r/Thrifty • u/chickenladydee • Jul 12 '26
🧠 Thrifty Mindset 🧠 How old is your car?
I saw a news headline that said something to the effect that the average person was driving a 13 year old car or older and that it was making the auto industry rethink after market parts, maintenance and used vehicle sales. I wondered where my thrifty community stands.
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u/Darbypea Jul 12 '26
- This is definitely the newest vehicle ive ever owned and I bought it 2 years ago. I really miss my 2003 ranger though. Rip.
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u/DrenAss Jul 12 '26
A tree fell on my 2014 and totaled it so I bought a 2019. It feels like driving a space ship.
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u/Witcher357 Jul 12 '26
similar stats here. I'll never love another lady like I loved my 2003 Trailblazer.
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u/BefuddledPolydactyls Jul 12 '26
32 years. 1994 Ranger under 100K.
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u/Such_Capital_6984 Jul 12 '26
My car is old enough to drive itself.
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u/mayonnaisejane Jul 12 '26
Likewise. I'm in a 2010.
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u/abeBroham-Linkin Jul 12 '26
- 160,000 original miles!
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u/ForeignLibrary424 Jul 12 '26
2009 150,000!! Definitely not original but I have had this car since HS!
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u/Willing_Recording222 Jul 13 '26
I have a 2000 with 120,000! I love buying little old lady cars! (It’s a Buick LeSabre, garage kept.)
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u/MillhouseJManastorm Jul 12 '26
"new" truck is 11 years old, needed something that could haul the farm equipment. Kept my old truck, its only 37 years old. Still working on fixing my 66 year old truck.
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u/Miserable_Drawer_556 Jul 12 '26
what's your '66?? my dream truck is a 70's era Chevy / Ford
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u/MillhouseJManastorm Jul 13 '26
1960 international harvester b120. Love the style of these old trucks
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u/newEnglander17 Jul 12 '26
I’ve got a twenty year old f150 and thw frame is rusted to hell. Mechanic isnt sure it can be jacked up again withiut busting through. How the heck do you keep these old trucks from getting that way??
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u/Suitable_Prune_5683 Jul 12 '26
I’ve got a 91 f150 that refuses to run right. It runs and idles rough and I can’t figure out why for the life of me.
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u/Let_them_eat_stonks Jul 13 '26
Depends a lot on the climate you live in. I have to get the rockers done over on my truck but everything else seems sound.
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u/lisep1969 Jul 12 '26
And I’m having trouble finding a part to fix my front signal (blinker) light. 😫
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u/Glitterhidesallsins Jul 12 '26
eBay has been fantastic for old but not classic car territory. A lot of junkyards around the country post on there, and parts ship right to your house!
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u/Aggressive-Union1714 Jul 12 '26
I have two vehicles. One is 21 years old. The other is 23 years old.
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u/No_Appointment6273 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
With increasing prices due to ever increasing regulation some people have predicted we are going to go "cuban" with our cars and we will be continuouly repairing them instead of ever buying new. They should be contemplating making better cars. I would love to buy a new car, but I'm not paying that much for a car that's going to be useless in five years or less.
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u/zimzumpogotwig Jul 12 '26
I hate all the new tech in cars and they’re so much harder to fix yourself. That reason alone is why I choose to keep my old cars, plus they’re paid for.
