Geeber also notes a bit further down).
Not sure what your definition of a “truck” is, but to me, Tundra, Tacoma, Frontier and perhaps Sequoia are the only 4 on the list. The rest are SUVs, minivans and sedans. YMMV….
OK, we can use your terminology-
There are only 4 cars on the list (Prius, Avalon, Camry and Golf). These are the types of vehicles most import lines offered prior to 2000.
In contrast, Toyota offered pickups and SUVs pretty much from day one, and were early to the game with vans and CUVs.
Didn’t quite make it to 15, but at 9 years, the 2004 Toyota Highlander that Mom bought new and later became my first car was the longest ownership of a car by anyone in my household.
The Highlander being #1 is interesting to see in that only two model years would qualify for this if we assume the data is right now current (Highlander was a January 2001 introduction). That’s nearly one in five original owners keeping their car. Or maybe I’m interpreting the data wrong and these stats are for the 2002 model year only?
Interesting that the full-size GM and Ford pick-ups aren’t on the list. My experience has been that rural drivers keep running those until they literally die, which is generally well after 15 years (particularly the GM pick-ups).
No Honda Civics or Toyota Corollas, either. Perhaps first owners use these as long-distance commuter cars, and then hand them down to children, who proceed to run them right into the ground? Or younger people buy them as first cars, and then trade them for bigger vehicles after getting married and having a child?
I was wondering about domestic pickups and SUVs as well. But the more I think about long term owners of pickups the more I realize most bought them used then kept them forever. A lot of new pickup buyers seem to be trade in every 3-5 types.
I think you are correct. This study is based on cars traded in. That means the cars and trucks are ones that were trade-ins or resold. After 15 years, I really do not think that the car or truck would be considered in a trade as the value versus just keeping it would make most lean towards keeping the old vehicle as a spare or rarely used item. A person who kept it 15 years or more will more than likely just keep it until it literally falls apart or parts are no longer available. Thrifty folks don’t cave and trade in unless they get a great deal in the process.
A good percentage of full-size domestic pickups are bought new for fleets. Scheduled disposal is virtually 100% by the tenth year, regardless of mileage. These trucks do last a long time, in the hands of subsequent owners. Our 2000 K2500 was purchased at state auction and will probably stay on the road for many more years.
The closest I came to keeping a car that long was with our 2003 Honda Accord EX four-cylinder sedan. I bought it new on May 23, 2003, and kept until May 31, 2017. It had 269,000 miles on the odometer when I traded it.
Never got to 15 years, but hope to do so with my 2007 Mustang. I bought it in late January or early February of 2008, so we’re at just about 10 years now. Once I reached the 9 year mark with this car, it passed my personal record. It was ‘nearly new’ with 1127 miles on it when I took delivery from CARMAX.
Typically, since I’ve always used my cars as a Daily Drivers, I put a ridiculous amount of mileage on my cars, especially when my commute was 57 miles one way. They’re normally all used up by the end of 8 years or so. Thankfully now, that commute is only 34 miles one way (and has been for this Mustang’s whole DD career), but still….
This Mustang has 175K on her now, but was retired from the daily grind at 170K on the clock in late August of 2016 when I bought my Civic. Hopefully, I’ll get there… I’m shooting for 20 years or more, but don’t have a garage, or storage, or any of that fancy classic car stuff… I just USE the car, albeit for pleasure now, but this keeps everything lubricated. I RARELY go a week without driving it, even in the winter. I’ve always taken very good care of my cars, with regular maintenance and lots of cleaning.
Here’s a recent ‘Curbside’ picture (just this last summer August 6, 2017, the day I got the spiffy new Maryland Pride tags for her) with about 174 and change on the clock. She still looks good, so there’s hope she’ll be a CC someday. ;o)
I find it remarkable, but not surprising in hindsight, that the Prius is even on the list, much less at #4. It’s only been out in the US since September 2000, that’s 18 years, so many or even most 15 year survivors are the first US generation Priuses. I still see them around.
This car had a radically different full-hybrid power train, the biggest change at least since automatics appeared. Major power-carrying electronics. Major software to make it all work. And everyone was all worried about battery life – that worked out OK didn’t it? A tremendous engineering and manufacturing achievement.
We kept our 2001 Prius almost 10 years, replaced it with a 2010 almost 8 years ago. (My longest was an ’87 Celica I drove daily for 11 years.)
Well said, Mike. It really is.
Toyota launched the Prius in Japan in 1997; clearly they were using the home market buyers as beta testers.
I saw one of these on the road the other day. I’d totally forgotten about them.
Interesting question. I have bought new cars and have bought and owned 15 year old cars, but those are mutually exclusive categories.
My Honda Fit is at 10 and I can see going for 15 with that. My Club Wagon came fairly close but the need for a major repair after 12 years (13 years old for the vehicle) put the kibosh on that.
I suspect that between 10 and 15 years is the acid test for a car in terms of durability. The sample probably skews towards older owners – I am surprised no Buicks or Mercurys, as 15 year old LeSabres and Grand Marquis’ are not that unusual where I live.
My guess is that are still quite a few on the road but as the nameplates are no longer still in production, they aren’t on the list.
Your Club Wagon and my Parent’s Econoline conversion van made it equally as far. Nothing was wrong with the van when they “traded” it in at 112,000; rather Cash for Clunkers happened and they used it to get my sister $6,500 off a then new Kia Soul. Smart choice, as they never would have got $6,500 for it otherwise. Theirs was a ’95 Waldoch bought in early ’96.
I find it interesting that while the majority of the cars on the list are Toyotas, the Corolla didn’t make the list. But maybe people buy the smaller Corolla and then upgrade to a Sienna or Highlander when their family starts to expand.
To answer the question, I’ve never actually had a brand new car before, but I had my 1995 Saturn SL1 from late 2000 until January 2015, so almost, but not quite, 15 years if you measure it down to the month. During much of that time I biked to work and put less than 3000 miles a year on the car. It ran great, but it failed California’s bi-annual smog test and at that point I’d decided that if it failed I would take advantage of California’s vehicle retirement program and replace it with something newer.
Not my car, but other cars in my family: My dad bought a new 1979 Corolla before I was born and sold it when I was a freshman in high school, 15 years later. At that time I was starting to become embarrassed to be seen in it.
