I have the same attitude. While I don't keep them as long, I've rarely ever had a car that was less than 20 years old. And why not? Keeping stuff that works around instead of throwing it away is good, it's cheap, there is long-term data available on what works / didn't work / the spare part situation, fuel economy and safety mostly depend on what models you chose and compare. Working on old stuff is often also easier (no matter if you do it yourself or pay someone else). Also: Switches, stalks, locks that also work without batteries, no huge displays, no ride-by-wire - nice! ;)
I'd like to quibble with the word "always" and "least" there. If you passed your test and got your first car at 18 and you're younger than 68 then you've only had time for one 25 year old car, plus your current car.
I've gone through quite a lot of cars, but only one of them because it was broken and not worth fixing. The others were due to circumstances changing, like moving country, or having a larger family.
> I always keep my ICE cars for at least 25 years.
That's not what service life means. It's a design requirement that is used to drive probabilistic models that determine longevity targets for individual components, and also reflects a manufacturer's commitment to support a specific model.
Yes, your car is expected to still run after 12 years. Some cars also run after doing 200k miles.
> It is crazy to me that people are getting rid of them after only 12 years.
Some people replace cars way earlier than that, either because maintenance becomes too expensive due to severe use (see Uber drivers) or because they simply feel like it. There's a reason where car leasing is a successful business.
That works if you have the skills, tools, and willingness to do a lot of work yourself. For most people, a major repair on a 10+ year old car (engine, transmission, etc) means sinking more money into a car than its blue book value.
This may be true under certain conditions but there are many cars around that are much older than 10 years and have never needed major surgery along the lines of an engine replacement. It's not unreasonable to expect a car and its engine to run for the 25 years or more mentioned by the person you were replying to. Maintenance and routine repairs can be had for reasonable prices if you find yourself a good, fair mechanic and drive a car that's not too rare and has an OK spare part situation.
I live in Canada, have a 15 year old Hyundai Elantra that sees -40 degrees every winter, I ski 50+ days per year so it sees a ton of snowy roads, and the car has had exactly zero mechanical issues. I've only replaced brake pads, rotors just this year, and tires.
zevon|6 months ago
jemmyw|6 months ago
I've gone through quite a lot of cars, but only one of them because it was broken and not worth fixing. The others were due to circumstances changing, like moving country, or having a larger family.
motorest|6 months ago
That's not what service life means. It's a design requirement that is used to drive probabilistic models that determine longevity targets for individual components, and also reflects a manufacturer's commitment to support a specific model.
Yes, your car is expected to still run after 12 years. Some cars also run after doing 200k miles.
> It is crazy to me that people are getting rid of them after only 12 years.
Some people replace cars way earlier than that, either because maintenance becomes too expensive due to severe use (see Uber drivers) or because they simply feel like it. There's a reason where car leasing is a successful business.
pseudo0|6 months ago
zevon|6 months ago
unknown|6 months ago
[deleted]
croes|6 months ago
mac-mc|6 months ago
dismalaf|6 months ago