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u/notsocrazycatlady69 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
I (51F) used to work on my own cars but that was when they had distributors and stuff. Wanted to change out the soark plugs on my 2018- lifted the hood, closed the hood, said "nope", and had the shop change them and the coils when they flushed my transmission
My mom had a 2009 that would still be on the rood if my son hadn't been in a fender bender. Wasn't even bad in my book- needed radiator probably and some body work from what I could tell. But insurance company totalled it out 😢
My grandpa had one 60s era International truck that is still in use but modified to a trailer. And he had another that someone picked up at our cousinneighbor's salvage yard years ago- put new engine, transmission, etc
Edit to add we have older (80s and 90s) cars on our property we still use...for storage. Scrap metal for projects is in the truck and my brother has some stuff in the car. On a related note we finally got rid of an ancient microwave that was too expensive to fix so we used it as a bread box and other storage. Now we put the bread in a Totinos pizza-sized toaster oven that works but hardly use that I had gotten for free at my bank years ago. Haven't seen a mouse yet that could open it...😁
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u/jess_summer11 Jul 12 '26
You can buy the totaled car back and fix it yourself. That's what we've always done. Our car gets paid off, and we fix it for a fraction of the price.
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u/notsocrazycatlady69 Jul 12 '26
We used to do that and would have done that but didn't have the money to fix it after. So we used the money they gave us for a down payment with a couple months of no payments on a used car
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u/G_Town_Co Jul 12 '26
The tech junk is their “Gotcha!” because you can’t buy computer parts from Advance or Pep Boys for DIY repairs. Gotta take it to the dealership. Damn I remember going to junkyards and finding parts for my first car for next to nothing and me and my brother would repair it at home.
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u/Wonderful-Cat2805 Jul 14 '26
Is it really “ever increasing regulation” or “ever increasing tech being forced down our throats?”
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Jul 12 '26
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u/ten-minutes-till Jul 12 '26
Odyssey Gang!! 2015 with 265k miles and she’s still rolling ❤️
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u/RiotGrrrlNY Jul 12 '26
I’ve got a 2017 and I’m driving it until the wheels fall off.
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u/Quixlequaxle Jul 12 '26
10 years old. I was contemplating trading it in for a new one but I really don't want to spend the money.
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u/jarradm Jul 12 '26
I have a 2003 lancer. With manual transmission. Love her. Call her "lancerghini"
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u/datguti Jul 12 '26
I have a 2016 Miata with 130k miles in New England. Runs just as well as the day I bought him. There's nothing to upgrade to, since I despise touch screens in vehicles.
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u/sacredxsecret Jul 12 '26
Our household has six…. 1997, 2007, 2008, 2018, 2019, 2023.
The 1997 gives us no issues and gets great gas mileage, and the AC is fantastic.
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u/No_Atmosphere_6348 Jul 12 '26
2006 car and 2015 car (that’s the “new” car)
Probably gonna drive them until the wheels fall off.
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u/Donna_Hayward95 Jul 12 '26
- The only thing that is having me consider buying a newer car is the upcoming requirement for the driver monitoring on all 2027+ vehicles… because privacy nightmare.
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u/NoHoGuy91606 Jul 12 '26
Honda Accord manual transmission 26 years old, 158,000 miles. Bought new in 2000.
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u/lovelessproper Jul 12 '26
- Honestly I’m going to drive it for forever. I don’t care. I will rebuild the engine or pull it from a junk car. I will do whatever it takes. I won’t get a car with screens unless someone drags me into it kicking and screaming. I *hate* them. I love my little hatchback.
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u/californiahapamama Jul 12 '26
Mine is a 2017. Previous vehicles were a 2000 Honda Accord (got rear ended in it in 2021) and a 2005 Toyota Sienna (donated it in 2020). We buy used and drive until the repairs to the point where the ROI isn't favorable.
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u/Cat_From_Hood Jul 12 '26
17 years old, with a decent dent in it, to add to the character.
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u/AWildeOscarAppeared Jul 12 '26
2002 Honda CRV, only 115k miles. I will keep this car until it is the CRV of Theseus
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u/Dukdukdiya Jul 12 '26
I have a 97 Tacoma and wouldn't trade it for anything that's been made in the last 15 years.
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u/billienightingale Jul 12 '26
18 years old. I’m stick travelling with CDs in a folder. Won’t stop driving this Toyota until I’m forced to.
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u/ten-minutes-till Jul 12 '26
2014 Toyo Taco and I will love her forever! My sister paid the same price for her 2025 4-Runner as she did for her HOUSE in 2009. Makes me want to puke.