I tell people when cars enter my driveway, they don’t leave 🙂 I get very attached to my cars, especially once I start turning wrenches `on them.
-I still have my first car, my 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix that I inherited from my brother in the summer of 1989; it has 173K on the body and its on its 3rd or 4th drivetrain
-I bought my ’96 Ram new in March, 1996; still have it with 205K on it now
-I bought my ’02 Durango new in April, 2002; still have it with 170K on it now
-I bought my ’04 Ram new in October, 2003; still have it with 155K on it now
I’ve had my ’68 Valiant for 13 years and my ’69 Charger for 10 so theyre almost eligible for the list
I like your ’71 Plymouth Satellite best of all; pleasant old utility sedan with no fancy stuff. How long have you had that friendly beastie?
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I’ve never bought a new car. At one point in my 44 years of existence on the planet — circa 1999/2000 — I had enough money to buy one had I wanted to. I didn’t want to. From the late 1980s onward toward today there are so few cars produced that interest me even if I still had the kind of $money$ I did 18 years ago I’d still end up buying another old car. Maybe a 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood. I’d want another BIG car like my ’67 Lincoln Continental.
As far as the longest time I’ve ever owned a car my 1964 Ford Falcon was received as a present by yours truly in August 1989 (before I got my FL Drivers License, btw) and I still have it so it’s 28 years 5 months under my ownership and counting . . .
The Falcon’s utter simplicity really grew on me as I got older. I watched and noted how complicated cars were becoming with one Federal Government regulation after another after another being imposed upon carmakers with resulting price increases +plus+ all the extra ‘stuff’ in more modern cars that I find unnecessary and I thought: “Jeez, it’s so much simpler to just keep driving the ’64 and make no car payments. I can live with all of the Falcon’s technical primitivities.”
I’ve never made a car payment in my life. Insurance, repairs, tag fees, et al. yes of course I’ve paid those . . . but I’ve never had to fork out any bread for a car payment since I started driving.
My outlook on cars is thus: There is no such thing as a Perfect Car. It is therefore up to me to find a car whose flaws I can live with. ‘Nuff said.
My family has been one of those which kept cars around seemingly forever. My mother would not turn loose of her ’77 Cadillac until 1994, at the ripe old age of 17 (the car, not her). My brother drove his ’87 Volvo 240DL until 2003, a total of 16 years. I drove my ’83 Mercedes 300CD until 1998, for 15 years and 250,000 miles. And my current 2003 Thunderbird is coming up on 15 this year, still with only 17,000 miles, and it will probably wind up being my last car, assuming I can endure a few more years along with it! All of these cars were bought new, and we all kept them in Bristol condition throughout their long lives. Admittedly, with the exception of the T-Bird, all of these cars required a lot of maintenance as they grew longer in the tooth, the Mercedes being the really big repair bill winner. My T-Bird has remained relatively trouble free to date, though, and still looks and drives like the day I took delivery.
what went wrong on the 300 CD?
Probably more an accumulation of small stuff, exacerbated occasionally with some big items. It was my first and only experience with a diesel, so I was clueless about its long term requirements. It did perform pretty well in its early years, not a lot of issues, I serviced it regularly at the dealer throughout its warranty period (four years), but I commuted all over Southern CA in those years, so I was really piling on the miles. I used to take it to a recommended independent Mercedes guy when I lived in San Diego, but it seemed like every time I went in for an oil change (every 5,000 miles), I would come back to a $1,000 repair invoice. I was told that diesel fuel was very corrosive, so he was always changing seals and gaskets and filters and other obscure rubber parts. I remember problems with the fuel injectors, constant brake pad and rotor replacement, frequent replacement of the automatic antenna, transmission adjustments as the car aged, a seized up a/c compressor, necessitating a complete replacement of that, and so on ad infinitum. It was a constant barrage of things I had never heard of, but then, maybe it was the repair guy who led me down the garden path every time I went in. The coup de grace was when the transmission was slipping badly at the 250K mark, I decided enough, and sold it to another Mercedes repair guy where I went in later years for about $3500. Other than all those things, though, it was a beautiful car, midnight blue with a palomino interior, and it carried me through all those 15 years in decent style. It was like losing a high maintenance, but lovable old friend when I finally sold it.
I saw that list last night, it was very interesting to read about it. Paul (and loyal COAL readers) may be surprised to hear that one of our current cars is now at a personal record (over 5 years!!) and another one is about the pass the 4 year mark which will put it in second place for us. Neither of them were bought new by us though, which I think is part of the parameter of this survey. Then again, we are back up to four cars with two licensed drivers so…
Also, depending how they did the survey, the percentages may in fact be low, seeing as how CarFax and some others of their ilk will count it as an ownership change if the registration changes due to a move across state lines even if it is in fact the same owner. Often the same goes for leases that get bought out at the end of the term but I’d think that one would be a lesser factor in this case.
We’ve owned several of these, but failed to keep them anywhere near fifteen years, here goes…
2016 Highlander -Bought new, still have it! Just passed the two year mark. Only thirteen to go, so there is hope yet. Place your bets…
2011 Rav4 – Bought (leased) new, sold it after less than two years. So about average for us.
2005 Sienna – Good van, but we bought it slightly used. It turned into a total loss due to a fire after about three years. Kind of wish we still had it, it was a good ‘un.
2006 Odyssey – Also bought used, we had it for maybe three years as well. Not terrible by any means but the Sienna was better. Not sure if I could see driving this particular one until 2021 if we bought it new…
Owned a 1991 BMW 318iS from 1994 until late last year, 23 years, about 270,000 kms. Daily driver for some years, then semi-retired by winter beaters. Already have bit of seller’s remorse, but buyer lives just 2 blocks away, and I have visitation rights. He has already polished paint, and plans to install 6 cylinder S52 engine.
My first new car started to become a money pit about 6 years in and ended up not really being worth it to keep up, so I sold it at about 98k miles. I’ve only leased ever since then (with a good 7 years or so going carless.)
I read an article on this topic yesterday on Jalopnik. The data only considers car models that are still manufactured currenty, so defunct models and/or defunct manufacturers are not a part of the survey. That’s a pretty big hole IMO. Paul’s Scion wouldn’t qualify (if it was a year older), and neither would a Nissan Xterra, Jeep Liberty, or VW Eurovan (my ’02 is still kicking).
