How long have you had your car?

[tig1]

My current car is a 96 Mercury Grand Marq. 4.6 with 206,000 miles. The engine and transmission have never been touched outside regular 10,000 OCI on engine and 40,000 OCI on transmission. Only repairs was to replace the plastic intake man. and the idle control valve, and lower ball joints. Also plugs, brakes, shocks etc.

My son now owns my old 91 Ranger 3.0. I gave it to him when it had 190,000 miles, and it now has 327,000 miles on the clock with 10,000 OCI. Valve covers never been off and the engine still runs great. Body getting a little rough.

 

[Tornado Red]

Only 5.5 years and 290k miles since my Golf was new. Would like to put on another 400k-500k miles or so.

 

[TallPaul]

We bought wife's '92 Aerostar in April '95.

I bought my '95 F150 in Oct '99.

Bought 2000 Chevy 454 van chassis motorhome in '07.

 

[Whimsey]

I purchase my vehicles NEW and I've kept them an average of 13+ years, though if I can keep the rust at bay I go longer. Presently I have a MY 1996 Ford Contour in great shape, well maintained with about 80,000 miles. It runs great and looks great. It's garaged most of the winter here in northern NJ. It's definitely good for many more years. My "newest" purchase, a 2002 F-150 Supercab has 40,000+ miles and also has been well maintained. It looks great, not garaged, no rust, and runs great. I use LPS3 to keep the rust at bay. So far it's working.

I order my vehicles new the way I want them so I have no problem holding onto them for many years. I really don't like vehicle payments

.

Whimsey

 

[oilboy123]

98 Taurus 118K I bought it in 1999. I will be driving it for at least 5 years.

 

[Colt45ws]

2004 Ford Crown Victoria- Will be one year with me 3/12/09. The car itself will be 5 years old 3/27/09. Purchased with 25,000, now has a little over 35,000. No problems. Do not plan to get rid of it for the foreseeable future.

 

[cousincletus]

2004 Chevy Impala 3.4 - 2 years
2008 Chevy Colorado ext. cab, 4 cyl auto 2WD - 6 months.

I plan on keeping these for a long time, esp since the Impala is paid for. I service the transmission every 25-30K miles and replace air and fuel filters every 20K.

 

[FowVay]

I had my 1999 Volkswagen TDI Golf for almost 10 years. It had 221,050 miles on it when it was totalled. It was flawless and needed nothing.

I've owned my 1999 BMW 323i for 7 1/2 years. It has 65,000 miles on it. It is flawless and needs nothing.

My Nissan D21 Pickup i've owned for 2 1/2 years. It has 188,000 miles. It is in need of a clutch and will get one this summer.

 

[Kestas]

I own and drive three cars.
The newest one is 14 years old.
The oldest one is 38 years old.

 

[Cutehumor]

1994 Ford Ranger bought new, totaled at 77k in 1997, the auto was leaking transmission fluid at the time too. owned almost 3 years.

1987 Toyota Corolla, bought used in 97 with 138k miles, was severely abused, engine had rod knock in 1999 from headgasket leak. Junked it. owned 2.5 years

1992 Mitsubishi Mirage, bought in 98, sold in 07 with 135k. relegated to 3rd car status. Muffler had a huge hole that needed to replace to pass inspection. Plus, the timing belt didn't get changed in almost ten years. I didn't want to put a $1000 in repairs for a car that was 15 years old and was a 3rd car. sold it on craigslist for $400. owned for 9 years.

now driving 96 Pontiac sunfire, 161k miles, bought new by my then girlfriend now wife. I took this over when we bought the 06 Vibe. technically mine almost 3 years.

 

[opus1]

1994 Ford Ranger: I've officially owned it for 17 months, Dad bought it new so it's been in the family from the beginning. Currently has a little over 17,000 miles on it (yes, the odometer hasn't rolled over yet. Long story).

