Toyota Camry

[Max Rockatansky]

Depreciation is probably the most widely mis-used term when buying a car.

Would reduction in resale value be a more accurate term?  That said, resale value only matters if one plans to sell off the vehicle in a few years.  If one buys a vehicle with the intention of owning it for life; the resale value of it, unless the purchased vehicle in question is a limited-production collectible, is moot.

Which is exactly what some of us here do.  I prefer to buy new and keep the car as long as possible and don't really care about how many miles I'm puting on it.  This way, I know the user history, the maintenance history, and where it's been, and what's been done to it.

I do the same, usually my daily drivers get at least 6 plus years and at least 150,000 miles.  At that point unless the car was super expensive it's hard to say you didn't get your money's worth.  Plus I trust myself to take car of a new car way more than any passed trash I have to roll the dice on in the used car market. 

Driving 25K per annum means you cannot afford to have a beater which breaks down.  If your income allows for the expense, consider a lease.  Just figure you are paying a monthly expense to have reliable transportation and if the lease is for two or three years, you will always be under warranty and should the dealership have a good policy for loaners, you will never be bereft of wheeled transport.  Is that worth $200 to $400 a month? 

Rick

Aren't most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

[formulanone]

Aren’t most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

You can sign for different terms, though with varying mileage penalties.

12K seems to be the standard, but I've seen 9K, 10K, and 15K leases out there in dealership-la-la-land.

[RobbieL2415]

Depreciation is probably the most widely mis-used term when buying a car.

Would reduction in resale value be a more accurate term?  That said, resale value only matters if one plans to sell off the vehicle in a few years.  If one buys a vehicle with the intention of owning it for life; the resale value of it, unless the purchased vehicle in question is a limited-production collectible, is moot.

Which is exactly what some of us here do.  I prefer to buy new and keep the car as long as possible and don't really care about how many miles I'm puting on it.  This way, I know the user history, the maintenance history, and where it's been, and what's been done to it.

If a common beater is well-built, a la the Camry, and well maintained, there's no reason it couldn't do 25k in a year.

I do the same, usually my daily drivers get at least 6 plus years and at least 150,000 miles.  At that point unless the car was super expensive it's hard to say you didn't get your money's worth.  Plus I trust myself to take car of a new car way more than any passed trash I have to roll the dice on in the used car market. 

Driving 25K per annum means you cannot afford to have a beater which breaks down.  If your income allows for the expense, consider a lease.  Just figure you are paying a monthly expense to have reliable transportation and if the lease is for two or three years, you will always be under warranty and should the dealership have a good policy for loaners, you will never be bereft of wheeled transport.  Is that worth $200 to $400 a month? 

Rick

[Brandon]

Aren't most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

You can sign for different terms, though with varying mileage penalties.

12K seems to be the standard, but I've seen 9K, 10K, and 15K leases out there in dealership-la-la-land.

Still too low.  I drive 30k to 50k miles a year on average.  Way outside lease territory.  And I want the vehicle I want, not some pos the dealer wants to lease out.

[nexus73]

Depreciation is probably the most widely mis-used term when buying a car.

Would reduction in resale value be a more accurate term?  That said, resale value only matters if one plans to sell off the vehicle in a few years.  If one buys a vehicle with the intention of owning it for life; the resale value of it, unless the purchased vehicle in question is a limited-production collectible, is moot.

Which is exactly what some of us here do.  I prefer to buy new and keep the car as long as possible and don't really care about how many miles I'm puting on it.  This way, I know the user history, the maintenance history, and where it's been, and what's been done to it.

I do the same, usually my daily drivers get at least 6 plus years and at least 150,000 miles.  At that point unless the car was super expensive it’s hard to say you didn’t get your money’s worth.  Plus I trust myself to take car of a new car way more than any passed trash I have to roll the dice on in the used car market. 

Driving 25K per annum means you cannot afford to have a beater which breaks down.  If your income allows for the expense, consider a lease.  Just figure you are paying a monthly expense to have reliable transportation and if the lease is for two or three years, you will always be under warranty and should the dealership have a good policy for loaners, you will never be bereft of wheeled transport.  Is that worth $200 to $400 a month? 

Rick

Aren’t most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

One can pay a fee for excessive miles.  You could also ask about higher mile allowance leases.  Check with the dealer of your choice!

Rick

[formulanone]

Aren’t most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

You can sign for different terms, though with varying mileage penalties.