The Jalopnik article had also featured many comments deriding the owners of cars on this list for being boring, non-enthusiast types whose only criterion in a car is reliability. I’m not saying anyone here at CC said this, but I think it’s a sad misconception.
In my household, there are three cars: A Prius, A Civic, and a Eurovan. As the list would suggest, the former two are bulletproof, the latter is always ailing from something. The reliability and cheapness of the Japanese cars are precisely what allow me to even consider having a project car to tinker with.
Further, I give mad props to people who are content with what they have, or like a car enough to stick with it for 15 years. Keeping up with the Joneses or showboating one’s possessions isn’t super important to many such people. I think that in general, that humble attitude seems to abound in Curbsidelandia, Oregon, and I admire it.
Quite a few of these are assembled in North America, no?
All but two (the Prius and some RAV-4s), it seems. From a few sources including Wikipedia and the Toyota web site:
Highlander: Princeton, IN
Sienna: Princeton, IN
Tundra: San Antonio, TX
Prius: Japan
RAV-4: Woodstock, ON & Japan
Odyssey: Lincoln, AL
Sequoia: Princeton, IN
Tacoma: San Antonio, TX & Baja California, MX
CR-V: East Liberty, OH; Alliston, ON; Greensburg, IN
Avalon: Georgetown, KY
MDX: Alliston, ON
Camry: Georgetown, KY and Lafayette, IN
Forester: Lafayette, IN
Frontier: Smyrna, TN & Canton, MS (next gen US model to be built in Canton)
Golf: Puebla, MX
I’ve written a COAL about my 25-year Cortina. We’ve owned a few cars for about 10 years, but just one makes the 15 year cut. We owned our ’00 Mitsubishi Verada/Diamante for 17 years and 350,000km. Going great until I wrote it off last year. 🙁
I felt like I’d killed a good friend. I’m not driving any more. Just can’t trust my feet.
I have had my (October 1994-built) 1995 E300 Diesel for nearly 13 years. It isn’t daily driven- there was a time I was convinced it would never run again. The immediate impediment turned out to be a battery; a leaky head gasket, oil seepage, and a busted body seal that causes the car to literally flood when driven in the rain (my wife used to bail it out with a turkey baster) from a bad body shop repair were why I was reluctant to invest in a battery.
Doubt I will sell it in the next two years; I love that car, and dream of rebuilding it.
I located the original source article and here is the methodology used for this survey:
“iSeeCars.com analyzed over 650,000 used cars from model years 1981-2002, sold between January through November 2017. For each model, the number of cars sold by the original owner was expressed as a percentage of the total number of cars sold. “Original-owner” cars were bought as new by the owner. The models were then ranked by the original-owner percentage. Models with fewer than 100 cars sold or which were no longer in production as of the 2017 model year were excluded from the analysis.”
The main criteria is that the cars were sold off in the first eleven months of 2017 from their original owners and that the model/nameplate had to still be in production. So we will never know if the Chevy Citation should have topped the charts…Which illustrates that there is obviously marketing potential in keeping a nameplate (which they sort of erroneously refer to as “model”) and improving it rather than just replacing it constantly with a new name and not letting the old one get tarnished in the first place. Ford is an excellent example of this, they never got rid of the Explorer name although they had every incentive to.
Touching on another point, many domestic nameplate pickups are bought for work purposes, (especially ones that were sold at least fifteen years ago), get used very hard and then get replaced. While they may well last a very long time, apparently it is not often by the original owner. Which makes sense when you think about it.
The 100 cars sold part relates to cars needing to have at least 100 cars changing hands again in 2017, NOT having sold at least 100 cars when first on the market as I first assumed it to be.
Here’s the link to the full article: https://www.iseecars.com/used_cars-t5989-used-toyota-highlander-for-sale#section=studies&study=cars-owners-keep
Yeah but if you are an auto mfg you really don’t want people keep their cars that long, so marketing materials that indicate a lot of the buyers of their cars keep their cars for 15 years could be a bit counter productive.
I wouldn’t say there is anything erroneous about calling it a model. The old drill on the title/registration/insurance paper work or when you go to the parts store is; yr make model.
For trucks I agree a large percentage of trucks are used for work and many will be replaced when they are fully depreciated while others will use them up pretty good well before they are 15 yo. Another large percentage of truck buyers do buy them as status symbols and will have to have the latest and greatest. Plus in recent years there have been some significant changes in the truck market. IE the HP/Towing/luxury/safety wars have really heated up in the last 10-12 years.
The closest I can come is my ’00 New Beetle TDI, purchased new and owned for a bit over 12 years. I still see it around town occasionally.
While my ’69 F-100 was in our family about 42 years (and was purchased used at about a year old), my name was on the title only for the last ten or so years.
I do have *one* vehicle that I’ve owned over 15 years, but it was not purchased new, and I only drove it for about three months after I bought it. It’s sitting in a rather large pile of parts in the machine shed, awaiting reassembly (yeah, yeah, DougD!).
Why are you wasting time typing?
Get Back to Work!!
😛
The only thing that surprises me is the Golf. My 2016 was a good car for the first year but has required 5 repairs over the last year which makes its a complete POS by modern standards. I was going to give it to my daughter to drive later this year but I’m rethinking that. Life is too short for this kind of stuff. My MK 4 Jetta only required 1 repair in 3 years by comparison. I rarely see a 15 year old VW in good shape and without a Christmas tree full of malfunction indicator dash lights blazing.
I typically keep my cars 3 to 4 years and can’t fathom you guys who can stand to drive the same car for extended time periods. It’s almost as bad as being married. . .
Well, when you marry the right woman… (c:
My father bought new this 2011 model Chevrolet Vectra in 2010 to work, after his retirement he decided to keep the car. Now our Vectra have 319,000 km (almost 200,000 miles) in the odometer and counting, it is a very reliable car and should stay on the family for a long time. The engine is an old 2 liter Family 2, with iron block, 2 valve per cylinder head and 138 hp with E100 ethanol (131 hp with gasoline, but now the tank is full of ethanol). Our Vectra came with the tougher Getrag F23 5 speed gearbox from the export cars equipped with the 2.4 engine, most of the 2 liter Vectras came with the underrated F17+.
