Who actually keeps their vehicle forever?

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

modularv8

Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
697
Location
Texas
I know we start out wanting the very best for cars and trucks when they are brand new. Some want to keep it forever in the same band new condition. But over time there will be door dings, paint chips, and other things that happen over time that change the we feel about our vehicle.

So has anyone kept their vehicle with the intent of keeping it forever?

I'm am thinking of getting a car or SUV for everyday driving and keeping my '06 F150 forever because I think I will always have a need for truck, but not all the time.
 
I like my cars when they are relatively new and then when they are very old, I become attached to them like a comfortable old shoe. By the time they are old, I have done enough repairs that I know my way around them. It is during the in-between years that I get the urge to sell, but I just chant "money-in-the-bank" until the feeling goes away.
 
I hope I can keep my vehicle forever. I cringe to think I'll eventually have to rebuild the engine or transmission, though. I think I would have no problem buying a new vehicle, but it's nice to NOT have a monthly payment.
 
Forever is a long time! I guess in Texas its more easily done than in the rust belt. We kept our old '92 Sentra until its rust problems made it unsafe...
The plan with the Tracker was to keep it forever, now family cargo space needs might prompt selling it but the "money in the bank" chant might counter act this...
The Neon might also be kept forever, no significant rust yet and it returns decent mileage and is cheap fun to autocross race with.
 
I still have the car I drove in high school. It currently stored- gotta decide some day whether I will restore it or let it go. Still runs/drives if I wanted to, but frankly its tired (over 430,000 miles) and I got interested in other stuff like resurrecting the '66 and '69.
 
I actually do intend on keeping some of my cars forever. I bought my 71 Cutlass when it was 12 years old with the intention of keeping it forever. So far, I've had it for more than half my lifetime.

I'd like to keep my 91 Marquis forever (inherited from my dad). But it's my winter car, and the thought of keeping it forever start waning once corrosion shows its ugly head and the repairs get more involved. But I'm fighting it.

Oilbabe's 98 ZX2 is still going strong with 201K. The car won't die! But she has other ideas about keeping it.
 
Wow, that's interesing. If you drove 430,000 miles in that car, then you spent approximately 17,200 hrs in it. If you drove it 24/7, it would take 2 yrs of your life to reach this many miles. We spend alot of time in our cars!
 
Not me. I like getting something 'new' (to me at least) every few years. Plus, unless you're insane about rustproofing and washing, cars don't last forever up here anyway.

Due to finacial reasons, I will most likely have my Cavalier for the foreseeable future - next 3-4 years. But I honestly don't see it lasting much beyond that.
 
I'm keeping my 318ti Club Sport forever; I ordered it in August 1995 and picked it up in November 1995. Everything else in the garage is negotiable.
 
I'm keeping my '93 Sentra (bought new) forever. It's never seen a winter so it's feasable that it will last my lifetime (I'm 51).
 
Am trying to keep my 1995 saturn wagon forever. (211k now) I have spare body panels I robbed off a spare chassis I had crushed. A liftgate alone is $600 new and impossible to find used-- I know, I was rear ended five years ago.

I have a spare engine/transmission in my garage. I swapped the engine cradle/subframe with one from a 1999 last fall when corrosion got the original part. Rust seems to be eating only this-- the unibody floor pans survive very well-- and I plan to visit some southern junkyard to get several more K-frames sometime. The platform went through few changes in an eleven year run so mix-breed mongrels are easy to assemble if one doesn't care about originality.

Several years back when gas was shooting up I figured it got better MPG than newer stuff hobbled by NOx emissions, so I re-ringed the motor and did new struts. I don't see too many 2000-2010 vehicles that excite me technologically. In a way I feel like a previous generation must have felt in the 1970s when compression was dropping, cats strangling exhausts, net HP just came out, etc.

I don't have to undergo any emissions inspection, it is only for OBD-II cars here. Just slithered by. I can drop a 7-years-newer engine/transmission in if I wanted.

My approach is not to have it last forever, but to last until gas is around $7/gal, (I figure in the next ten years) by which time someone will finally snap and let euro-spec small diesel cars like the VW Polo in the States.

My motorcycle, a 1982 Virago, never sees winter. At 11k miles (2.5k/summer for me, not the PO) it has a lot of life left. It's relatively raggedy and undesirable to others, so worth very little, and can hide on the far wall of my garage not taking space. It may last a very long time.
 
I try to take care of them like I will have them forever even if I may not.
It's good planning. No sense beating a car, then maybe the financial situation changes and you wish you hadn't. Plus the trade/sell value is higher.
 
I plan on hopefully keeping my 1990 Super Coupe forever. It is my first car, and I just rebuilt the engine which totaled around 3k. After dropping that kind of cash I'm keeping it. The transmission will be next, but luckily they are cheaper than an engine. It is a very unique car, pretty rare too. I just love how the car looks and drives, I still find myself looking back at it in the parking lot while I walk in the store. It has many little TLC fixes, but I will fix them over my college years. I plan to paint the whole car (factory color) when I have my engineering co-op. Someday when I have more money the performance aftermarket is awesome. I also think someday it will be cool to still own my first car (should be worth something then too).
 
A better than average used car is hard to sell at any sort of premium, because people won't even come and look at it, barring obvious collectibles. Very slightly easier now that one can put pictures up online compared to old classified ads. This is one of those phenomena that keeps the present owner owning it forever.
 
Not looking forward to any more car payments. I save $300 every month which I can buy something else with. I'm going to stretch my 05 Corolla as long as I can.

I want to be a 200K+ owner.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Boomer
My Random Thoughts on Keeping a Car Running for a while
2 3 4
Replies
60
Views
5K
Starving Electrician
P
A positive review of a Lexus dealership
Replies
2
Views
286
Slick3914
Thermo1223
Daughter got first car....daughter also had first car accident. :(
2 3
Replies
53
Views
2K
Gasbuggy
Elkins45
Can we expect to see more salvage/rebuilt used cars in the future?
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
Donald
T
Insurance / Body Shop Dilemma after Wreck
2
Replies
27
Views
1K
t1snwrbrdr12
Back
Top Bottom