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u/Weird_Squirrel_8382 Jul 12 '26
9 years old and running well. I hate driving so I don't get a lot of wear and tear.
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u/mummymunt Jul 12 '26
My car is 9 years old. Our son's is 25, one year older than him 😊. Before hubby got a newer car a couple of years ago, he was driving a 21 year old ute.
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u/bionicpirate42 Jul 12 '26
21, 05 corolla bought for 500$ from family friend that was going into assisted living. This one put my other running 05 Rolla into mothballs as it had 150k vs 300k+ like all of our family's cars so it waits for someone to need a car. My parts corolla 05 has a estimated 450k.
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u/SexyToothpaste69 Jul 12 '26
I had my Honda Civic for 20 years. Now I have a Jeep that's 11 years old and still going strong. I'm just happy not to have a car payment. Hopefully the Jeep will last but who knows.
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u/qui_sta Jul 12 '26
Our "new" (second hand) car is 11 years old. Our old one is 23 years old. It's ugly and lacks modern features, and has few electrical gremlins, but we have an excellent mechanic and it runs really well.
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u/Brewtal66 Jul 12 '26
My daily driver is 24 years old. Can’t afford a newer one and don’t want a newer one.
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u/jegoist Jul 12 '26
Our Rogue is 11 years old and our X5 is 4 years old. I was in a pretty serious accident in my 2017 X5 last year and totaled it, but was so impressed with the safety standards we got a 2022 X5 to replace it.
We’re gonna run our 2015 Rogue into the ground (just hit 80k miles this year) but I’m not sure if we will with our 2022 X5 though. It’s a plug in hybrid, which I really love about it, but I don’t know that the longevity is there. Once those high volt batteries die they’re like 5 figures to replace. I mean it can obviously run with no battery - but man I’ve gone 3 months between fill ups before because I can do my commute all on battery.
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u/Balancing7plates Jul 12 '26
My daily driver is 17 years old this year. Second vehicle, which is electric as I was hoping to save on fuel, is "only" 8 years old.
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u/ChillLikeJill Jul 12 '26
Wait..why do you not use electric car for daily driver…if you don’t mind my asking?
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u/Balancing7plates Jul 12 '26
I don't mind at all! The electric car was my daily for about a month this summer, but it broke down, unfortunately. Battery issue. I'm reasonably handy and have mechanics in the family so we're hoping to fix it ourselves, but for now I'm back to my gas-guzzling compact sedan.
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u/ChillLikeJill Jul 12 '26
My summer car is 5years old..my winter car is 9 years old..Honda with 135k so it’ll be around a while with me! My last Honda I got 315k out of😎
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u/Imnotatree30 Jul 12 '26
14 years. Hubby wanted to upgrade and I said why upgrade what isn't broken? Honda Pilot.
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u/IssLtt07 Jul 12 '26
- It’s really showing - interior has damage etc. it was garage kept when we bought it so only had 30k miles on it and 120k now. The AC has been janky for the last 3 years and i am in my car for most of my work day so that is a huge problem bc it is hot af. But until the wheels fall off it’s what i have!
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u/tiny-tyke Jul 12 '26
We have an '09 and a '15, and the '09 has only just started to show her age. I can't imagine what more I would want from the '15.
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u/r1veriared Jul 12 '26
I drive a 2005 Lincoln Town Car. It's super comfortable, like driving your couch. 🤣
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u/Think-Ad-5840 Jul 13 '26
16 year old Buick Enclave. Having to replace original parts now, so it’s got its new lease on life. Thankfully we can find the parts easily since there’s so many out there.
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u/watoaz Jul 12 '26
2017 - And it is worth the same price now as when I bought it!