For the record, the Brazilian third gen Vectra have any relations with the Opel Vectra, it is an Astra H sedan in a Astra G platform. But the sedan body was designed in Brazil and 2 years later arrived in Europe. It wasn’t the most modern car in its class, but was roomy, comfortable, well equipped and have a cheap maintenance
I had my 99 Camry from brand new until 2011, I still loved it but it was showing its age, and by 2011, the “Japanese Buick” was decidedly outdated. I traded for a 2011 Nissan Altima, a beautiful car that was very reliable, but I’ll never forget test driving the Altima, yes, it was more of a driver’s car, but it always bugged me when I closed the door; the Camry door almost vacuum-sealed shut with a classy, muted “swoosh” sound; the Altima door shut with a cheap, tinny sounding clang. Other than that, I loved the Altima.
My family, yes. FIirst. Amom is on 13 with her 2005 Prius, which I think may be a record for my parents, and she plans to keep it until it’s too expensive to repair. Previously, although my parents are quite frugal about cars, after getting burned by an ’84 Chevette, they bought lightly used Hondas and Toyotas for years; I think the Prius was the first new car buy since ’84.
An elderly cousin bought a new Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham (first year of the whale body) and put 184,000 miles on it from 1993-2014 when I bought it from him. He also claims never to have changed the spark plugs. Certainly ran fine in my year of ownership minus the electrical gremlins with some of the power accessories. That cousin’s wife is still driving her 1995 Sedan DeVille.
And my grandmother drove a 1992 Honda Civic DX sedan in mint green from 1992 to 2007 when she stopped driving.
So that’s two highly predictable Japanese cars (obviously my mom is just short, but hopes to last 15) and two Cadillacs.
Me? I’ve never purchased a new car, but if I did I’d consider it a heavy duty/winter/appease the gf-wife substitute for the big vintage gunboats I really like. And I’d try to get as many years out of it as humanly possible so as to avoid purchasing another with any frequency and so that my car budget could be primarily devoted to repair, care, and feeding of said vintage cars.
You have a ’75 Oldsmobile Regency 98, yes?
I concur: Keep the big beasties and FEED THEM!! 😀
Learn something from the list that Camry is not on the top of list, Collora and Yaris do not make the list, Highlander, not RAV4, has the top honor. Another surprise is Odyssey could run beyond 15 years despite it has high failure rate for its transmission. Personally I know five Odysseys suffered that faith with 10 years. we were even at one when we were on the way to airport, it failed without any warning. But I have to admit Honda mades a better van. Currently I own a 2015 Odyssey.
No GM, Ford, Nissian, Mercedes and BMW are found, wonder if Crown Victoria and Towncar are forgotten. I still often see W124 and W126 in central NJ, the first generation of RAV4 and CRV are running around town. My other car, a 2003 ML350 (W163) is my daily driving machine. My neighbor uses a 2000 M320 with over 200k miles as a daily commuting car. W163 Mercedes is one of the worst Benzs according to various publications including this site.
On the Odyssey transmission, they have good resale and owners like them. I wouldn’t be surprised if many families changed the tranny and kept owning.
In the US the Yaris nameplate hasn’t been on the market for 15 years, it was launched as a 2006 model. The sedan based on the first generation was Toyota Echo here, a name that lasted only that one generation.
Well, this technically qualifies, with a lot of qualifiers, so here goes. My wife has 1998 328i (last year of the E36’s) which we bought new for her that year. It was a daily driver for many years, but (first qualifier) my wife’s office was only 6 miles from our house, so she only drove it 12 miles a day, 5 days a week…. so it currently has 68,000 miles and change on it. Next qualifier is that we live in Dallas, so the car has never seen salt, and further it’s lived it’s whole life with covered parking both at home and at her office, so it hasn’t sun-rotted either. Mechanically, as would be expected with so few miles, the car has been very good, only requiring a few typical-to-E36’s repairs, such as a new radiator because of BMW’s plastic topped design, and a radiator fan controller. I mention this since it was damn expensive to take the nose apart to replace it, but it failed in the on position so there was no choice. With new Bilstein shocks at 15 Years, new tires every 5 years, and regular oil, brake fluid and coolant changes, the car has been great, and is still a nice car to drive. Oh, I did do a auto transmission fluid change at 10 years, and I’ll probably do another this year. The interior is more or less perfect, and everything works, but some of the rubber trim is, well, 20 years old.
The car is sort of a honey-trap… we’re retired now and the car moves perhaps every two weeks. It’s in great shape, and my wife loves it. However, at this point, it’s 20 years old and worth nothing, really. I should get her a new car as this thing can’t stay reliable forever, but it would cost a ton of money to get her a replacement she doesn’t and, and which would sit in the garage moving maybe every two weeks. So, should I be preemptive and spend a ton of money buying her a car she doesn’t want, or just wait till something major breaks?
I owned 1989 Ford Ranger 4×4, which I purchased new, for 21 years….my personal record. I had a 1992 Camry that I owned from 2000 – 2010, followed by a 2004 Taurus we had for 8 years. I bought my 2002 Tacoma a little over 8 years ago and am still driving it. We bought a 2015 Highlander brand new and it could end up staying in the fleet for 15 years.
I was a little surprised the list doesn’t include Silverados, F-150’s and the related large SUV’s, but others have already covered why this might be the case.
My longevity list typically shows a 9-10 year life span for my vehicles before rust and wear sets in here in our Southern Ontario climate. Here goes for my long timers:
74 Dart – Jan 74 to 1983. Sold it when I got a great deal on an 81 Bel Air. What a tank. Unreliable, I had to turf the Chev in March 86. Wish I had kept the Dart longer, but I wanted the V8 full size car experience.
85 Reliant – Mar 86 to Sept 95. Got over 300,000 KMs on that car, it was great, but it ate fuel pumps until I learned not to let the gas tank get below a quarter full.
96 Cavalier – Sep 95 to Nov 2004. Would have kept it longer but it got T boned by a red light runner in Hamilton. Biggest reliability complaint was having to add major engine and transmission failure just past warranty in 1999. I kind of swore off of GM cars permanently after that.
2001 Caravan – Late 2000 to mid 2010. Hauled building materials, loads of people, and took us on family outings. Multiple maintenance issues, some small, some not so converged and conspired to its demise. Replaced it with my current 2010 Escape.
I had an 87 Voyager that we got in 1989 and lasted until 1998. Nine years again for those counting. Major transmission failure did this one in, and I loved that van.
