I now drive a 2012 Honda Fit Sport that gets nearly 40 mpg on freeway. 
Posted on 04/02/2012 1:17:12 AM PDT by blueplum
The economy remains wobbly, unemployment is still high and yet people are buying new cars at a pace that would suggest a sweeping wave of prosperity.
Even auto industry analysts concede that it's counterintuitive … until you take a closer look at what's being traded in for new wheels.
[snip]
David Rodgers, senior vice president and general manager of the Sullivan Automotive Group, which oversees John L. Sullivan Chevrolet and Roseville Toyota in the Roseville Automall, said that, more than car age, he's been struck by the high mileage he's seeing on trade-ins.
"The average (age) is running about three to four years older than what we were seeing before (the recession), but the mileage is what is really noticeable," he said. "We're seeing 200,000 to 250,000 miles on some cars, where we were seeing 85,000 to 130,000 or 140,000 before."
[snip]
In last year's third quarter, R.L. Polk & Co. said the average length of ownership among U.S. motorists who had purchased a car new hit a record 71 months. Likewise, retention of vehicles originally bought used climbed to an all-time high of 50 months.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/01/4379965/as-us-car-sales-pick-up-trade.html#storylink=cpy
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Nobody trades in a car with 200,000 miles. A dealer will give you maybe $1000 bucks? Not worth it. Most are given away or held as a spare car. Story is bunk.
I would say that the only folks doing a 200k mile car trade-in....might be college kids who inherited dad’s old car and have finally graduated from college. Otherwise, a 200k car is virtually worthless and ought to be the families ‘third’ car for junior to drive or be dad’s back-up car.
I would say this as well....if this was a Honda Civic....it’s just getting broke-in at 200k miles and might still be around at 500k miles.
‘02 Civic Si - 262,000
Runs perfectly - 31 MPG 160 hp
Why trade?
Because Obama demands it to boost the economy.
Don't scaff, he's one Supreme Court vote from making Americans buy pretty much whatever he deems.
Because Obama demands it to boost the economy.
Don't scoff, he's one Supreme Court vote from making Americans buy pretty much whatever he deems.
Why? Because its a civic? :)
Notice how they don't even mention that Cash for Clunkers probably FUBAR'd the entire normal purchase cycles above and beyond O'bozo's economy, which was one of his deals and the RINO's went along with it (heck I think a RINO from MI was a big part of it Candice Miller).
On top of that..
They don't talk to Auto Engineers. Discussions with my "auto gnomes" have been in this arena as well. For all the crap "The Big Three" got over the years especially before 2 of them went belly up, their durability and durability testing in regards to the auto's life span would suprise many. They are lasting up to 250,000 miles without batting an eye-lash ( minus the mid life electrical stuff that needs changing and that is for the imports too, Starters, Alternators, Batteries etc ) .
Interesting how that never enters into the equation.
I become more amazed all the time at how dealers have Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks sitting on their lots that are 10 years old and may have 130K or more miles on them and they still want over $10,000 for them. About $12K is all I believe I can reasonably afford for a vehicle and even then I still end up financing it for about 3/4 of a year before I get it paid off. I wish cars still cost about $4K like my parents vehicles did when I was a kid.
I have a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 6cyl, with 176k and it runs well, bought cash and I’ll keep it. My other Grand Cherokees - 1987 LTD 6cyl, 1994 LTD V8 - all had 275k on them when I traded them in, and got a few thousand for each, since they were in perfect condition, yet high mileage. Screw the electronics-laden “new cars”. I never use 90% of that Blu-this/Blu-that/popping-up screens/drop-down screens etc etc. They all come thru “loaded” with crap. Maybe I’ll start looking around for an older, clean, used car next time wo/ electronics doo-dad junk.
“a 200k car is virtually worthless and ought to be the families ‘third’ car for junior to drive or be dad’s back-up car.”
For an increasing number of people this is “the” car. I don’t know why the guy in the article is surprised by the high mileage of trade-ins; where has he been the last 10 years?
“a lot of ppl putting off buying cars until they absolutely have to.”
Absolutely, and when they do have to the best ones are already a couple of years old with some original warranty remaining. The problem is that those now cost what the new ones cost ten years ago.
Who in hell can afford to purchase a brand new vehicle of any make when the cost of living is so inflated?While at the same time the amount of pay you get is basicly static.
I own a 2003 Nissan pickup and even though I want to replace it with a Ford F-150,The cost of the vehicle,Insurance,Finance charges and of coarse the sales taxes paid to the State of Connecticut would make a purchase prohibitive to me.
Our civic is a ‘98 with 125k. I had it painted and the headlight lenses polished and it looks like new.
It gets 32 mpg on the road if we drove it much on the road.
I have a 2004 Nissan Frontier and I cannot wait to get rid of that hunk of junk.
I long for the days when I had a ‘98 Civic. It was a 5 speed and I averaged 33 around town and 38 on the interstate. During weather where all I needed was a vent with windows rolled up I once got 42mpg on a 140 mile round trip once. That’s a little better than alot of hybrids.
I recently purchased a 1998 Camry with only 41,000 miles. The old lady that owned it couldn’t drive anymore. Under $5k and good for a very long time.
Sometimes the manufacturers offer crazy lease incentives. I bought my car in 2009, it was a bad time for the car companies anyway but they offered a 20% discount on the price if I leased the car. So I leased the car for 3 years, then bought it out of the lease with a 2 year financing deal. Roughly the same as financing it for 5 years but with a 20% savings off the top. Before I bought it I checked the value, I was 30% ahead of similar used car asking prices. To this day I don’t know why they offered that leasing discount. Maybe I ended up paying the sales tax twice, I didn’t think about that until now.