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u/dervari Jul 12 '26
13 years here. We're looking into getting a travel trailer in a couple of years and want to make a decision on a truck based on what we decide we want in a trailer. I don't want to buy one now only to find out if's underpowered when "she who much be obeyed" decides she can't live without that 32ft fifth wheel with three slides.
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u/flowerpanes Jul 12 '26
It’s six years old (an EV) but the truck we have is third hand and is eighteen years old. Runs fine, just very infrequently. Paying for home charging is much cheaper than gas and we don’t need all the truck space except for large loads to the recycling centre or bringing home larger purchases.
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u/eharder47 Jul 12 '26
19 and 15 years old here. Husband has a tendency to buy cheaper cars more often.
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u/CaptainFartHole Jul 12 '26
Mine is 8 years old. I bought it used a few years back after my old one got totaled. I'll keep this one until it can't be driven anymore.
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u/lazyloofah Jul 12 '26
14-year-old Honda Accord. I’m looking to get something larger (have acquired a couple of very large dogs). I’m looking at 2016 CRVs.
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u/WerkQueen Jul 12 '26
My car is six years old.
My previous car was a ‘99 so I feel like I got my money worth.
Like my last car, I am plan to drive this until it is impractical to repair it.
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u/IWuzTheWalrus Jul 12 '26
My car is 7 (Subaru), my wife's is 9 (Honda). Neither one is showing any signs of aging and we have no intention of getting rid of them any time soon. The Subaru is a PHEV and on my current tank I am at a bit more than 102 mpg. I recently passed 30k miles and did the transmission flush. We do not drive all that much, so the cars have low mileage. I expect we will keep these for another decade at least.
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u/Mindless-Scientist79 Jul 12 '26
17 years old, have had for 15 of those. I could afford a new(ish) car payment, or insurance- but not both. So, I rock the jalopy, rust and all.
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u/qwerty_poop Jul 12 '26
Oh you caught me at a bad time lol. This one is a minivan right got when our family was growing and we needed the room. But my car before was 23 years old and my husband has a car that's 32 or so.
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u/GoodChaotic Jul 12 '26
About 30.
1997 F-150, ~90k.
It's not a fan of e10, but solid on ethanol free gas.
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u/Intelligent_Type6336 Jul 12 '26
All 3 cars are over 12 years, but prob getting something within a half decade over the next 6 months.
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u/CardboardLamb Jul 12 '26
22 years old. I bought it when it was six years old and it shows no signs of slowing down. (2004 Honda Element)
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u/NANNYNEGLEY Jul 12 '26
I haven't been able to read this article yet, but maybe it will give you some guidance here-
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u/mission_opossumable Jul 12 '26
I have two 1993's that are basically identical. Haven't needed to retire one for parts yet - knock on wood.
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u/RusticGroundSloth Jul 12 '26
My commuter is a 2009 - still gets me to work just fine. Family car is 2016 and is probably my favorite car I’ve ever owned. Oldest kid is turning 16 later this year so he gets the beat up old commuter and I’m starting the search for a newer car. Still undecided if I’m looking at a new family hauler or another all-electric commuter special.
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u/HerefortheTuna Jul 12 '26
Newest is a 2023 and oldest is a 1990. I drove all three of my vehicles today lol
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u/dracotrapnet Jul 12 '26
I might be pulling the average up.
17 years old Honda Fit - registered (actually my husband's car).
23 years old Suburban - recently given to us by my parents, need to transfer title and get it registered. It keeps having issues with battery drain and causing the gauge cluster to quit working.
24 years old Ranger - registration out and hasn't been driven in 2 or 3 years.
25 years old corolla - dead in a barn with a busted engine for the 3rd time. It hasn't ran since before Obama took office. It needs to be hauled off.
I work from home mostly with occasional office visits and a few server/network rescue missions and in person meetings. My husband is still applying for jobs so 1 car works for us most of the time.
I had a 2005 rav4 that I drove till dead in 2021 I think, had it hauled off after sitting around a year.