My son’s car is a 2004 Honda Civic. Bought it in Sep 2007 to replace a short duration 1998 Accord, and it is still going mightily ten years plus on. 230,000 KMs and no sign of slowing down, and he does not baby it one bit.
My car purchases have tended strongly to the ‘sensible’ side of the equation, with a strong sense of economy of purchase and ownership, and an accent on Mopar loyalty. My younger son carries on that mantra with the Civic, however my older son is much more sporty in his choices. He previously had a 2011 Subaru WRX STI, and now is leasing a 2018 Subaru WRX sedan. After he had also owned a Ford Escort, and a Honda Civic, I believe he wanted more zip in his driving experience. If he continues to lease, he will keep his cars for only three years at max.
I’ll preface this by saying in the past 38 years, my wife and I have easily gone through 50+ cars. We actually stopped counting at that number, well over a decade ago. That being said, I came close on two cars. A ’93 Ford F150 4X4, that I kept long after the normal trade-in time because I knew my son would be wanting a driver and, knowing the boy, a car just wouldn’t do. So I kept it until 2006, handed the keys to him, and he drove it for another 5 years. Over 300K miles on it, and still going strong. He replaced it with a nice ’95 I found with a third the miles on it, and he’s still got that one with 275 on it now.
The other close one was my ’01 Grand Marquis. Bought it used in ’03, and drove it 210K miles and 13 years. Sold it to friends of the family, and they still use it as a DD. I loved that car- and it NEVER failed me. In laws had a ’97 Crown Vic that I sold them in ’98, and they kept it until this summer. Gave it to a grandson when they bought a COPO Mercedes C300 (I didn’t see that coming). Nephews still got the car, but I don’t know the miles on it. Best guess around 170K or so. Same repair history as the Marquis. in other words, nothing to speak of outside of routine maintenance and wear-out items.
I took this pic of the Marquis the day I sold it. I don’t buy this “patina” stuff- I just keep up with the appearance maintenance. 210K miles, and clean enough to roll onto a showroom.
I wonder if the lack of domestics, particularly trucks, might be due to leasing? Here in Canada leasing is a big thing and technically is not ownership of the vehicle. I have several friends who have bought vehicles just off lease and have driven them into the ground, but the lease company was the first registered owner.
Just a thought here, since we did a lot of commercial biz and had all “Big Three” franchises. The commercial fleet users run their own lifecycle programs, and will trade out at a time that maximizes the utility/resale point. That usually happens somewhere around the 75K mile mark. Keep in mind utter reliability is a big thing. Consider the true cost of putting a work truck and one or two workers on hold for the day to repair a minor problem. Between wages and lost business, one day could be many thousands of dollars.
The small business guys either buy late model used, or put a ton of miles on their equipment. Or both. In any event, they won’t own that work truck for 15 yrs. Then there’s the private market. Pickups haven’t been cheap for over a decade. No one NEEDS a $50-$75K pickup… although a lot of them are sure getting sold. I believe Ford reported the average transaction price for a ’16 pickup was over $48K. Since we’re talking wants, not needs, there’s a greater tendency to move up to the latest and greatest. High resale and liberal lending standards make this all too easy to accomplish.
Anyways, that’s my thinking.
My 98 Civic, bought new in February 98, sold in September 2013. Technically, the timing belt was due for replacement due to age, not wear, and the original shocks were pretty tired. Had I not retired, it would have gotten the belt and shocks and would still be hauling me to work now, closing in on it’s 20th birthday. Rust was not an issue as, for most of it’s life, I had a sacrificial car to drive in the winter.
Bought this 85 GLC in September 85. Traded in on the Civic in Feb 98, a bit over 12 years old. It had issues requiring immediate attention: CV joint and metal pipe in cooling system that had rusted through and was leaking. As I had not had a sacrificial car for most of it’s life, it was a lot rustier that it looks in the pic. Without the rust, it would have gotten the CV joint and cooling system pipe replaced and repaired instrument panel lights and would easily run past the 15 year mark.
My Cars:
1986 Pontiac Trans Am Bought used in Jan. 1990 with about 45000 miles on her. Still have with about 140000 miles on her.
1996 Chevy Impala SS Bought new in January 1996. About 106000 miles on her now.
No major repairs on either.
1996 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham Bought used in November 2003 with about 110000 miles on her. About 159000 on her now. Major repair was new fuel pump.
1996 Buick Roadmaster Wagon Bought used June 2005. 106000 on her then. 151000 on her now. Major repair was leaky water pump which fried the optispark.
2008 GMC Sierra xtended cab 4wd. Bought new in Sept. 2008. 59000 on her now. No major repairs.
2008 Saturn Aura XR. I arranged for purchase by my Dad in May of 2009 from a friend with less than 10000 miles on it. I bought it from him last April when he had to give up driving it now has 91000 on it. Major repair was cooling fan came apart and destroyed the radiator.
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car. Bought in Feb. 1987 and sold in May 1998. No major repairs but leaks around rear window and Carb needed replacing. Had about 162000 on her when sold.
1998 Chevy S10 xtended Cab V6. Bought Slightly used in Nov. 1998 and traded for 2008 GMC above. No major problems.
1979 Mercury Marquis Brougham bought new in May 1980 and sold in Feb. 1987. Major repairs of rebuilding transmission and broken timing chain and bent valves. Had about 120000 miles when sold.
1987 Dodge Omni, Bought new in Nov. 1986 and sold in August of 1992. Had some Bearings replaced on front end. Had about 80000 miles on her.
1992 Saturn SL. Bought slightly used in Nov. 1992 and sold in December 1995. No major problems in about 60000 miles.
1968 Plymouth Sport Satellite. Bought in Dec. 1973 with about 22000 miles and sold after my Dad had major accident in it in June 1976.
1971 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe. Bought in June 1976 and sold in May 1979.
1973 Chevy Impala Sport Sedan which was Dads. Bought in May 1979 and sold in May 1980. In family since new and I sold it with about 140000 miles on it. Was a great car except for MPG’s.
1977 Chrysler Newport. Bought used in March 1985 and traded in for Dodge Omni in November of 1986. Lean Burn was crap and AC crapped out along with both front power windows.
