Average age of car on the road 11.4 years

[rick-l]

This stat was all over the radio 2 weeks ago. That can't be true. That would mean every other car you see would be older than 2002. I started looking around and how about more like 1 in 20 or 1 in 10 best case?

[GH85Carrera]

I help with the average. My 1986 daily driver and my 1985 Carrera. I have not bought a new car since 1974. 460,000 miles combined.

[Gogar]

Imagine there were 3 cars. Two brand new 2013 models and a 1973 911T. The average age of the 3 cars is about 14 years old!

[Dantilla]

My newest is 2005. The others go back to 1968. My average is quite a bit older than 2002.

Stats probably come from registrations. Plenty of older second cars, convertables, classics or sports cars, yada yada that spend most time sitting in the garage skew the results with the daily drivers seen...... daily.

[IROC]

Here's my three cars:

2001 Toyota Tacoma
1997 Lexus LX450 (Land Cruiser)
1976 Porsche 911

Averaging about 22 years old...

My wife bucks the trend with a 2008 4Runner.

[mb911]

I have an 07 and an 09 plan on keeping them till approx 200,000 miles new cars are just too expensive though my 07 burb has gotten a bit costly recently with 108,000 on it. starting to cost some money. I see most cars around here are starting to get in that 10 year range though new cars are selling as people get older and wiser they keep what they have longer

[dw1]

My family's cars:

1987 Porche 911
2007 MB C-class
2013 Chevy Malibu (just replaced a 2000 Impala)
2000 Saturn SL-1
2000 Plymouth Neon

So our average is 11.4.

Before the 2013 Malibu replaced the 2000 Impala, our average was 14.2 years

Remember that the small number of "classics" (like the 60's muscle cars) can really skew the average, and that there a LOT of 10-year old cars on the road. Heck, a 2003 car doesn't even sound that old to me.

I also wonder if the statistic was for just for cars or for all vehicles? A significant number of heavy trucks are older vehicles and would impact the average.

[dw1]

Originally Posted by rick-l

This stat was all over the radio 2 weeks ago. That can't be true. That would mean every other car you see would be older than 2002. I started looking around and how about more like 1 in 20 or 1 in 10 best case?

Your application of this statistic may be a bit flawed.

Think of 3 brand new 2013 cars + one 1967 Camaro. That equals 11.5 years average.

I also think that there are more older cars on the road than you realize - certainly more than 1 in 10 being 10 years old or older. Because styling hasn't changed all that much, they are not as visible.

How many older cars you see also depends on where you drive. Upscale areas have more newer cars. People with less money, including students, etc., drive older cars.

[Steve Carlton]

Should I replace my Model T? I think I'm dragging down the average...

[Tobra]

So with a '74 914, 2000 Montero Sport and 2004 Miata I am over 20 for average. Not that many miles on them though.

Older is better, with the mandatory tire pressure monitoring and all the other nonsense on new cars, I don't see myself ever buying a new car again.

[jyl]

Here: 1988 1989, 2006 - avg 1994, or 19 y/o

However, the newest one gets almost all the actual miles driven.

[dw1]

Just think about what Jay Leno's garage does to the average!

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/cars/

[Aragorn]

Cash for clunkers took most of the old Explorers off my local roads...

I see a lot of 4 or 5 year old cars and a lot of 20+ year old cars on the road. That may work out to around an 11.4 year old average. For every new car around here there seems to be one or two older cars. YMMV, just what I have observed.

[Jim Richards]

Our cars average 13.7 years old.

[dtw]

Average age of my cars (I'm counting those that are road registered and insured, not the yard art) is 27. Newest is an '01.

[hardflex]

4 cars legal here.

2000 Toyota Avalon
1995 Lexus Es300
94 Mazda B4000 Pickup
91 Ford Escort

Between the 4 of them almost a million miles ! Not all by me thank goodness. They all run good still but they do show their age.

I agree the newer cars have too many gizmo's and whizbangers for my tastes. Simplicity is efficiency. My first car was a VW bug, stayed true to the concept all these years.

[Laneco]

Total of 7 cars currently registered (includes the kids cars) with an average age of 20 years. The curve-breaker was the 2008 Ford Edge.

Dang. We got some old junk - LOL!

angela

[rick-l]

Yeah but what a meaningless statistic.

I have a 1981, 1988, 1991, 2003 and a 2013 (17.8 years old) but only 2 get driven regularly - as in "on the road".

[kach22i]

Mean average would be a proper indicator.

Wife has a 2012
Me, 1977 and 1989.

1992 average or a 21 year average.

[stomachmonkey]

55 190SL
84 911
01 Tahoe (soon to be sold)
05 Yukon
06 Mazda 3

22 year average.