How many miles to get your money’s worth?

[Elkins45]

Let’s say you buy a new car. Nothing unusual, some sort of daily driver like a Camry or an Accord. You pay a couple thousand below MSRP. How many trouble-free miles (no major repairs) do you need to get out of that car before you feel like you got your money’s worth out of it?

 

[JayhawkRoy]

I do my math of this type based on 150K miles. So far, I have been able to achieve that before a vehicle gets in a wreck or an extremely expensive repair.

 

[hrv]

Since I have Honda's now....at least 200000 or more....my last 07 accord with a 2.4 had 386000 when I traded it in...

 

[CKN]

Let’s say you buy a new car. Nothing unusual, some sort of daily driver like a Camry or an Accord. You pay a couple thousand below MSRP. How many trouble-free miles (no major repairs) do you need to get out of that car before you feel like you got your money’s worth out of it?

Until the pandemic you could drive a new pickup every three years with little increase in payment. That was my money's worth!

 

[The Critic]

2011 Prius III. Paid MSRP + tax, so $28K.

Currently at 225,000 miles.

Major expenses:

6 sets of tires at $600/set = $3600
Headgasket job (DIY) $1K
Oil, filters, wipers, struts/stocks, brakes, alignment, etc. (DIY) $2K?

This puts me at 15.4 cents/mile without accounting depreciation, fuel or insurance. To be honest, the number is still higher than I would like.

 

[CR94]

>300k miles or 20 years, whichever comes first

 

[doublebase]

150,000 before major repair has always been my benchmark, meaning, no tranny repair, no engine repair. I’m ok with a check engine light, a radiator, wheel bearing, some suspension wear, whatever. But I don’t want a tranny replacement, or major engine problem at that point.

 

[samven]

When I retired I had to turn the company car in and was left with my pickup truck. I needed to get something for general driving like groceries and visiting. I ended up with a new Manual trans Fiesta. Tax title tags out the door $12,600. The truck gets 17mpg on mid grade the car gets 40 mpg on regular. I calculated I needed to drive the car in place of the truck for 75,000 mile to save 12,600 in gas costs and another 25,000 miles to cover the cost of insurance. Its coming up on 10 years and I am almost at 75k miles. In another 4 years it will have payed for itself and all its costs just in gas savings over the truck which I still have.

 

[Nick1994]

For a Camry or Accord, I'd say a single moderate repair at 150k miles is ok, but nothing major until 225k or so.

For a Malibu or similar? 100k without repairs would be a great turnout. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[eljefino]

I used to aim for a dime a mile in depreciation and repairs/ maintenance. Probably less realistic nowadays. This is for both used and new cars! Sometimes I add value and drive for free.

 

[AZjeff]

I've never looked at it that way. If a new or fairly new vehicle gives us good service without stranding us or needing a major or even minor repair until we tire of it at 4-6 years we're happy. Yes it has cost some money to trade but I'm so OCD about my stuff that I always get top trade dollar.

 

[PandaBear]

For me it would be about 180K, preferably 250K.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

I'd say 200k is my threshold, but 150k is still acceptable. My 2005 CR-V didn't need anything till the AC compressor went out at 264k.

 

[Leo99]

I like to net out 15 cents per mile.

 

[carviewsonic]

When it needs repairs that I don't want to do because it's in need of a bit of everything, or I just don't want to drive it anymore. That usually ends up at 180k miles or so for my GM cars, although I did happily drive a '96 Accord until 280k miles. It still ran great, but it just needed too much work at that point to keep it any longer.
I used to figure $150/month for repairs and depreciation was acceptable, but I haven't thought about a monthly dollar figure for years now.
I know the OP asked how many miles, but short tripping to get to work adds lots of wear and tear without the miles, so I use both time owned and miles driven.

 

[rob1715]

150k - 200k miles.

 

[fisher83]

I feel like 150,000 miles with no serious repairs is kind of my expectation for most modern cars. That being said, I know many cars are capable of much more than that.

 

[CharlesInCharge]

Economics would generally be [(cost of vehicle + all maintenance + insurance costs)- (current value) / miles]

Examples:
1. New $50,000 car in 2010 + $500/yr maintenance + $500/yr insurance) / 150,000 miles. Current value $10k.
That would be $50,000 + $6000 + $6000 = ($62000-10k / 150,000) Or 35 cents per mile.

2. Used ($3,000 car in 2020 + $500 maint + $500/yr ins) - $5000 current value) / 3000 miles = -0.16 per mile. So you'd be paid to drive/own this car in the current climate!

 

[Elkins45]

Economics would generally be [(cost of vehicle + all maintenance + insurance costs)- (current value) / miles]

Examples:
1. New $50,000 car in 2010 + $500/yr maintenance + $500/yr insurance) / 150,000 miles. Current value $10k.
That would be $50,000 + $6000 + $6000 = ($62000-10k / 150,000) Or 35 cents per mile.

2. Used ($3,000 car in 2020 + $500 maint + $500/yr ins) - $5000 current value) / 3000 miles = -0.16 per mile. So you'd be paid to drive/own this car in the current climate!

In my mind it’s a lot simpler, since most of those costs would be the same regardless of which (similar) car I had chosen. My maintenance and insurance costs per mile would cancel out when comparing two similar cars.

When my dad’s 1967 Impala rolled over on 100k he remarked on how good a car it had been and he guessed he needed to start looking for another one. Now if one of my cars only made it to 100k I would feel like I had been ripped off.

 

[pghvolvo]

Can't tell you the total miles but I was told back in the seventies by an old guy the Ten Cent Rule. Anytime that you replace a non wear part you have to drive the car 10 times the cost of the repair. So say you need to replace the struts on your car and it cost you say $800, then you have to drive the car another 8,000 miles to pay for the repair. It's a good way to justify whether the repair is worth it or not.