1955 Plymouth Savoy. Bought in 1975 for 50 bucks and sold in 1976 for 100 bucks.
Honorable Mention:
Arranged for my brother to buy a 2000 Chrysler LHS with around 20000 miles in July of 2002. He sold in January of 2016 with 235000 miles on her. Never let him down. He sold to friend of family and last report it is still going strong.
Current drivers:
2004 Ford Focus 153,000 5spd
2004 Buick Lesabre Limited 42,000
1998 Mercury Sable 207,000
1991 Mazda 626 5 door 192,000 5spd
1990 Mazda 626 sedan 175,000 (just drove 1100 mi.RT to Las Vegas at 34.5 mpg)
The five classics really don’t count.
Two Volvo 850’s, an 850 sedan (about 157K) and an 850R wagon (about 162K), bought new in 1996, so going on 22 years. I also have my auntie’s 1991 240 sedan (~135K); she bought it new and drove it until she passed away in 2014; while I am not the original owner, it’s going on 27 years in the family. I put a new manual transmission in the 850 about ten years ago, and last year a catastrophic water pump failure in the 850R resulted in the head coming off and new valves. Other’n that no major repairs, but plenty of minor ones. I have no plans to part with any of them anytime soon.
I have to admit – I am a car slut.
After 3 months they usually start to bore me and I get that weird longing for something new.
I even tend to forget cars I once owned.
Currently I am in a monogamous relationship with a Saab 9000 which I´ve owned for the past two years.
Lately I’m sort of the same way…its not that my choices ‘bore me’…its that the list of cars/trucks I want to experience is as long as both my arms. I’m of the mentality that if its something you want and you can afford it…GO FOR IT. Lifes too short not to enjoy to whatever capacity your means allow. When in my twilight years which are aways away, I’m not gonna wish Id saved a few more dollars on gas driving a corolla. But if I don’t get a 340 Duster at some point…
I never owned a car THAT long. But I held on to my 92 Ford Escort CLX diesel (EU model, in case anyone asks) for 8 years and it was 12 years old when (all with the same family) I got it. And it could be still alive somewhere in Transylvania (yes). I had to do a bit of work to it but it never let me down. I doubt I’ll keep the current car (2015 Mazda 3) that long.
Just a few months short of 15 years of ownership of our 2003 Mountaineer. I never intended to keep it that long and was about ready to trade it in when gas prices started their rapid climb to $4 and the financial crisis hit. So with the trade in value taking a big drop and the continued, but lesser, need for it we decided to keep it and get a car for the wife’s commuting and general runabout. It still gets used 3-5,000 miles per year, and at that level I can’t see not having it but also can’t justify spending money on a newer one when it still does what it needs to do and I’ve kept it in good condition.
Now I didn’t buy them new, far from it, but I’ve had my 73 Cabtop Scout II since 94 and the 73 Traveltop since 97 and I used a 1992 Crown Victoria as my daily driver for about 15 years and my last truck and van for 18 and 20 years. On the other end of the scale we are on the 5th daily driver since we first got the wife something other than that Mountaineer to commute in.
I will never buy a brand new car, unless some unforseen financial good luck happens.
But my Falcon ute turns 15 this month. I’ve owned it for 12.5 years. My 6 month plan is to semi retire it and buy a near new reasonably priced small car to do the daily grind.
I will keep the Falcon though, utes are handy, and its like a good mate, been through a lot with this car, don’t think I can part with it.
Here in the States, we would call that a Ranchero. What a nice looking ride!
It’s a shame those types of vehicles lost popularity here. It would be nice to see them make a comeback. I think before Pontiac passed away, they were going to do a G8 variant of this kind of car based on a Holden Ute. I saw one at International Auto Show back then and thought it was cool. Sort of a modern el Camino.
+1, RSR. I was hoping a ute version of the Charger/Magnum would show up. A Hemi 6spd muscle car that can give all the thrills of a Challenger but also carry patio blocks or haul camping gear…SOLD.
Current fleet: 83 Chrysler (35 years), 00 Buick (18 years), 01 Buick (17 years), 95 Plymouth (23 years), and 07 Buick (11 years). 15 years, no sweat here.
My 2003 Mini Cooper S has 247K miles and is definitely not boring. Of course, no one wants it at this point, not because it goes up on 3 wheels at autocross but because it’s a 15 year old example of a car that made CR’s “used cars to avoid” list multiple times. Any of you want an old Mini? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
I have every intention of keeping my ever so practical and trusty Dacia Logan MCV for a few more years. This complete automotive cockroach is now ten years old with around 250000 km on the clock and so worthless that there would seem to be little point in selling it anyway! As to the now 21yr old Bentley, that will probably be with me until either death or bankruptcy intervenes. Pip pip!
Two of the cars on this list are in my driveway/garage. The first (Toyota Sienna) doesn’t surprise me at all. I don’t anticipate we’ll keep ours anywhere near 15 years, but I have little doubt that it could make it. The second (VW Golf) surprises me a lot. I’m on my second Golf (technically a GTI), and based on the constant issues with that car, I very seriously doubt that I’ll even make it to the 5 year mark before I unload it! Lovely car in every way except how it’s put together, and I know I’m not alone in this sentiment. It seems that many of the people that drive Volkswagens tend to be rather passionate (I used to be, before this lemon came along), which I guess could explain why they hold onto them for so long. But still, that did surprise me to see the VW Golf up there among well-proven Japanese automobiles.
Now the bloody Dacia’s sulking because I didn’t post a photo of it. Grrr. Prepare to get excited….
We just got rid of our 2003 Sienna just shy of the 15 year mark, but it had over 290k miles. Still ran great, but the rust had gotten to be too extensive, to the point we were worried about the shocks coming through the engine compartment when you went over a speed bump.
I have owned my 2005 Ford Focus for 13 yrs next month. It had 21K miles when I bought it & it now has 61K miles. I had to replace a broken driver’s side mirror, fix the driver’s side seat which broke & replace the front speakers. I’m still very happy w/it & have no plans to replace it.
Bought a 86 VW GTI in Oct 86. Sold it in Oct 99 with 144k for $3,000.
Not quite 15 years.
I also first sold this car in Dec 1994, with 118k miles. I regretted it. I asked new owner if I could buy it back. He said “no”. I let it go. Then a month later, he called and asked if I was still interested. I wondered what was wrong with the car. He said had an injury and couldn’t drive a stick. So I bought it back for what I sold it PLUS his costs (sales taxes).
