How long do you keep a car or truck?

this is a little harder to do in the rust belt, but we keep cars as long as they are reliable. We put money into fixing them until that doesn't make sense anymore. You can do several thousand dollars of car repair each year and be miles ahead over making payments on a new car.

Just my $0.02
 
Ideally, until it becomes unreliable or a money pit. I got rid of my BMW because it had grown a bit tired of me. I got rid of my then over-30-year-old Rabbit because I wasn't driving it enough and an enthusiast really wanted it. I can never get rid of my work-provided vehicles quickly enough. Once or twice I may have inadvertently hastened their demise.
 
C43- 1.5 Years (replacing a M235i I kept for 7 years)
Club Sport- 29 years
X1- 6 years
Sahara 4xe- 8 months (replacing a Sahara I kept for 21 years and a Cooper Clubman I kept for 7 years)

I usually begin wanting something different after 7-8 years and/or 100k-150k miles. Notable exceptions have been the Club Sport (which I’m keeping forever) and the old Wrangler (which was sold along with the Clubman to match the number of cars with the number of garage spaces.
 
Until I get tired of it. My wife is wanting to replace her 2015 Audi A4 she bought new. She likes this new Audi S5 Sportback. Discounted to $65055. We looked at it today while the dealer is closed.

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Even if they are still dependable, I tend to get tired of cars after about 12-15 years, and start wanting to experience something different.
 
I'm approaching the half century mark and I've had a grand total of 6 vehicles.

1983 - Camaro - Bought 1992
1997 - Isuzu Rodeo - Bought new in 1997
2003 - Accord EX V6** - Bought New 2003
1991 - Mazda Miata - Bought in 2003
2008 - Acura TL Type S** - Bought in 2016
2020 - Ford Ranger** - Bought new 2020


I still own/drive the bold vehicles. I wish I'd hung on to the Miata.
 
Generally speaking....Until they become a burden. I am guilty of making exceptions on this, though. Lol

This is why I (generally) choose the platform first before I start shopping.
 
I'm guessing those are some plain appliance cars and you and wife don't really get any satisfaction out of the driving experience.
Satisfaction is totally subjective.

We currently have three vehicles: A 2008 Charger R/T we bought new (but a year old) off the showroom floor for $20,500 (cash); a 2005 Caravan I bought while TDY to San Antonio for $13,999 (cash); and a 1986 Daytona I bought while TDY in Virginia for about $2K.

My wife loves driving her Charger...with 36K original miles. I'd say she's satisfied.

I get immense satisfaction out of driving my 2005 Caravan. The paint looks like crud, but everything works just fine with only 253K miles and I'd take it cross-country tomorrow.

And the old Daytona is just a fun little car that's seldom seen anymore. I just had my Texas inspection done last week and the kids at the shop absolutely loved the car (as do I). Call me satisfied with the experience.

You know what's most satisfying? A big fat retirement account with regular contributions because I don't piss money away on new cars and related expenses. And when the time comes for a new car...out comes the checkbook and a receipt that says "paid in full."

If I had to get a new car today, it would probably be a 2024 Jetta Sport with a manual for under $25K.
 
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