12K seems to be the standard, but I've seen 9K, 10K, and 15K leases out there in dealership-la-la-land.

Still too low.  I drive 30k to 50k miles a year on average.  Way outside lease territory. 

It's more about the dealer getting maximum resale value for the vehicle as a "quality" used car. A three-year-old car with 80,000 miles seems suspicious to most buyers* and offers no remnant of its factory warranty. So I don't think any brand is going to offer those kinds of lease terms. If they were to inflate the lease price to offset the depreciation, you might as well buy the darn thing and make 4-5 years of payments.

Frankly, the lease is great for the subset of folks which get bored of their vehicles and have a lot of money to burn just to have something shiny. Or have a part/all of the payment absorbed by some other entity (company car, et al). When I worked at a dealership, you were eligible for reduced lease payments up to a certain value, depending on senority. But for most people, it's a bit of a waste.

* however, my experience is that those who drive their car way above average yearly mileage often tend to maintain it fairly well, because they're even more dependent on it.

[Max Rockatansky]

Aren't most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

You can sign for different terms, though with varying mileage penalties.

12K seems to be the standard, but I've seen 9K, 10K, and 15K leases out there in dealership-la-la-land.

Still too low.  I drive 30k to 50k miles a year on average.  Way outside lease territory.  And I want the vehicle I want, not some pos the dealer wants to lease out.

I've been in the same range and up to 80k in the last decade, hence why a lease hasn't been a viable option.  At the end of the day I rather have a car that's mine, usually I pay my cars off in 2.5-3 years anyways.  Most of my high mileage cars become my grocery getter. 

[tolbs17]

Aren't most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

You can sign for different terms, though with varying mileage penalties.

12K seems to be the standard, but I've seen 9K, 10K, and 15K leases out there in dealership-la-la-land.

Still too low.  I drive 30k to 50k miles a year on average.  Way outside lease territory.  And I want the vehicle I want, not some pos the dealer wants to lease out.

I've been in the same range and up to 80k in the last decade, hence why a lease hasn't been a viable option.  At the end of the day I rather have a car that's mine, usually I pay my cars off in 2.5-3 years anyways.  Most of my high mileage cars become my grocery getter.

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

[Brandon]

Aren't most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

You can sign for different terms, though with varying mileage penalties.

12K seems to be the standard, but I've seen 9K, 10K, and 15K leases out there in dealership-la-la-land.

Still too low.  I drive 30k to 50k miles a year on average.  Way outside lease territory.  And I want the vehicle I want, not some pos the dealer wants to lease out.

I've been in the same range and up to 80k in the last decade, hence why a lease hasn't been a viable option.  At the end of the day I rather have a car that's mine, usually I pay my cars off in 2.5-3 years anyways.  Most of my high mileage cars become my grocery getter.

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

My parents had a 1981 Dodge Aries (bought new) that hit the dust in 1995.  That was replaced with a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan (bought new) that finally was traded in in 2009.  Then they have a 2003 Chrysler 300M (bought new) that is still with us.  So there you have it, two 14 year old cars and a 16 year old car.

[J N Winkler]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Doesn't everybody?

My current daily driver turned 25 last February.  Others I know react with horror when it is suggested that they get rid of vehicles that are over 20 years old.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It still runs."

[webny99]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Doesn't everybody?
My current daily driver turned 25 last February.  Others I know react with horror when it is suggested that they get rid of vehicles that are over 20 years old.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It still runs."

Oh my. I've found quite the opposite. Keep a car for more than ten years, and it starts to feel like one of the older ones around. We usually trade in after around five years, right before we have to dump a lot of money into it. We do enough traveling and put enough mileage on that it's just not worth having an unreliable car. I guess we also have the extra wear and tear associated with winter weather.

[Max Rockatansky]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Doesn't everybody?
My current daily driver turned 25 last February.  Others I know react with horror when it is suggested that they get rid of vehicles that are over 20 years old.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It still runs."

I'd probably still have every car I've ever owned if I had the space. 

Oh my. I've found quite the opposite. Keep a car for more than ten years, and it starts to feel like one of the older ones around. We usually trade in after around five years, right before we have to dump a lot of money into it. We do enough traveling and put enough mileage on that it's just not worth having an unreliable car. I guess we also have the extra wear and tear associated with winter weather.

[ozarkman417]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Doesn't everybody?