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u/InformationSerious27 Jul 12 '26
My nuclear family’s fleet consists of vehicles that are 11, 12, 17, and 27 years old.
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u/AliveWeird4230 Jul 12 '26
We drive long distances pretty often - in our 2000 Forester, 26 years old, 270k miles - and I'm always noticing how stark the differences from town to town are, and in places that look the same and there's really not a huge difference in income and poverty rates. Most towns we drive through are full of new cars and we make a game out of trying to spot one that looks even half as old as ours, even in poor towns. It makes that headline really surprising. But sometimes we'll pass through towns are full of older cars that look well-loved, taken care of, and such a VARIETY! I always think sometimes upgrades come in waves around the neighborhood, people joining in just to keep up.
Obviously it is difficult and takes many many many manual work hours to upkeep a car like ours and I wouldn't recommend it to most people.
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u/squidvicious11 Jul 12 '26
2017 and plan to have it as long as it will run... I hate going to the dealership
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u/YoSpiff Jul 12 '26
10 years old as of March. It was the only new car I have ever bought in my life. The only reason for that is I used it for work and the company I worked for had a reimbursement plan which incentivized newer vehicles. I enjoy not having a car payment more than I would enjoy driving a new car.
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u/PopcornSurgeon Jul 12 '26
My car is 14. It’s a Toyota, so hopefully there are as many good years ahead in it as there are behind.
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u/cc232012 Jul 12 '26
10 years! I bought it new and fortunately it still has low ish miles. I hope to keep driving it at least another 5.
My SO’s car is also 10 this year. It has around 230k miles on it so we may start looking to replace it. If it weren’t for the miles, we’d be keeping it as long as possible. We prob won’t buy something brand new but gently used would be ideal. He has a work vehicle now so we’d never be running up so many miles like this again.
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u/kornbread435 Jul 12 '26
I mean I bought it new back in 2007, so I suppose it's 19 years old. I was considering buying a new vehicle back in 2019, then covid hit and prices went nuts and quality became a myth of a past era. Back then I was commuting 2ish hours per day and gas was costing me $450-500/month, but I've been full remote since and buy a tank ($65ish) every couple of months.
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u/PorchRocker Jul 12 '26
I just replaced my 2014 Dodge Journey with less than 80,000 miles on it because I was having trouble getting service for all the things lighting up my dash: abs, brakes, battery, cruise control. The dealership service dept said that there is a sensor/chip shortage and they are unable to replace them. I guess they can’t really tell if there is a problem unless they plop a new sensor in it to see if that’s the problem? They said it is *probably* safe to drive, but I have to have more reliability than that.
I kept the Journey because I love it so much. I guess I need to find a good independent mechanic who will dig around for refurbished sensors because there is absolutely nothing mechanically wrong with it. It seems that Dodge just gave up on it.
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u/PiccadillySquares Jul 12 '26
21 years old, and I am the original owner. Car doesn't owe me a dime, and I love it. I've taken really good care of it and it looks great.
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u/choconamiel Jul 12 '26
20 years old. I'm driving a 2006 Mercury. It's still going great and I plan to keep driving it.
Automakers should think about making more affordable cars. I can't afford a new car that is 30k or more! So yeah, I'll keep fixing my old car.
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u/FrequentDonut8821 Jul 12 '26
In our family— 9 years, 10 years, 12 years, 15 years, 24 years. Toyota, Honda, Honda, Lexus, Toyota.
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u/The_barking_ant Jul 12 '26
2019 Honda Pilot. I will drive it until it dies.
I never buy brand new cars. They lose so much value. I drive all my cars until they die. So much so that no one believes that I've only owned five cars in the 34 years I've been driving.
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u/HoopsLaureate Jul 12 '26
2008 with 138k miles on it. I love 4Runners. My previous 4Runner was a 1998 that I sold in 2023 and I still miss it.
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u/DeedleStone Jul 12 '26
Little pickup truck from 1998. Inherited it from my grandma about eight years ago. She was a little old lady who only ever drove it to the liquor store on Sundays.
