Drive it 'til it drops or sell it before it breaks? Which do you follow for your DD?

[LeeH]

My 2009 Mazda5 just turned 70K miles. Should still be worth $11-12K on a private sale. However, in the next year it will probably drop a couple of thousand in value as it pushes upwards of 85K.

There's a 2012 version of the same car with 8000 miles for around $18K at a dealer here in Phoenix. If all went well I'd be out of pocket in the neighborhood of $7-8000 to go three model years newer and 62K miles fewer.

I'm torn. Always have been of the opinion that you get the most out of a vehicle by driving it until it drops. At the same time, it would be nice to have a nearly new car that's under warranty.

Thoughts? Do you drive it 'til it drops or sell it before it breaks?

[RANDY P]

70K on a Mazda is nothing. From a strictly financial viewpoint you know the answer. Dumping $8K to get the new one is a lot of fixes.

if you WANT the new car, well then..??

[SteamWolf]

my policy is drive it until I get fed up with fixing it. Alternatively, drive it until my needs change and I have to replace it for something more useful/useless.

[porsche4life]

Ya.... I don't see trading for the same thing with less miles when yours only has 70k on it.... Especially not at that price gap.

[VaSteve]

I don't have a policy. I have a 2004 108K BMW that I bought new. I just replaced all the cooling as PM. I fix most of the little things myself o keep up on it. If something major comes along, I'll have to sell it. I WANT a new car, but this is in nice shape and I have to pay off the minivan. I don't drive that far on a daily basis either.

I've never owned a car this long.

[RWebb]

drove it till a moron T-boned it and totaled it when she sped thru a red light at ~ 2x the speed limit

2000 Sube Outback wagon and only 100k on it

still, I got 6k from her ins. co. and I only paid 4k for it to begin with, so...

[motion]

I think as you get older, you hang onto your cars longer, so its mostly a function of your age. My 993 is my longest serving car, now at about 10 1/2 years. One of my F150s is now about 8 years old. Guess that's my 2nd longest car. When I was 16, I churned Fords every couple months, or even sooner if they ended up full of bullet holes and broken motor mounts.

[GH85Carrera]

I just keep it maintained and working. After 22 years of ownership and 320,000 miles it looks and drives better than new. It is worth more than new.

[stomachmonkey]

Drive it till it drops.

Dropping of course includes spending a couple K a year on fixes.

Put another way, when keeping it running costs the same or more than a years worth of payments it's time.

[VincentVega]

I prefer to know what I have so I default to keep it if it's reliable.

[RANDY P]

One really nice driver, or a whole fleet of 98%'rs -

I'm the latter. All my cars have well over 100K....On the odometer

[fanaudical]

I have always found it cheaper to keep things running well than to replace.

My DD has 210k+ on it.

[petrolhead611]

Sold my 9 year old Renault Espace at 450000 miles as I was offered money for it to my astonishment.Sold for scrap my 9 year old Mazda Premacy at 268,000 when the head gasket & radiator went. My current 6 year old Ford has 160000 miles., and I am beginning to wonder how long it has left. All my cars have been maintained meticulously, never revved hard until fully warmed up, and used mainly on highways.

[slow&rusty]

My Mazda 323 just turned 230,000 miles and the water pump just gave out (2nd one I have changed in about 10 years), it took me just over 10hours to R&R! It was one of the times when I was annoyed but really enjoy owning this car so continue to fix it as things break...so I guess I am on the mind set drive it till it drops....but it should not drop if you are diligent about maintenance.
Yasin

[Chocaholic]

I'll dissent. Really depends on your needs. I have a 115 mile trip to the airport at least every week. Return is often at night going through Atlanta and out past the burbs. Prefer to minimize risk of car trouble as a result. Not fond of climbing under the hood in a business suit at 11 pm on the side of the freeway downtown.

If its a 20 mile commute, sure, drive it till it drops.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Drive for a while, fix everything, then sell it seems to be my mantra. Not sure how wise that is, but I don't have to worry about depreciation.

[1990C4S]

I drive it until the repairs cost more than the added out of pocket cost of a new car.

That generally means 'until it drops'.

[Aragorn]

I'm with a few others here in thinking that 70k on a Mazda is not high enough miles to justify buying a slightly newer car with lower miles at that high of a price premium. Sometimes it's better to stick with what you know then hope for the best on a trade.

My DD philosophy seems to be run them till the cost of fixing them outweighs the cost of replacing them. In my current fleet, most of my rides have over 150k and a couple have over 200k (My brother has a Cherokee with around 400k.) My Bikes are my only vehicles under 10k at the moment.

I seem to gravitate toward cars (and bikes) that I can work on myself. My rule of thumb on DD's is once the average monthly cost to repair goes over the cost of a monthly car payment, it's time to replace that car.

[J P Stein]

I like to develop a long term relationship with my DDs. Thus far, I have outlasted them.

My last one (93 MR3 Turbo)started breaking down in the electrical department after approx 150K miles & 18 years of service. Fixed the issues as they arose but finally sold it when it became excess to my needs (I retired). 168K miles last I saw.

The next one, I totaled but bought another like it (Tacoma). I figure this one will outlast me.

BTW, I haven't bought a new car since 1984. It never went to the dealer for service either but went over 165k miles.....till my daughter busted up the 5 speed.

[Chocaholic]

Interesting that almost everyone makes their decision based on the "cost" of repairs, but not on the inconvenience of repairs.