Drive Your Car to Death, Save $31,000

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

By keeping your car for 15 years, or 225,000 miles of driving, you could save nearly $31,000, according to Consumer Reports magazine. That's compared to the cost of buying an identical model every five years, which is roughly the rate at which most car owners trade in their vehicles.

Consumer Reports' "Good bets" for making 200,000 miles: Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Honda Element, Lexus ES, Lexus LS, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prius, Toyota RAV4

Consumer Reports' "Bad bets" for making 200,000 miles: BMW 7-series, Infiniti QX56, Jaguar X-type, V8-powered Mercedes-Benz M-class, Mercedes-Benz SL, Nissan Armada, Nissan Titan, Volkswagen Touareg, V6-powered Volvo XC90.

http://finance.yahoo.com/loans/artic...th-save-31,000

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

My Toyota Sienna Minivan has 125,000...but it seems like we are spending a lot every year at this point fixing things that stop working. I'll have to read the article to see if they also take repair costs into account!!

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

We have always subscribed to the 'drive em till they die' theory and find that while repair costs do go up, it's far cheaper than car payments + newer car insurance. just our experience.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

We've got a 1995 Toyota Camry wagon with about 170,000 miles on it. Still tooling along--we drove it to Cape Cod and to the Poconos this summer.

We bought a used 1999 Toyota Corolla for DH to commute to work, to save wear and tear on the wagon. We save the wagon for trips where all of us have to go--it seats seven.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

My 92 Ford Eddie Baur edition Explorer had 68,000 miles when I got rid of it last year which would have made 15 years this year, I regret getting rid of it. That was my baby and it was in the car show when I first bought it because it was fully customized. My son had said he did not want it but now since he has nothing regrets it to. Night Vision I miss you.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

We've got a 1995 Toyota Camry wagon with about 170,000 miles on it. Still tooling along--we drove it to Cape Cod and to the Poconos this summer.

We bought a used 1999 Toyota Corolla for DH to commute to work, to save wear and tear on the wagon. We save the wagon for trips where all of us have to go--it seats seven.

That was the very best car we ever had. It had 200,000 miles on it until it meet an untimely end (hit an unmarked raised manhole cover - bags deployed, cracked something underneath, etc.).
Those were a joy to drive. They just glided.
I wish that they would make them again.
I always drive my Volvo wagons until the floor boards rot out, but then you start dropping 2K on fixing them and feel that you need to justify what you spent until the very end.
I hate car payments.
Great thread !

[3kids4me Super Moderator and Super Mom Find all posts View Profile Close 3kids4me]

We bought a used 1999 Toyota Corolla for DH to commute to work, to save wear and tear on the wagon. We save the wagon for trips where all of us have to go--it seats seven.

Wacky...is that seven comfortably...as in when one of the kids in the back is 6'1", 220 pounds, and has long legs? Or is there one of those little jump seat things all the way in the back?

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

That was the very best car we ever had. It had 200,000 miles on it until it meet an untimely end (hit an unmarked raised manhole cover - bags deployed, cracked something underneath, etc.).
Those were a joy to drive. They just glided.
I wish that they would make them again.
I always drive my Volvo wagons until the floor boards rot out, but then you start dropping 2K on fixing them and feel that you need to justify what you spent until the very end.
I hate car payments.
Great thread !

Every year, I call Toyota and ask them to make wagons again. I figure it can't hurt. Yes, I am a crazy person.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Every year, I call Toyota and ask them to make wagons again. I figure it can't hurt. Yes, I am a crazy person.

I'll join you.
You know, they were better on gas than their SUV lines.
I still look for them on ebay with low miles. They really held their value.
B

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Wacky...is that seven comfortably...as in when one of the kids in the back is 6'1", 220 pounds, and has long legs? Or is there one of those little jump seat things all the way in the back?

No, a full-sized adult is not comfortable in the wayback. I've sat back there and it's very tight. It's possible, but only for short trips.

But two of my kids are now grown-up sized (not like big strapping football players, though). The second seat can hold me, my 17yo, and one more smallish person comfortably. Your 220-pounder could sit in the second seat with two other people and be happy.

But...alas...what does it matter? They don't make them anymore!

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I'll join you.
You know, they were better on gas than their SUV lines.
I still look for them on ebay with low miles. They really held their value.
B

I do too. We saw one parked at a gas station recently (one of those stations that has a sideline in used-car sales) and my DH actually wanted me to call and ask about it. I got the phone number and I was going to call when I came to my senses.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

I do too. We saw one parked at a gas station recently (one of those stations that has a sideline in used-car sales) and my DH actually wanted me to call and ask about it. I got the phone number and I was going to call when I came to my senses.

OMG ! You too !!!
That's almost how we got our last one. I was at the dump and there was a nice looking, 1996 (last year made as you know) in front of me. No rust or dings. I told the guy that if he ever felt like selling, please call me and gave him my card. He sold it to us a few months later.
It was in great shape, 103K miles, never smoked in, always taken car of - great maintenance records, no rust and just the average few dings.
B

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Okay, well, this one is at Steve's in Hackensack, NJ, right near New Bridge Road and the Costco!

It's actually getting hard to get parts for the wagon these days. The gas cover (not the screw-in thing, the flat part that covers the screw-in thing) came off in a gas-station attendant's hand a few months ago. We've been carting it around, but it can't be reattached. We need a new one, and they're very very expensive, and our mechanic is hunting for one from junk yards, but he can't find one.

Damn! I just realized we could have used the one from your Camry wagon that got totaled!!! I don't suppose you have it up on blocks in the back yard, huh? Growing petunias in there or something?

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Okay, well, this one is at Steve's in Hackensack, NJ, right near New Bridge Road and the Costco!


Damn! I just realized we could have used the one from your Camry wagon that got totaled!!! I don't suppose you have it up on blocks in the back yard, huh? Growing petunias in there or something?

Yes, it's "my terrarium on wheels" what with all those windows !
It was towed from our mechanic's to that "Great Station Wagon Resting Place in the Sky".
Gone, but not forgotten.

[Guest Close Quarterbore]

My truck is on it's way (11-years old with 164,000 miles). It is a 1997 Ford Expedition and it is still solid but darn the gas bill is eating us alive so we are looking to buy a used puddle jumper sized car that gets much better gas miliage.

We can't sell the Expedition as with three kids and our hobies (skiing is the tough one) we can't go on vacation with a small car so we hope to keep the Expeditin alive longer by adding a third car that is cheap and gets 2x+ the milage I get with my UAV.

We looked at replacing the Expedition a little as it has started acting up a little but at $46,000+ to replace it a $14,000 commuter car (we are looking at the Saturn Ion, Ford Focus, Chevy Malibu, etc) can save us a whole lot of money in the long run (we hope).