Average age of vehicles is up&up

[Creekside]

My newest vehicle is a 2016 F250. The daily driver is a 1994 plus the 2000(build date 1999) Mack that I run nearly every day. I log somewhere between 250 and 300 miles on an average day in the Mack.

Somewhat off topic but when the E-log mandate went into effect for OTR trucks the older 1999 and back stuff went sky high. A 1999 or older Peterbilt/KW/Freightliner will fetch way more than a newer tractor will in todays market. In the July sale a 1999 KW T600 brought $19,000 where you could buy several different 2014,2015,2016 model tractors for that much or less.

 

[DemoFly]

All the cars that qualified under that program would be in the junkyard by now.

Yeah, of course. But people bought NEW cars with the money they got for clunkering.

 

[redhat]

18 yrs here for both.

Wish I liked something new as much as this old pile. I have found that I can't get comfortable in new vehicles -- It sucks, but I truly think I gotta find something 60k+ just to have some seat comfort.

Meanwhile a 20 year old GM truck has Barcalounger seats and I'm happy.

 

[John105]

I know COVID related crunch aided the already existing trend, but I think durability is a constantly increasing variable, despite the ever growing complexity

Average car is 13.5 years old, which means a lot are older than that, yet are still maintainable to be driven!

View attachment 183795


Also relevant
View attachment 183797

I drove the bottom one to work today and the 300 bone stock ft lbs and 6 man. never gets old. Owned the car 16 yrs and 10 mos. Nothing ever broke other than the DSC aka abs pump which I diy’d for ~ $500.

 

[billt460]

Most of this is governed by weather, far more than it is by finance. If people want a new vehicle bad enough, they'll simply buy one. They'll just mortgage it further out, with a longer loan, and pay more interest. We now have auto loans going out to 8 years.

That is insane. People would never have believed such a thing was even possible 30 or 40 years ago. Let alone doing it with less than 20% down. But here we are. The result is we now have more car loans underwater today, than ever before in the history of this country.

Weather, on the other hand is dealt to you. You cannot control it, or what it does to your vehicle. If you're fortunate enough to live in the sunbelt, (Arizona or California), your cars will last an all but indefinite period of time. Assuming you take good care of them mechanically.

Today cars are built far better to endure bad Winter climates, (salt, sleet, snow and rain), with more Stainless Steel components like exhaust. Also more composite components are being utilized as well.

But frames and other components like electrical wiring plugs and connections are still damaged by salt. So when they talk about the average age of a car on the road on a national basis being 14 years, it's really a false flag.

Because that age is out of the control of most people who live in the Rust Belt. Just compare a 14 year old car that has lived it's life in Buffalo, New York, to a similar vehicle that has lived its life in Southern California or Arizona.

It's a bit like "life expectancy". You have smokers and alcoholics who are lucky to make it to 50. Then you have people with good genes, and who practice good diet and exercise, and are healthy well into their 80's.

 

[andrew_j]

I got lucky with daughters car 2013 Acura ILX(fancy civic with CRV motor), spent two months in summer locally new then sold to south and used in South based on carfax till 2022 and made its way back locally sold to me.

Body has no corrosion that is normal for 10 yr+ car. The little I see is what new has and far less then my wife’s 2018 Tiguan on underside.

I think it will last another at least 5 years with only 108k miles and climbing only 10k per year .

 

[LazyDog]

My wheels are from 1998 and still chugging along just fine.

 

[jeepman3071]

In New England average age gets tough as they rot away.

Yep exactly. To me condition means more than age/miles.

Mine are 14 and 25 years old, but have zero rust and both drive like new because I'm fanatical about maintenance and prefer the driving dynamics and character of older cars. My 2009 BMW went in for a recall and they gave me a 330i loaner this past week. It was nice, but the drive home in my 2009 felt like putting on a nice warm comfortable glove in comparison as I ripped through the city back roads. I'll be sad when I do have to move on from it into the gadget packed newer cars.

 

[Kurtatron]

This statistic always seemed cryptic to me. When I’m driving around in big cities, I’m not seeing 13 year old cars making up the average. So here’s the data that breaks down the statistics.

The graph shows the highest volumes of cars are between 1-5 years. Ok, that matches my anecdotal observations, but it seems that it’s older pickup trucks that are tugging the average down.

It’s the piles of trucks > 18 years old that’s pulling the average down. I suspect the median would be much higher than 13 years.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36914

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I know COVID related crunch aided the already existing trend, but I think durability is a constantly increasing variable, despite the ever growing complexity

Average car is 13.5 years old, which means a lot are older than that, yet are still maintainable to be driven!

View attachment 183795


Also relevant
View attachment 183797

I have questions. During the Great Recession and Cash for Clunkers, how did the average age of cars dramatically increase while they were scrapping older cars left and right like their federal pensions depended on it?

 

[4WD]

This statistic always seemed cryptic to me. When I’m driving around in big cities, I’m not seeing 13 year old cars making up the average. So here’s the data that breaks down the statistics.

The graph shows the highest volumes of cars are between 1-5 years. Ok, that matches my anecdotal observations, but it seems that it’s older pickup trucks that are tugging the average down.

It’s the piles of trucks > 18 years old that’s pulling the average down. I suspect the median would be much higher than 13 years.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=36914

View attachment 183851

Yeah - I live in a small town and there are no large cities in the county … plenty old pickups & SUV’s running around …
Houston - just an hour away does appear to have newer units running around …

 

[John105]

Yep exactly. To me condition means more than age/miles.