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u/goosebumpsagain Jul 12 '26
I’ve never bought a car until my current died of old age. Family trait. I’m only interested in getting from A to B. Cars are of no interest otherwise.
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u/StuffedHobbes Jul 12 '26
2006 Hylander. 290k and a bonafide energizer bunny, she just runs and runs. You can hear her bones at times, but she drives true.
Still in overall damn good shape for her she and mileage.
Insurance is low. No plans on upgrading until she no longer financially makes sense.
The amount of people who have a $400+ car payment and $200+ insurance rates every month just befuddled me. Thats a lot of your money wasted.
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u/DavidHikinginAlaska Jul 12 '26
If I don’t get a 1/4 million miles with less than $500 of repairs/maintenance from my Toyota, I feel cheated.
I’ve got a 22-y-o Prius (201,000 miles) and a 2007 RAV4 (231,000 miles). I expect to get another trouble-free 50-100k from each of them.
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u/Majestic-Lie2690 Jul 12 '26
2004 hind accord with 299,000 miles. And it still runs and drives like a champ
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u/42mermaids Jul 12 '26
Last time I took in my 2012 Corolla they said I could be driving her for 10 more years 🤷🏼♀️
And I plan to!
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u/PrairieSunRise605 Jul 12 '26
My daily driver is 10 yrs old and the "farm truck" is 18 yrs old. Both Toyotas
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u/Trishsticks Jul 12 '26
2004, bought with 9km on the clock from the dealer. Turned over 400k a few months ago. Has never skipped a beat.
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u/UnobtrusivePinkMoose Jul 12 '26
I drive an Orange 1985 Chevy Cavalier Wagon. It is 41 years old. About 60k on the motor, just over 100k on the rest.
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u/Baebarri Jul 12 '26
25 years old, 190,000 miles on a Buick Rendezvous. I'll drive it until one of us dies (I'm almost 70, it's a tossup.)
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u/sizzlemeet Jul 12 '26
2008 honda fit that i drove off the lot! over 200k miles. i did replace the engine after a flash flood took the original out in 2018. i bought one used off ebay for around $250.
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u/thatpilatesprincess Jul 12 '26
13 years old exactly and just hit 100k miles! Hybrid and running just fine
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u/SpiralTendency Jul 12 '26
2012, 2010, and 2012. We live in Maine, lots of salt exposure and no garage. We have them coated with "Rust Check" every year which is a petroleum type product to keep the rust at bay...and it works great! We buy our cars out of state, usually older years with super low mileage. Works out great for us.
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u/pike-n00b Jul 12 '26
Currently have 13yr old Toyota GT86 and 9yr old BMW 320i F31. I have started looking for my next car but not liking what's out there. Virtually all cars with tiny turbo engines and wet belts and all controlled by a massive screen. Can we go back to 2005 please and hondas marvelous vtech engines. Looking like mazda is only option now for normally aspirated petrol engines with timing chain, sad times
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u/473713 Jul 12 '26
I've got a ten year old Corolla now, but the best car I ever had was a 96 Corolla that ran well for 18 years. Then I sold it to a grad student who drove it a few more years before it rusted to death.
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u/ImplementImmediate47 Jul 12 '26
2001 Toyota. 25 years old and still working great. I used to joke that it’s old enough that it could join the army, old enough to vote, old enough to drink. Next year it will be old enough that it will have to buy its own health insurance.
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u/flat6NA Jul 12 '26
11 years old 2015 Porsche 911 GTS, daily driver and hope to keep it a lot longer.
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u/Useless_potato_2199 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
25 years old. Mazda 323 still going strong with 140,000 kms. Plenty of life left in her.
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u/surrealmiel Jul 12 '26
15 years old. Hard to believe a 2011 is that old already. So many good cars in that era though, I’d buy another 2008-2012 in a heartbeat.