My current daily driver turned 25 last February.  Others I know react with horror when it is suggested that they get rid of vehicles that are over 20 years old.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It still runs."

People in some countries trying to keep their car as long as possible are going to run into a problem in the 2030s & 40s. Gas cars and/or the sale of them may be banned in select countries around that time.

SM-G965U

[dlsterner]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Plenty of people do.  I had my previous car for 16 years, the car before that for 10 years.  And I hope that my current car (4 years old) will make it at least that far.  (Assuming I make it that far myself  )

And I'm guessing others will chime in as well.

Not due to financial reasons; I just dislike the B.S. that I typically go through at a new car dealer.

[J N Winkler]

Oh my. I've found quite the opposite. Keep a car for more than ten years, and it starts to feel like one of the older ones around. We usually trade in after around five years, right before we have to dump a lot of money into it. We do enough traveling and put enough mileage on that it's just not worth having an unreliable car. I guess we also have the extra wear and tear associated with winter weather.

We stay up to date on routine maintenance.  We generally find that the long-interval maintenance (coolant, spark plugs, ignition coils, transmission fluid, timing belt if so equipped, etc.) and wear item renewal (tires, brake pads, battery, alternator, water pump, etc.) are significantly cheaper than buying new or even "fresh" used.  And I consider my daily driver suitable for out-of-town travel, having used it for that purpose as recently as 2015.  It is actually more reliable now than it was when it was newer, largely because most of the badly designed parts have been replaced with others that are better specified for their purpose.  It has set CELs twice in its life, the last of which was 19 years ago.

In your case, I think it is five months annually when the roads are not salt-free that constrains useful service life.  We do use salt and we get winter storms, but roads do not stay snow-bound for any significant length of time and we can usually wash salt off within a week.  I go under my daily driver about once a year to change the oil and there isn't really any noticeable rust on the underbody.

I'd probably still have every car I've ever owned if I had the space.

Yes.  Once the goal of never carrying a car payment is achieved, it is still possible to run into a problem with excess durability, especially with EFI cars in areas with mild winters.

People in some countries trying to keep their car as long as possible are going to run into a problem in the 2030s & 40s. Gas cars and/or the sale of them may be banned in select countries around that time.

Much will still depend on the timing and extent of any measures the US takes to tackle climate change.  I think the likeliest scenario is that production of cars with IC engines (gasoline or diesel) as the prime movers will be phased out, beginning probably in the 2030's, and it will then become economically unattractive to continue driving existing gas-powered cars as carbon offsetting becomes baked into the price of fuel at the pump, with carbon levies collected at the terminal in the same manner as fuel taxes now.  Electric cars will become appealing as a way to divorce motoring from the carbon cycle, but the eventual vehicle mix will depend on the extent to which technology overcomes range limitations.  I think it will take range comparable to existing gas-powered cars to avoid the emergence of a bimodal vehicle fleet where electric cars are used for short-range trips in urban areas and gas cars/diesel trucks for longer trips and interurban highway transportation.

I am in good health, try to eat sensibly, and have had ancestors who reached their nineties.  Nevertheless I will be surprised if gas-powered cars cease to be used for day-to-day transportation before I have to stop driving.

[tolbs17]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Doesn't everybody?

My current daily driver turned 25 last February.  Others I know react with horror when it is suggested that they get rid of vehicles that are over 20 years old.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It still runs."

Yeah, but my parents stopped doing it due to breakdowns.

[1995hoo]

Aren't most leases restricted to something like 12,000 miles a year?

You can sign for different terms, though with varying mileage penalties.

12K seems to be the standard, but I've seen 9K, 10K, and 15K leases out there in dealership-la-la-land.

Still too low.  I drive 30k to 50k miles a year on average.  Way outside lease territory.  And I want the vehicle I want, not some pos the dealer wants to lease out.

I've been in the same range and up to 80k in the last decade, hence why a lease hasn't been a viable option.  At the end of the day I rather have a car that's mine, usually I pay my cars off in 2.5-3 years anyways.  Most of my high mileage cars become my grocery getter.

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

I have a 2004 Acura TL. Bought it new and it's my primary vehicle. I love driving it and I plan to keep it as long as it stays reliable and doesn't become a cost burden. My wife has a 2003 Acura RSX. She bought it at Carmax in May 2005. It's no longer her primary vehicle because in 2017 she decided she wanted an automatic shift, but we kept the RSX because the hatchback makes it a very useful car.

