How long do you keep a factory new car?

[JEBalles]

Or How long do you stay the original owner, in other words, although I doubt many people here buy new cars. We've had our Honda minivan since new, and it's got about 80,000 on it. I don't know how long we're going to keep it.

[H-townbenzoboy]

We rarely buy new, but we usually drive the cars until the wheels fall off. In the case of the last two factory new cars purchased that we no longer have (a 1985 Lincoln Town Car and 1996 Cadillac Sedan DeVille), totaled. If they had not been in accidents, they probably would've still been with us today, albeit probably at the end of their useful lives. The last factory new car bought and still in our possession is a 2002 Cadillac DHS (as of now is just 500 mi away from 100K), which is going to stay in the fleet for as long as possible.

I would not buy a new car now, but I did when I was young and stupid. The only way to justify paying for the initial depreciation is to keep it as long as it's economically feasible.

[JEBalles]

Originally Posted by Craig

I would not buy a new car now, but I did when I was young and stupid. The only way to justify paying for the initial depreciation is to keep it as long as it's economically feasible.

True dat. I wouldn't buy one either. That minivan was our last new car. My brother is driving my grandparents old ford escort, which they bought new in 1991, still less than 100,000. He's gonna drive that into the ground, and we'll probably drive the minivan into the ground too.

I think if I were to buy a new car today, it'd have to be electric. I don't care for new internal combustion engines and automatic/cv transmissions. They're simple (minus all the computer nonsense) and you can't buy used ones yet (well, all the used ones are garbage that can only go like 25 mph for about a mile). In fact, I would, but I can't afford one (Tesla), nor do I have space for another car.

I'll wait 5 years and see what the used electric car market is like. If they were cheap enough I would pick one up to play with around town. My wife works about 2 miles from home, so she could actually use something like that. Of course, it would probably take forever to pay for itself in fuel savings.

[okyoureabeast]

My biggest worry about cars past the year 2000 are the electrics. My friend here in school drives a Saab station wagon which has been a nightmare in terms of electrical problems.

Her latest one was a dead neutral safety switch. She couldn't start and called me for help. That and her alarm system freaks out when she locks the car. One of these days I'm going to have to do some searching online for her.

Picking Saab as a story for electrical problems probably isn't the best example, but overall it still worries me.

[BodhiBenz1987]

Until the government uses taxpayers' money to help me buy a new one? I'm entitled to that, right?

In my family it's either forever or until it dies. I have my dad's 300D he bought new, now has 263,000 miles. The other three cars my family had when I was a kid (81 Chevy Suburban, 87 GMC Suburban, 93 Dodge Caravan) all crapped out but are (sadly) still sitting around ... I keep telling my dad we should donate them to someone for parts. All our currents cars (Two 2005 Jeeps, 99 Suburban and 99 GM Safari) were bought new and are still in use, no plans to change that. My 240D is the only non-original owner car in the family right now, and it's not leaving, either. I think my sister is going to break the trend by trading in her 2002 TDI, but only because she's planning to have a family and needs more room.

[tbomachines]

Buying new doesn't seem to make much financial sense. Most of my friends have car payments to worry about every month...its nice having 2 MBs fully owned (well...they will merge into one), that will begin to go up in value in a few years rather than depreciate into nearly nothing. My parents bought their Jetta TDI new in 2000 and have put 180k on it, still surprisingly runs pretty well and seems like a rocket compared to OM617. To buy new, I would keep it until it dies pretty much--but def need to make sure you like the car enough to put up with it for decades.

[davestlouis]

Good grief, I haven't bought a new car since 1992, and it got totaled 9 months later...which was good because I had gotten more car than I could afford and I was going to be in a bind if I had to keep paying on it...thank heaven the insurance paid out damn near the whole balance. I have been buying worn out old POS cars for years...the 85 Continental I'm driving now, I traded about $400 worth of Snap On tools for it.

From a strictly financial standpoint, I would have to think you should drive a car until it blows up, whether you buy it new or used.

In Missouri, you also have to factor personal property tax into the cost of a car...a new S550 would likely cost $5000 or more in personal property tax the first year, and it drops every year...but it's still a pain to pay every year for something you already own and paid for last year.