-—I own a 2003 Nissan pickup and even though I want to replace it with a Ford F-150,The cost of the vehicle,Insurance,Finance charges and of coarse the sales taxes paid to the State of Connecticut would make a purchase prohibitive to me.-—
Same here. We live in MA, have three cars, and the newest is a 99. In other states, where an equivalent home would cost 50% or more less, I guess you could afford $25k for a new car.
I now drive a 2012 Honda Fit Sport that gets nearly 40 mpg on freeway.
Good grief - what kind of analysis is this?
People are keeping cars for a longer period and the mileage is higher.
Doesn’t this writer understand that in order to keep a vehicle longer AND have lower mileage - one has to drive the car in reverse?
You got quite a good deal.
My ‘92 Camry LE is my daily driver.
Runs great and looks good.
310,000 miles.
Good purchase, P. I’m going to have to find an SUV with the same parameters, in a couple of years. My Jeep’s still got 100k+ in its mechanicals, and the body/chassis is spotless, like new, 100% mine since paying $25k cash new in ‘02. So why get rid of it? Not yet.
All the 60k-120k tradeins were recycled into aluminum cans thanks to Olenin’s Cash for Clunkers. Kia and Hyundai got the $4,000 credits, and America lost an entire generation of affordable used cars.
}:-)4
GM offered me 3500 on a trade in for my 02 Chev Express with 321,000 on the clock.
Maybe it’s just the model I own, or the fact that the van runs/drives like a new van.
Or perhaps the replacement was 3500 over what they where willing to take for it.
I didn’t buy the van I was looking at, but I had the price of the new van before I told them about the trade.
Just imagine for a minute what car ownership would be like with gubmint out of our business!
No bs restrictions on automakers to neuter (to use a recent obama word) the vehicles, no faux epa rules, etc.
just to imagine this would be too much...
;)
Semper Watching!
*****
It’s a testament to modern engineering and engine technology that you can drive them 250,000 miles without requiring any sort of major overhaul.
Automatic transmissions usually blow way before the engine starts using oil heavily. I have a '02 Galant GTZ and it doesn't use a spec of oil and has 202K miles on it. The tranny blew at 175K. :(
ALL of my experiences with domestic makes have been problematic. We bought a Dodge Caravan back in '05 to give Detroit another chance. The engine itself has been good to us, and the overall design is pleasant, but we've had no end to problems with the brakes and with the power windows and power locks. On those things alone, I think we've had the Caravan in the shop more times than we have our '95 Civic for all repairs.
Not a real confidence-booster for me. I doubt we'll go domestic for our next purchase unless we have no other choice.
bad news.
People are having to go into debt slavery to replace their old cars.
They don’t want to, they know they can’t afford it, but they have no choice.
Obama crushed a lot of good buys with ‘cash for clunkers’.
Need to talk to Ferris Bueller about that.
Then a spark plug disintegrated and scored a cylinder wall. The interior is shot. The paint is starting to flake off the plastic. It's not worth fixing.
My problem is, NOBODY makes what I want: the same thing, only new. :-(
I recently purchased a 1998 Camry with only 41,000 miles. The old lady that owned it couldn’t drive anymore. Under $5k and good for a very long time.
************************************************
I’d go ahead and change the cam belt right now ,,, 14 years is a long time even though it hasn’t hit the mileage targets... Toyota didn’t go to a chain on their 4cyl 2.4 until 2002.
My problem is, NOBODY makes what I want: the same thing, only new. :-(
*******************************************
You’re going to have trouble finding a car with manual everything ... best match for a stripper Saturn wagon would be a Nissan Versa Wagon ... price is comparable at $14,480
We bought that Saturn new in '94 with a 150K warranty (and I made the most of it). The car has done everything, and has cost us less than $0.03 per mile for maintenance. By comparison, our '98 Volvo V-70 has cost us over six times that much in upkeep (gold plated piece of crap). Now that the kids are about to fly the coop (and the Saturn won't pass the next smog), we need a new commuter car and a backup. I was hoping to pay off the house first, but it doesn't look like we're going to make it.
Have you looked at the Focus or Escort wagons from the early 2000’s?
I'm looking for something with less than 50K on it.
look harder.. they exist. Ford made the focus wagon until 07.
You can’t get crank windows in them but the mazda 6 wagon and mazda 5 (technically a mini-mini van) are an option.
I did. Both Vehix and Edmunds said there wasn't a one for sale for 50 miles around the Silicon Valley (haven't tried Craig's list etc yet, that was just a screen). Similarly, try to find a used Saturn SW2 wagon with less that 150K on it for less that five grand. I've seen $8K!
I'll look at the Mazda, thanks.
BTW, to me, crank windows are a safety feature, but then I guess I'm just one of those weird people who want the windows to work if the emergency is severe enough to kill the electrical system.
Get power windows and buy one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Original-Life-Hammer-Escape-Orange/dp/B000BMWXZM/ref=pd_cp_hi_0
Yes, there is one in the door of my wife's (!)%$&%#) Volvo (that car really sucks).
Won't help the fact that I just don't like them.
Those power windows were cool! Up, down, up, down, up, up, down, up, down... we laughed and giggled playing with the nifty windows... until the battery died. Oh, and yes, they are still making four-year-olds.
Just try and find that hammer after a collision with airbag dust and bags all over you. Crank windows are a safety item.
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