How Long Can You Keep A Car Running For?

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  mctubster on 09/12/2020 - 07:24

  Interesting thread. 2006 Mazda 6, from new, 180K. Failures so far fuel pump (unusual Dealer said) and AC pump (was loaned while OS for a year and suspect AC not used - bad for them!). Other than that and around 10% drop in fuel economy still going strong.

  However the primary thing driving consideration for upgrade are safety features. Missed out on stability control by 1 year, ABS while multichannel is pretty basic and so on.

  It's not worth anything (maybe 4K?) so having repairs 1-2K PA is still fine as long as it is reliable

  Cheers

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  LSGH on 09/12/2020 - 08:10

  2000 Camry, bought used in 2008 for only $7,800 with 125,000 odo. So this 20 year old car has now done 190,000 kms… repairs so far, replaced radiator $400 five years ago…

  just this year, was major repairs..timing belt and water pump $900.. 4 struts $1,400, a few oil seals, gaskets, to fix some leaking oil..steering boots… central door locks acting up so just need to manually lock doors..

  yes the repair bill was high but I expect this car to last at least 5 -10 more years, so the annual depreciation costs for the 20 year old car is very low

  Back when I bought the car I had the cash to buy new..the $22,000 I saved buying an eight year old car I had invested in shares in 2008

  .. car interior is fine except the sagging roof which we just placed pins…. on YouTube there is one Camry that went 900,000 miles, many forums I have seen have these old camrys going 350,000-500,000 MILES

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    Euphemistic on 09/12/2020 - 08:54

    You don’t do many kms in it. 5-6000km per year is pretty low.

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      LSGH on 09/12/2020 - 10:50

      no it was mostly 10 min drives per day…but that will change now that I have family members getting their L plate and P plate…one of them has already nicked a basement parking column..so I am so glad it happened on this car…and it has its fair share of scratch marks from other inconsiderate drivers who slam their door on your parked car as they get out of theirs.

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    FrugalDealHunter on 09/12/2020 - 09:06

    what are your shares worth now?

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      LSGH on 09/12/2020 - 10:57

      my conservative estimate would be annual growth including dividends of 7% including the recent crash..just chose a few of the Top 50 ASX at that time….my friends, neighbours and office mates drive much better cars than me, (a Merc, Evo, Audi, Stinger, SUVs)…but it doesnt bother me.

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  opt on 09/12/2020 - 09:11

  +2

  Technically, you should be able to keep a car going for as long as you want if you are willing to pour money over it. But realistically speaking modern cars are probably not worth keeping beyond 15~20 years. You cannot compare cars from few decades ago to what we have now, because all you need to keep those old ones going are basic hand tools and a bit of know how, but that is not the case with new ones, which are essentially computers on wheels that are made with extremely low tolerances on mechanical parts in the name of efficiency. You need sophisticated tools, expensive spare parts and a fair amount of skills to maintain new cars.

  Besides, with the whole electric car movement, using a patrol car in 20 years time may not be financially viable even if you can keep one going.

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    jsrz18 on 09/12/2020 - 16:33

    Yeah I'm also thinking of getting hybrid as well to fix the likely higher petrol prices

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  MechEng on 09/12/2020 - 09:43

  +1

  I think it is important to understand why cars break first.
  1 - Poor quality. So it is likely that more established brands will deliver better quality.
  2 - Servicing - Interval and what the servicing includes. I am not found of servicing by period of time. I do not believe that the full service schedule should apply if a car has not been driven the km interval, but an oil change should be enough.
  2.a - Do not cheap out on oil! ?Use the correct grade oil from a reputable brand. change filters often too.
  3- Type of engine / use of the vehicle: Modern vehicles have higher compression rates than older ones, this mean more stress in the parts and more likelihood of fail. The same applies to vehicles that are constantly in start stop situations.

  Any car will last long if well looked after. If you plan to keep your car for long time you better not buying the first model of a series, but the latest of the older series, because it is more likely that all the issues have been fixed by now.
  I do agree that with electronics it is harder to maintain and electronic make random faults more likely, but the electronics also help to keep your car in better shape, reducing knocking and keeping the engine running as close as optimal as possible.

