Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarwood
Has anyone answered the question yet? Only the 1% outliers have been discussed.
The oldest cars regularly driven ??
Take a look at any average parking lot, and you rarely see anything older than late 90s.
So, my answer is around 20 years are basically the oldest cars anyone regularly drives with some outliers of course.
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I live up in the salt belt now. When I lived in the SW, I ran older vehicles year round.
Most of my dailies only last about 12 years or so. Rust is what kills them. They run up between 190 and 260,000 miles before I let them go. I'd like to run an early 2000s GMC pick up, but it is hard to find a nice one now without going to some effort. My 2004 WRX is just starting to show a little rust.
My newest toy car is now 27 years old. I run them all three seasons, as much as I can. The oldest is now 50. But yes, none of my dailies are really worth much after a decade. I have had toy cars OTOH that were just as good with 200K on the dial as they were when new. The 911 has 190+ and runs like a top.
The wife is running a 2002 Buick LeSabre, which is still remarkably clean. If I invest in solar electric, her next car will be juiced. IF.
Really the most economical way to run a daily is to get a clean but unpopular older person's sedan, and run it into the ground while only providing basic maintenance. The difference in total outlay completely undercuts any extra fuel savings that running a newer, more efficient vehicle might provide. My wife is a car killer anyway, so getting her new vehicles to drive was a total waste of money. She gets as much use out of older cars, and I never feel bad letting them go later to people who need reliable basic transportation.