Mine are 14 and 25 years old, but have zero rust and both drive like new because I'm fanatical about maintenance and prefer the driving dynamics and character of older cars. My 2009 BMW went in for a recall and they gave me a 330i loaner this past week. It was nice, but the drive home in my 2009 felt like putting on a nice warm comfortable glove in comparison as I ripped through the city back roads. I'll be sad when I do have to move on from it into the gadget packed newer cars.

Imho if you ever part with your BMW, you’ll never have the same steering feel again. For many, our steering (2007 E92) is effectively broken and not enough assist by todays standards. Not possible to turn lock to lock with a pinkie. People have accepted it, even enthusiasts.

Steering was “the” reason I wanted the E92. True duals on the 335 was another (oddity).

 

[Kurtatron]

Imho if you ever part with your BMW, you’ll never have the same steering feel again. For many, our steering (2007 E92) is effectively broken and not enough assist by todays standards. Not possible to turn lock to lock with a pinkie. People have accepted it, even enthusiasts.

Steering was “the” reason I wanted the E92. True duals on the 335 was another (oddity).

I had manual steering on my ‘92 Miata. Now that was some engaging and awesome steering feel. Totally worth parallel parking difficulties.

 

[MNgopher]

It almost like the sales of new vehicles slowed dramatically for a couple of years. Say around 2009...

https://www.statista.com/statistics/199983/us-vehicle-sales-since-1951/

The questioning of how the average age of vehicles on the road actually increased during cars for clunkers can start here...

 

[wtd]

I’m not defending the concepts — it’s actually the first time I hear of 10 year financing — but, just quick thoughts aloud: if an average car today is nearly 14 years old, chances are today’s new purchase will be capable of being on the road 20 years later, so… Maybe, again — I don’t know — the idea is not that empty of reason?

I’m think about mobile phones… they cost 3 times what they used ($400 in early 2010s vs $1,200 today), but the contemporary ones last and are usable longer. My phone is 5 years and works just fine, just the battery is weaker. It still gets OS and security updates!

With all of the electronics and modules on these newer vehicles, I highly doubt they will be on the road in 20 years. That is the stuff that will kill off these newer vehicles. There are already issues with getting some of these modules and a lot of them these days are a one time use only tied to the VIN of the vehicle they were originally installed in. A lot of them are also super expensive.

Most aftermarket electronic stuff is also very unreliable so if the aftermarket does come out with some of it, I don't have high hopes that they will work correctly or last very long.

 

[K-Man]

I'm curious about the chart in the OP. There are lots of older pickups around, and I see 20– and 25–year-old Ford Rangers and Chevrolet Silverados every day. You would think there would be more older trucks than older cars, but the chart says otherwise.

 

[Allaneddie]

Ironically I'm headed towards not wanting to own a car for "too long". Last car I got rid of, at 11 years of age, stuff was falling off. A dust shield around a caliper fell off due to rust. Easy grand to have that replaced. Exhaust system was not far behind. Living in the rust belt, oh what fun. I bet if one were to map average age by state there'd be quite a swing.

My '99 is tossing a cat code P0420 now. Don't have to fix, but, I just had the exhaust welded up, and the shop said there wasn't much left to weld. Wonder what an entire exhaust system costs? no, I don't want to know right now.

Rust belt driving is different and rust kills cars there. Better than in the distant past but still a problem. I grew up in western PA so I remember those days. Now I'm in SC and there is not a bit of rust under my 2007 Grand Cherokee.

 

[andrew_j]

One of the cars in my household was acquired new in mid west and spent 6 years of its life there. During the winter roads are salted there to death. So for the winter I’d subscribe to unlimited drive through car washes for about $40/month and used it nearly daily before returning home in the evening. The bottom of that car does have some minor patina, but otherwise looks not too far off brand new

Glad it’s working. In past life I was civil engineer and design of a car wash I did site work design for was capturing the run off and settling dirt out and spraying back onto vehicle beyond blending fresh water. I could not help but think diluted salt water was getting sprayed back onto car.

 

[The Artillerist]

With all of the electronics and modules on these newer vehicles, I highly doubt they will be on the road in 20 years. That is the stuff that will kill off these newer vehicles. There are already issues with getting some of these modules and a lot of them these days are a one time use only tied to the VIN of the vehicle they were originally installed in. A lot of them are also super expensive.

Most aftermarket electronic stuff is also very unreliable so if the aftermarket does come out with some of it, I don't have high hopes that they will work correctly or last very long.

I would make a following counter-thought: 20 years ago was 2003. 2003 cars were already governed by computers and yet, many proved capable of being on the road to this day. Computers and electronics, I would think, are getting more — not less — reliable. Then there is also a factor of electronics getting cheaper. That’s how Corola comes with more tech wizardry than an S class 20 years ago. Personally, I’m not, at least yet, convinced that electronics made the cars less reliable overall

I'm curious about the chart in the OP. There are lots of older pickups around, and I see 20– and 25–year-old Ford Rangers and Chevrolet Silverados every day. You would think there would be more older trucks than older cars, but the chart says otherwise.

I’m supposing trucks are more likely than not, to be used by their intended purpose and so customarily live a harsher life vs the “average” car

 

[jeepman3071]

Imho if you ever part with your BMW, you’ll never have the same steering feel again. For many, our steering (2007 E92) is effectively broken and not enough assist by todays standards. Not possible to turn lock to lock with a pinkie. People have accepted it, even enthusiasts.

Steering was “the” reason I wanted the E92. True duals on the 335 was another (oddity).

Yup, the driving dynamics and steering feel are why I hold onto this car for dear life. I test drove an F80 M3 back when they first came out. Engine sounded great, interior was nice, but felt like driving a video game.