I sold in in 99 to buy my brothers V6 Probe GT. He warned me. He was right. Probe was a POS. I regretted selling the VW.
I got lucky and found a decent 86 GTI in summer 2000. I bought it. I still have it. 17 years–but not since new.
And my car may still be on it’s second owner–the kid I sold it to. He was thrilled with the car. As he chirped the tires rounding the corner from my house, I figured “the car is done”.
Did a carfax on in 2009, 10 years later. Still in kid’s name!
Just sold my 88 Cherokee with 250K miles on it, had it for 14 years. Lucked out when a neighbor down the street had a 94 Cherokee he wasn’t using any more, plus it is a 5 speed manual !. Looking forward to another 14 years…
It doesn’t count since I bought them used, but I have owned at least one GM B body continuously since 1997. They wouldn’t show up in a statistic like this one. I think a majority of B-body owners have been long term since they went out of production in 1996.
I didn’t buy it new, but I kept my ’00 TJ Wrangler for right at 10 years–’03-’13. There just wasn’t much reason to upgrade since the TJs in the next several years never got the available V8 that Id been wishing for…although a Rubicon TJ-L with halfcab would have been SWEET. The JK just seemed to lose the plot for me…V6 engine, almost no recognizable direct lineage with the CJs I started out with.
The list of cars seems (mostly) counterintuitive. Keep a Tacoma or Tundra for a long time after sinking money into exhaust, tires, wheels, etc…absolutely, and this is why Id kept 2 of my Jeeps for long term. But to keep a blah appliance like a cammry or prius sounds like self imposed misery…but that’s from a car guy’s perspective. The only gaming system I own is my PS2 that I bought new in ’02 primarily as a DVD player. My gamer nerd co workers snicker at this but I’m FAR from a video gamer. Ive had the same microwave that I bought in ’06 when I moved. It still works, so why spend money replacing something that does the job? To someone who buys many of the cars on this list, I’m guessing that buying a new car is a reaction to the old one being used up. Its not an exciting day or even a pleasant experience….much like when my last vacuum cleaner shit the bed and I had to spend $200 on a new one.
OTOH, car nuts are always seduced by the newest fasted upgraded thing. I’m in a couple of car clubs and most people have owned 2-4 LX cars. The old ones are proven durable, but every refresh has offered some substantial upgrade making it worth investing in the newer model, whether its higher hp, a new transmission, upgraded suspension, etc. Is a ’18 corolla any different than a ’04, outside of new sheetmetal? The same basic camry was in production for at least 10 years with what…a new front fascia or different wheelcovers every so often? To a frugal minded appliance buyer, its about squeezing that nickel not the car itself as a reward.
“Clearly the kind of folks who are more practical, self-controlled and financially conservative are of course likely to reach for the brands that have a long-established reputation for durability and reliability…”
Perhaps, but could that also mean they have less resources available to spend on a vehicle?
That’s not a slam in any sense of the word, either. After all, we kept our 2002 CR-V for almost 14 years, selling it to a neighbor on our cul-de-sac, so I see it every day!
Wifey loved it and she loves our CPO 2015 CR-V a lot more, even if the old one was more truck-like. Me? I tend to get tired of a vehicle, although I kept the 2004 Impala over 8 years, and actually loved that car as much as the day I bought it when I sold it to a coworker. Why did I sell it? Opportunity. I lusted for the last W-body style ever since 2005 and found a great deal on my 2012 Impala LTZ I couldn’t pass up.
What’s next? I don’t know, but being retired, I too have to be mindful of my resources, even if a friend is almost begging me to sell it to him!
We’ll see…
“Perhaps, but could that also mean they have less resources available to spend on a vehicle?“
Not in nearly as many cases as you would think. I’ve known a substantial number of people who on the surface appear very modest or even poor yet are actually misers sitting on a ton of cash…they just never spend a cent they don’t have to. The flip side of that is morons who barely make $30K a year but are balls deep in debt to keep up an appearance of being a ‘baller’.
I don’t get either extreme, myself. Im all about having a lifestyle where you enjoy what you’ve worked for. But be smart about it and stay within your means. Most importantly, I think its smart to identify your passions and spend there, where it enriches your life as opposed to falling for every shiny trinket/fad. But that’s me…
You are very correct on your last paragraph, and I couldn’t agree more. Wifey and I are the same way.
I had a great-uncle – a WW1 vet – who was a absolute miser, much to the sometimes chagrin of his wife. After all, who drives a Rambler for many years, only to buy a stripped-down Pontiac full-sized car without even an ashtray? The OHC 6 was cool, however!
To their credit, however, they were good Germans, and my aunt used to hand-scrub the basement floor regularly! Needless to say, the house was always spotless. STL Germans were known for scrubbing their portion of the alleys in the city, too!
I can easily see myself still driving the 2010 Fit in 2025. Dad’s last new car purchase in 1999 was a Camry. His great grandson is driving it today.
I was surprised to see that Nissan Frontier was listed at #14, especially after all the Toyotas above it. I bought my Frontier XL 4×2 I4 5-speed (regular cab) in Sept, 2000 after buying my first house. I still have it today at 283K miles although I got a nicer car to be my DD three years ago. Because I’m a home owner, I can always find use for a truck either as a second vehicle, or as a truck. Another reason I keep it is because it’s small; I’d happily drive a Hi-Lux (my dad had a 1975 Toyota SR-5 shortbed for over 10 years) if they were made again. Today’s ‘small’ truck seems ginormous now. The one thing that almost made me give up my Frontier was that I had to replace the transmission twice and rebuilt once because it just wasn’t designed to pull a U-Haul trailer (it pulled a trailer 5 times, with something happening either during or shortly after last 4 tows), but saved it with a used transmission installed for $2K total in 2011. Outside of that, it’s been reliable as rain. Even now it cranks on the first turn in cold damp weather, half-dead battery after two weeks sitting unused. I still see a few Frontiers on the road, but almost all of them are king cabs.
The truck I had before the Frontier was a 1982 Toyota SR-5 longbed 5-sp manual. I bought it used in the summer of 1984 and gave it away in November, 1998 because I didn’t think it would make the 1000 miles from Albany, NY to Atlanta (it wouldn’t stay in 5th gear for one thing); everything but the R-20 engine was pretty much rusted out. I started crying the moment I handed the keys and title over to a friend of mine.