Our other car, which we're thinking about selling because we no longer drive it enough, is a 1988 RX-7. Her former boyfriend bought it new and sold it to her sometime in the 1990s. She sold it to me in May 2005 when she got the RSX. So I have two cars I've kept for over ten years.

[webny99]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Doesn't everybody?
My current daily driver turned 25 last February.  Others I know react with horror when it is suggested that they get rid of vehicles that are over 20 years old.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It still runs."

Oh my. I've found quite the opposite. Keep a car for more than ten years, and it starts to feel like one of the older ones around. We usually trade in after around five years, right before we have to dump a lot of money into it. We do enough traveling and put enough mileage on that it's just not worth having an unreliable car. I guess we also have the extra wear and tear associated with winter weather.

I'd probably still have every car I've ever owned if I had the space. 

FTQSFY.

[Max Rockatansky]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

Doesn't everybody?
My current daily driver turned 25 last February.  Others I know react with horror when it is suggested that they get rid of vehicles that are over 20 years old.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It still runs."

Oh my. I've found quite the opposite. Keep a car for more than ten years, and it starts to feel like one of the older ones around. We usually trade in after around five years, right before we have to dump a lot of money into it. We do enough traveling and put enough mileage on that it's just not worth having an unreliable car. I guess we also have the extra wear and tear associated with winter weather.

I'd probably still have every car I've ever owned if I had the space. 

FTQSFY.

Meh, I was at work and didn't even notice it was jacked up.  I had an interrupted thought anyways on the topic.  Most of my cars that I've gotten rid of really weren't worth much and would have more value keeping until they no longer ran.  In particular my 4x4 Chevy Silverado was the one that disappointed me most to get rid of and by far would be the one I would get the most use out of today.  The Mustang, Fiesta and Sun Bird would have been nice hand-me-downs which would only leave the Camaro as the only other car I'd personally want to regularly drive even today.  Trouble was that moving around as much as I do means I haven't really had an opportunity to own property where I could store things until this last two years. 

[PHLBOS]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

I've done such with two of my past cars as well as one of my current ones.

I owned a '76 Ford LTD Landau coupe from 1993 to 2010 (I drove it through 2007, then my brother had it from then to 2010). 

My fore-mentioned '97 Ford Crown Victoria LX was the first new car I ever bought.  I owned it from Nov. 1996 through Feb. 2016 when it was totaled in a 3-car accident.  I probably would still own it now had such not happened. 

I've owned my 2007 Mustang Pony Package convertible since Aug. of 2007.

[tolbs17]

I would love to see someone keep a car for 10 years...

I've done such with two of my past cars as well as one of my current ones.

I owned a '76 Ford LTD Landau coupe from 1993 to 2010 (I drove it through 2007, then my brother had it from then to 2010). 

My fore-mentioned '97 Ford Crown Victoria LX was the first new car I ever bought.  I owned it from Nov. 1996 through Feb. 2016 when it was totaled in a 3-car accident.  I probably would still own it now had such not happened. 

I've owned my 2007 Mustang Pony Package convertible since Aug. of 2007.

That's awesome. I think every 3-5 years or depending how reliable the car and how many problems i get, I would get a car for my senior year at high school and definitely college. I went inside a Toyota Corolla and it's not that bad for me. I just don't like the civic that much, that's all.

But still, I love Accord and Camry.

[tolbs17]

I driven a 2012 Toyota Camry for the first time when I was still in driver's ed. It felt good! I wish i took that car home.

[ozarkman417]

I driven a 2012 Toyota Camry for the first time when I was still in driver's ed. It felt good! I wish i took that car home.

Meanwhile in Missouri driver's ed is not required. Instead I need forty hours of behind-the-wheel practice with a parent.

SM-G965U

[tolbs17]

I driven a 2012 Toyota Camry for the first time when I was still in driver's ed. It felt good! I wish i took that car home.

Meanwhile in Missouri driver's ed is not required. Instead I need forty hours of behind-the-wheel practice with a parent.

SM-G965U

That's not fair really. For here, you need 30 hours of instructional time and 6 hours of behind the wheel test to get your permit.

[RobbieL2415]

In CT it used to be that if you were an adult you did not need an instruction permit to learn how to drive.  You could drive without a license as long as a licensed driver was next to you providing instruction.  This went away only a few years ago, probably because it's a giant loophole.