[pawoSD]

After going to the auto show I'd probably consider a VW Golf Diesel with the 6-speed manual as a new car (or 1-2 year old), but pretty much nothing else there interested me at all in terms of actually wanting to buy one. The MB's are nice, but it's highly unlikely I'll ever buy a new one. I'd want the Golf as my commuter car just because of the 50mpg....I could more than cut in half my fuel costs, but when factoring in the high insurance and payment on the car, its still not remotely as cheap as my 300SD. $350 payment + insurance + $100 in fuel is still way more than $180 in fuel + cheap insurance + no payment/occasional repairs.

[aklim]

Originally Posted by okyoureabeast

My biggest worry about cars past the year 2000 are the electrics. My friend here in school drives a Saab station wagon which has been a nightmare in terms of electrical problems.

Her latest one was a dead neutral safety switch. She couldn't start and called me for help. That and her alarm system freaks out when she locks the car. One of these days I'm going to have to do some searching online for her.

Picking Saab as a story for electrical problems probably isn't the best example, but overall it still worries me.

I would disagree with that. My 99 and 01 cars have had more mechanical problems than electrical.

[aklim]

Buying new makes sense from the point that you have a factory warranty. So, if you don't want to fix it besides "Wear and Tear" items, it does make sense to buy it new and dump in soon after the warranty expires.

However, for someone like me who will screw around with the car and thus void the warranty it can't make sense to buy new. In the manufacturer's defense, you can't expect them to warranty a car after you chipped it or put a shift kit or other things in them.

So for me, it doesn't make financial sense to buy new seeing as how I am going to void the warranty when I try to increase the power of the car. OTOH, if you are going to buy the car new and not screw around with it and you plan to dump it soon after the warranty expires because you don't want to fix it, there is a case for that.

[t walgamuth]

I have bought three new cars....

99 durango...kept it til the tranny started coming out of od at random

05 magnum....kept it about a year....very dissapointed in the fuel mileage

03 dodge truck with cummins....very satisfied with it, now with 103K miles.... may keep it til it dies...the engine is the only thing that compares to the 123 mb engines.

My mrs had a 72 corolla when we married which she bought new...drove it until i became worried that it would break in half from rust (about 1978). It was a curious little car that handled like an american barge.

[LUVMBDiesels]

I have bought new in the past.I usually kept them to well over 100,000 miles.
the 1992 Subaru went over 218,000 before I bought the 'Burban and retired her. She was still running strong when I gave her to a charity.
The exception was a 1989 Tempo that my then wife insisted we buy
That lasted 21,000 miles before I could not stand it any longer and got rid of it. I have given up on new cars and will only buy used from now on. The new ones do nothing for me and are way to complicated for me to work on. The 1999 Suburban is a nightmare with electronic gremlins to chase down.
The only post 2000 car I would even think of is a Volvo. My friend has a 2004 and she loves it.

BTW I love Moxie! I get it in Pa all the time

[MS Fowler]

Originally Posted by aklim

Buying new makes sense from the point that you have a factory warranty. So, if you don't want to fix it besides "Wear and Tear" items, it does make sense to buy it new and dump in soon after the warranty expires.

However, for someone like me who will screw around with the car and thus void the warranty it can't make sense to buy new. In the manufacturer's defense, you can't expect them to warranty a car after you chipped it or put a shift kit or other things in them.

So for me, it doesn't make financial sense to buy new seeing as how I am going to void the warranty when I try to increase the power of the car. OTOH, if you are going to buy the car new and not screw around with it and you plan to dump it soon after the warranty expires because you don't want to fix it, there is a case for that.

There can be an argument for new, as you said, based on the warranty. My wife used to drive an old ( and paid-for ) Ford Taurus. Not a bad car, but when the electronic sensors began to go, it became a real headahe. She'd call me, stranded. I'd have to leave what I was doing and rescue her and the car.
In 2003 we bought our second new car ever. Its been a great "appliance"; starts, run, A/C works, all systems have been flawless to this point. The only remaining warranties are the panel perforation (rust), and power train. We will likely keep it until it becomes unreliable, or someone hits it.

I drive my 300SD, or my F250 Diesel ( not a power stroke), or my company vehicle.--All older vehicles.