The longest owned vehicle in our family was a 1978 Datsun 810 sedan 4-dr with a 4 sp manual; a car so worthy of a COAL. I had a hand in extending our family ownership by over two years (my dad was going to donate it) during my interregnum between trucks when I had no job, no vehicle, no hope …. We had that vehicle for 24 years total, from fall 1977 when Pop bought it to when I handed it back to him in April, 2001. It was actually a pretty good highway car though average for around town driving.
I’m not sure how credible this list is. Toyota Prius came onto the world market in 2000, and the first generation (2000-2003) sold about 123,000 worldwide (Wikipedia). Second generation (2003-2009) sold 1,192,000. Didn’t find numbers for later models, but these two total 1,315,000: 15% of that would be 197,250. So basically ALL those sold from 2000 to 2003 would have to be in the original owners’ hands?
Assuming this list came out recently, the youngest car that could be 15 years old would be a 2003 model. So only 2003 and older cars could count towards the 15%. In the case of the Prius that would be 15% of cars sold from 2000-2003. This site says 65,864 Priuses were sold in the US (not worldwide) from 2000-2003. 15% of that is 9,880 cars.
As others have observed, I think a problem with this list is the fact that Japanese brands tend to stick to their model names, unlike restless US marketers, who can’t seem to let a model name last that long.
First question – How OLD are these people? I’m betting that the average age of an individual keeping a car for 15 or more years is 65+.
The reason the list is predominantly Toyota is because this is a list composed mostly of empty nester Boomers who no longer experience major lifestyle changes of births within their immediate family.
These are retiree’s cars.
When you are a young parent, you go through cars as your family grows and wears out vehicles. Your ownership cycle changes as your family changes.
Boomers love their Toyotas and Hondas. They haven’t had kids in a decade or more. So without the need for a different kind of car, the vehicles they purchased 15 years ago or more, haven’t had to change because their lives haven’t impacted their vehicular needs.
I got married – new car.
I got a kid – new car.
I got another kid – new car.
I got twins – new car.
I got bigger kids – new car.
I got teens – new car.
My house is now empty – new car.
Keeping that last new car 15 years?
Easy.
That’s my take.
We kept our first new car (’85 Cherokee) for 15 years, and I was 32 when we bought it. I was 39 when we bought a new Caravan and we kept it for 15 years. In both cases, they became my car (or second car) when the newer one came along. Stephanie was 45 when we bought the ’00 Forester which she drove for 15 years.
In my part of the world, I know (and see) a lot of folks who keep cars a long time. And not everyone has kids.
We bought a Volvo 850 sedan and an 850 wagon new in ’96, immediately following our nuptials. And an hour ago I dropped my oldest off to fly back to college, in the same car I drove him home from the hospital in. All three kids (and my spouse and I) have fit (simultaneously) in these vehicles for the past 22 years. Sure, I wanted a new car every few years, but these two cars have fulfilled our transport requirements and continue to do so. They’re economical enough to have saved some money in the long run, sporty enough to keep from feeling too deprived/bored, and with sufficiently efficient space/utilization to cart the whole family, or bunch of Boy Scouts, or twin bed, or two 10′ longboards when that is required. Everyone should buy the cars they need or want, but I haven’t needed or wanted (well, not too much) a new car, even with all the life changes that raising a family brings. YMMV.
I know a fairly well off couple who bought a new Mercedes and Jaguar in the late 80s while in their early/mid 40s and kept both of them for almost 20 years before replacing them with, as I recall, Lexuses in the late 2000s. I think it’s a mindset, some people just don’t want to spend money on 2 new cars every 3 years.
What if this is about the cost of living?
If I lived on either coast, I would have a lot less to spend on new cars. Perhaps the reason we see Japanese cars on the 15+ years list is because these folks live where it is drastically more expensive and Japanese cars are more common?
If I move to Portland, I would have to earn $49,000 more than I do in Springfield – just to stay even. With that cost of living, I wouldn’t have the income to buy a new car whenever I needed.
When I went to school in Denver, I saw lots of old vehicles on the road – and still do. The cost of living was so high, I couldn’t justify a move there when offered a job.
Maybe this list is reflecting the cost of living on the West Coast.
In my case it was the cost of college. When the kid graduated from oregon State, it was like getting a $35,000/yr raise.
Ten years and two months into my ownership of a ’94 W124. I’ve added 80,000 kilometres to the clock and “Mercy Mercedes” is still toddling along with just a few more squeaks and tattles in those ten years.
Body is a bit of a shed, but I’m keeping the oily bits up to par and it might just outlive me. Biggest problem would be finding a car better built than this tank.
Work van, Chevrolet 2008 Express van with 355,000 miles, engine purrs, did replace auto trans at 350,000miles. Personal cars? French Renaults and Peugeots. Not near the high mileage, I do keep a close watch on maintenence, they also purr. Chevy does remind me of the French cars cheap plastics.
As owner of a 07 Highlander (Hybrid); 06 Tundra and 05 RAV4 and previously two 1st gen Odysseys (98s) I can fully understand why these vehicles are kept so long…….they work well and don:t break! Japanese engineering is absolutely remarkable in my experience.
Wonderful as these vehicles are, we do also own a 16 Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost and a 12 VW GTI when sheer driving pleasure is the goal.
If you go by all the cars I’ve owned; my first car, 1968 Impala Convertible I bought at age 16 in 1975 and still own it. Second car, 1968 Nova SS, bought in 1977, still own it, 1968 Chevelle 300 Coupe, ownedfrom 1979-1993, was my daily driver during most of that time. 1983 Chevette, daily driver from 1991-2001, cars I bought brand new: 1986 El Camino still own it, but it only has 6,600 miles on it.. 1989 Cavalier Z24 Convertible owned from1989-2009, most troublesome new car I ever owned, traded it in for a 10 Camaro on order in February of 09 with barely 10,000 miles on it. 1998 S10 owned from December 1997-2009, wish I had kept it, 2007 Cobalt SS only kept it s year and a half, 2010 Camaro still own it, 2012 Colorado Z71 crewcab, still own it. I currently also own an 80 Monte Carlo that I’ve owned since 1995. And a 79 Malibu Coupe I’ve owned since 2004, a 69 Impala Coupe I’ve owned since 2004, and a 67 Impala owned since 2005. I’ve owned many others, but most lesss than 10 years.