For some reason I thought we had a thread similar to this a year or two ago but I can't find it

Average US car now a record-setting 11.4 years old

Cars are becoming less and less of a disposable item, according to a report from The Detroit Free Press. The average age of the 247 million cars and trucks in the US fleet is now up to 11.4 years, an increase of two full years since 2007 and 0.2 years since 2012. The newspaper spoke with Mark Seng, vice president of industry research firm Polk, who cited consumers' desire to avoid monthly payments and the ever-improving quality of mainstream cars and trucks as reasons for the increased age.

The first item is fairly obvious – no one really likes to carry a monthly car payment. The second point, though, is perhaps less obvious. The fact of the matter is that modern vehicles are just so reliable that people aren't feeling the need to scrap them as quickly. In fact, scrappage has fallen 50 percent since the start of the recession, a stat that is sure to pain junkyard scroungers everywhere.

But while the nation's average vehicle age is likely to continue to increase, it is expected to do so right along with increasing sales of new vehicles. After a 30-year low of 10.4 million vehicles in 2009, the annual average is running right along at 15.5 million according to The Detroit Free Press. While it seems counterintuitive for these two stats to climb together, the combination of improved reliability, lower interest rates and readily available longer-term financing options has created a kind of perfect storm for both long-term ownership and new vehicle sales.

How old is your primary vehicle?

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/06/a...rs-old-w-poll/

 

They missed the fact that new cars are also getting a lot more expensive. The new fuel economy regulations are forcing manufacturers to put a lot more tech into the cars, which I don't think is a bad thing, but it does raise the price of cars and prices some people out of the market. What good are newer and tighter fuel economy regulations if the cars become so expensive that they're just going to hold on to their older cars for longer? Years ago it was predicted that this would happen, but it's not just government regulations. Yes cars are very reliable these days, and the economy has never really recovered either.

 

Although the Mercedes S-Class and Lexus LS are still on the market, they are quite expensive, and many older people are finding no true reasonably-priced replacements for their big, smooth-riding Town Cars, Lucernes, and DTS/DeVilles any more. So, naturally, many of them are either holding on to their old ones longer or shopping in the used-car market. I predicted, BTW, that this would happen when those models were (foolishly) dropped.

 

Now it's a fact that many people are holding on to their cars longer it puts Auto Zone, O'Reilly Auto parts and Advance Auto Parts in a good position. With these older cars maintenance and replacements are a must. Auto Zone's and O'Reilly Auto part's stock has been going up.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=azo&ql=1

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ORLY&reco=1

 

rougher economy, more people unemployed, driving less, cant afford new cars, newer cars getting more expensive

 

my primary car is 21 years old. drive the crap out of that ol pile every day. she never complains.

 

Not every car owner has the mechanical or technical saavy you do, Josh, to keep a 20+ year old clunker running. And you, of course, had a lot of experience working at the Army motorpools. But, for many average car-owners, trying to do that would simply be impractical....especially here in the U.S. where one does not have to try and keep several-decades-old cars running without spare parts (care of the trade-embargo) like they somehow manage to do in Cuba.

 

Despite a long-held public view that the longer you keep an old car, the less it ultimately costs, keeping and driving a car until it finally dies is not necessarily the best or least-expensive way to go. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. It depends on MANY other factors and issues.....so many that one could write a small book on them. I certainly couldn't outline all of them in just one or two paragraphs.

 

High-tech isn't necessarily what makes for fuel-mileage. Thirty years ago, small, simply-designed econocars like the Geo Metro XFi and Honda CRX XF were getting 50-60 MPG....as good or better than even some of today's small diesels and hybrids. The reason so much technology is put into today's cars is that a number of drivers (mostly younger ones) want to have their cake and eat it, too.......GPS-navigate, text, yak on Bluetooth/cell-phones, fool around with SYNC/I-Pod/MP3 music-downloading. In other words, doing everything except what they SHOULD be doing......keeping their eyes on the road.

 

I think with the modern durability mixed with the recent recession and you have a formula for older car on the roads. I have never seen so many engine replacement shop commercials over the last 3-4 years

 

My 2009 IS350 is 4 years old. I'll keep it until the engine gives out.

 

In my many years on CL, I have seen an ever increasing amount of discussion on DIY and repairs even with the higher segments on the Lexus family and am not surprised given the economy that people are holding on to vehicles longer.

 

Car culture is changing around the world. In the U.S., many teens now feel they don't need a car as news ways of communication has replaced the need to be physically present to "hang" with friends. Combine this with rising gas prices, improvements in long-term reliability, and lack of new innovations is driving new car replacement rates up. Cars last forever these days

 

The average age will continue to increase too. A lot of the cars built 12 years ago are no where near as good as today's cars are, particularly the vastly improved American, Korean, and German makes. Of course, Japanese makes have long been bullet proof, mainly Toyota and Honda, but the others have been forced to catch up to stay competitive. Just look at the huge difference in Ford, GM, Hyundai, ect.. quality. The average age could easily become 15 or so years.

I still see, on a daily basis, early '90's Toyota's/Lexus and Honda's in perfectly fine daily driving condition. 20+ year old cars still going strong, even looking good.

My 7 year old Yaris at 144,000 miles has yet to need a single repair. Just minimal maintenance - oil changes, new tires, battery, plugs, and belt. Original brakes are still 50%. And it literally still feels brand new. I kid you not. I've never seen cars hold up like this and never show any sign of age. There's the Yaris (posted here), with over 500,000 miles and running perfect so I know I have a ways to go.

 

I had a 1996 ES 300 with over 400,000 miles but was rear-ended on July 2010. If I still had my ES today it would be at 500,000 miles or very close to it. She still ran very good and I kept up with the maintenance. My ES 300 was a very reliable car.

Now I have a 2011 CT 200h with over 50,000 miles and it still feels brand new as well. Let's see how far I can take the CT...