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  stumo on 09/12/2020 - 09:52

  +1

  My car is 18yo 300k and is still in pretty good nick. The leather and interior is still almost perfect, just the side of the drivers seat is a bit munted from my wifes fat ass. Its a Mercedes.

  I have a friend who bought a Klugger brand new and it looks like it is ready for the scrapyard within 10 years, especially the interior.

  We both have 3 kids so both cars have taken an absolute beating.

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    borrisz0r on 09/12/2020 - 11:01

    I love how candid you are with the seat belt…

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  Hangryuman on 09/12/2020 - 11:49

  +2

  I've heard - if you buy a car new, the value choice is either replace it every 2 years to keep the new car feel (e.g. if you use it as a work car), or keep it forever until it dies (personal use only).

  I have a 1991 Honda Civic auto sedan (you know - the hatch models get thrashed by hoons, the sedans get driven by old sedate people to church on Sunday)

  in 2003 I bought it 12 years old in almost as-new condition (see Sunday driver) for $5000 with 135,000k on the odometer

  in 2020 it's now worth $200 to a wrecker, so has depreciated (lost value) about $4800 in 17 years

  my log book/spreadsheet tells me it has cost me an average of $500pa in running costs (fuel/service), and $1300pa in standing costs (rego/insurance/licence renewals)

  I recently paid $1000 to renew rego, CTP and TPP insurance for another year.

  It was a toss-up with share car hire - the decider was long day trips - which quickly would have cost more with share cars like GoGet

  my 29yo car starts and runs perfectly every time with 190,000k on the clock - a car enthusiast friend says these engines are good for 400,000k - and so I still keep it.

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    jsrz18 on 09/12/2020 - 16:34

    wow very impressive

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    Euphemistic on 09/12/2020 - 16:56

    Another one with very low kms. Only done about 3200km per year since purchase. It’s probably still be runnig well at 10k km per year.

    Your depreciation calls are of as well. While it’s still running and reg’d it’s probably still worth at least $1k

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  mini2 on 10/12/2020 - 17:23

  How much money do you intend to keep throwing at your car when it gets older?

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    jsrz18 on 10/12/2020 - 18:38

    ideally less than what it would cost to buy and maintain a new one

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      mini2 on 11/12/2020 - 09:02

      In/excluding depreciation costs? The whole economic/argument of getting a new car gets funny when you've included depreciation in the calculation.

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        Euphemistic on 11/12/2020 - 09:03

        And don’t forget the cost of the money. Ie loan interest or increase in mortgage interest if redraw or lost income from said money if invested

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          mini2 on 11/12/2020 - 09:09

          @Euphemistic: Money's fairly cheap at the moment no matter how you look at it (~2% mortgage, 3-4% lease/chattel mortgage) so the interest cost isn't all that dramatic.

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    Euphemistic on 10/12/2020 - 20:33

    For the massive depreciation and higher insurance premiums you get with a new car you can do a fair bit of maintenance on an old car with negligible depreciation and TPP

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      mini2 on 11/12/2020 - 09:07

      Funny you've mentioned insurance premium, take one of my dilemmas as an example - my Golf cost $1800 for its comprehensive insurance (I'm in Sydney after all) and its insured value is only $9k. Meanwhile, the prospective replacement (C63s) is barely 10% more while the insured value is about 15x.

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  Millikano on 09/04/2021 - 13:45

  If you don’t use e10 fuel, change oil regularly, carry out routine maintenance and drive it without abusing it, preferably garage it, there’s a good chance you can get 20+ years out of many makes and models.

  Our Honda’s and Toyota’s in the family have all lasted 15+ years as required. The Audi is coming up to 15 years and still looks new, and the Accord was just sold after 17 years of service and was in better condition than most 5 year old cars, probably has another 10-15 years of life it treated well.

  No more new gas cars by 2030 seems to be the goal, so maybe plan with that in mind?

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