1999 Chevy Malibu: Bought it new in February 1999 so I'm coming up on 10 years of ownership. 69,000 miles.

2002 Dodge Dakota: Bought new in October 2001. 51,000 miles.

2009 Chevy Cobalt SS: Owned for 3 months now, 589 miles as of my drive this morning.

On average, I keep my vehicles about 12 years, the last vehicle I parted ways was my 1989 GMC S-15 Jimmy, at about 12-1/2 years and 165,000 miles.

 

[GMFan]

2001 Saturn SL1

Bought with 88,800 miles on it in May of 2007. It now has just under 102,000 miles on it. Been great so far. I did have to put a new clutch in shortly after buying it.

 

[Benzadmiral]

2003 Buick Park Avenue, not the Ultra but the intermediate model with most of the bells and whistles and the normally-aspirated 3.8-liter engine. I've finally gotten the windows tinted. Currently it has 60,000 miles, bought in August 2007 with 44,000, so I've had it 18 months.

I hope to pay it off early, this year or in early 2010, and drive it for a few years -- unless my luck runs out and it gets totalled while parked like my W126 Mercedes did.

 

[andyd]

In 96, I bought my 1st BMW, an 88 528e with 150k miles on it. I drove it for 11 1/2 yrs and 200k mile before replacing it with another one. I am currently in the process of freshening it up for #2 son.

 

[addyguy]

2002 Chevrolet Cavalier. Bought it in 2005 with 55k miles on it.

Currently has 120k miles on it. Has been pretty reliable so far, and I still like it.

My 'goal' is to get 10 years and 180k miles (300k km) on it before I decide what to do with it.

 

[ARB1977]

2002 Tacoma bought it when the 2003's were comming out. I love this truck. Ill keep it going as long as possible but maybe have to get rid of it since its a extended cab and now that i have a son.

 

[02Pilot]

2001 BMW 525i, purchased Sep 07 at 99k miles, now at 122k. Aggressive preventive maintenance has kept it basically trouble-free. No plans to get rid of it, and considering that I kept my last 5 (a 1983 533i) for 9+ years and 80k miles I may have it a good long while.

1974 BMW 2002, purchased summer 1994. Painted after acquisition, pretty much everything else on the car has been replaced, upgraded, or at least disassembled and inspected. Needs a little rust repair this spring, and getting a few minor upgrades to cosmetics and lighting at the same time. No plans to sell; it's too much fun.

 

[addyguy]

Nice cars, and nice picture of them - looks like something right out of a 'book of BMW cars'.....

 

[M1Accord]

Those are nice looking Bimmers. I like Bimmers but European cars can be finicky and I just don't have that kind of spare money to throw at mundane upkeep. One of the things I like about Honda and Toyota is that I can maintain them myself and know enough to tell the mechanics what to fix for things outside my knowledge. I can't do that with European cars because they are specifically built to be hard to work on as most owners aren't DIYers. That is too bad as more people would buy Bimmer and Mercs if they are easier and cheaper to own.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
I can't do that with European cars because they are specifically built to be hard to work on as most owners aren't DIYers.

Here we go agin.

IMO, they're not really that hard to work on. The reason most people don't DIY on a BMW is not because they're hard to work on. It's more because the typical bmw buyer, considering the money these cars cost when new, is not about to get their hands dirty or even waste time on doing the maintenance. If they can afford a new BMW, they surely don't mind paying someone to maintain it - they'd rather be playing golf or making more money than working on cars, unless it's their hobby. And that's of course after the 4-year warranty is up. Before that, all maintenance is "on the house". Most of those buyers get rid of the car at that point and get a new one.

And when it comes to used BMWs - there are a lot of DIY guys, and a lot of forums and resources. You just have to look. Granted, more stuff may need to be preventatively replaced (like the cooling system) than on a typical Japanese car, but it's not necessarily any more difficult to work on.

As for me, things like oil changes, filter changes, spark plugs... all that I do myself. Other things, like brakes I could potentially do myself as well, but sometimes I just get the parts online and pay someone to put them on if the labor cost is reasonable - I don't mind a local indy shop make a few bucks now and then.