Fixing instead of replacing: Average age of vehicles on U.S. roads hits a record high

My friends in Canada tell me that car sharing is becoming more and more attractive, financially.

I bought my favorite motorcycle new 39 years ago and put over 500,000 km on it. It still looks good and runs great. My favorite car is 35 years old this year and I have owned it 30 of those years. I will never part with either. They are like old friends and out on the road have become an extension of my mind.

I have lots of sympathy for anyone struggling with the cost of living.

But c'mon

Used vehicle prices, on average, have surged even more since the pandemic hit — up 40%, to nearly $29,000 (just under four million yen)

national average monthly auto loan payment to $729 (99,000 yen)

The "average" in both cases must be a very expensive car. It sounds like everyone must be driving a tank, to protect themselves from collisions with other people driving tanks. What happened to Americans driving Civics and Corollas?

Great news for Mother Earth,

Driving your existing car for 20+ years is far better for the environment than buying a shiny new EV.

And the price of used cars has sky-rocketed as well. I had to buy my college kids two used cars last year (Including a replacement for my beloved 92 Mazda MX-6 with, I kid you not, only 81k miles on it. My younger daughter managed to total it in the most humourous way imaginable. Thankfully no injuries)

The prices for both used vehicles in comparison to their milage and features was, um...... well..... it caused some amount of stomach acid production.....

I would love to purchase a car in America and just store it away for when I am there, but at the current and expected future prices, renting makes more sense.

And unlike other discressionary spending, if one is living in the vast majority of the US, owning an automobile is not a discressionary item.

I bought my used car 6 years ago it's now worth more than I paid for it! .my friend owns a car dealership in the UK he tells me that when customers bring back there 18 month old car, they are trading it in for more than they bought it! Due to the price increase if steel and parts going up

What happened to Americans driving Civics and Corollas?

Those cost $25K new for stripped down versions and easily get over $33K in SoCal.

We sold our 2nd vehicle about 15 yrs ago and the remaining car is 23 yrs old, runs like new still.

Odd think was that when we had 3 vehicles, our total insurance costs were 30% less than with 2 or 1 vehicle. It made no sense.

One of my favorite cars has always been a VW Beetle. I bought a '71 when I was in high school (nearly the same age as I was. Because it was a SoCal Bug, it was essentially rust free. It already had over 100,000 miles on it when I got it. I built a new, more powerful engine for it in our garage using the original block and a readily available kit. Then, I drove it for another 15 years before I (regretfully) sold it, though for more twice what I originally paid. I even converted it for unleaded gasoline. Wish I still had it!

My current vehicle is great, and far more comfortable and efficient (diesel powered), much easier to drive, and safer. But I'd love to have a car that I could personally do ALL the maintenance on again(with NO COMPUTER.

Incrementally, over the past 25 years the quality of cars has increased dramatically. Cars last a heck of a lot longer than they used to so of course the average age of vehicles is increasing.

Old cars will last you forever (though fuel efficiency is an issue), but new cars won't last you eight years. That turnover is how companies profit. Trust me... your "shaken" at the eight-year mark will be riddled with, "Oh, we don't make that part anymore" and, "It'll be cheaper to buy a new one/trade in". When I got here, I was given a refrigerator from the 1970s. It lasted until 2010. The one I bought after, a brand new Panasonic, lasted 6 years with the company telling me they no longer had the parts despite it still being insured under an extended insurance plan. Oh, they could fix it for free, but "the parts will cost more than buying a new one".

Owning a car for more than 8 years is nothing to be ashamed of.

Japan has always been a "throw it away" society, despite things being perfectly useable. The 80s, the bubble era, man... those 粗大ゴミ days saw some amazing stuff being thrown away simply because a newer model was bought. Time to start rethinking that mentality.

I'm quite happy with my 2010 Mazda3. I have racked up some mileage on it, but I'm driving less these days.

Pre-pandemic I was considering buying a newer but used model Mazda3. Post pandemic the same cars I was considering have 20,000 miles/30,000 km and cost several thousand dollars more. No thanks.

You cannot underestimate the work of a shade tree mechanic in America,he bring a car from the dead

It doesn't mean that most owners of older vehicles are necessarily stuck with constant repair bills. One reason people can hold their vehicles for increasingly long periods is that auto manufacturing has improved over time. Engines run longer. Bodies don't rust as quickly. Components last longer.

Good. That's less waste for the environment

Most vehicles built nowadays are pretty reliable