Perhaps this data does not indicate the obvious for some stuff. We have two 2001 Tacoma trucks, one is 4WD, and one is 2WD. My truck is ugly as sin, but is reliable and easy to repair. The new Tacoma is essentially a full-size truck, too much plastic, much more complex, too much is not accessible for maintenance, and per my three neighbors, much less reliable. This is why we have not bought new machines.
Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
31–40 of 93 posts
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#32BMW should certainly be on that list considering European owners. Countless numbers of E46 and E39 models remain on the road here.
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#33As a Japanese car owner I'm a fan, but a list of 'cars people keep forever' has a huge amount of selection bias, no? The sort of person who buys a new Merc probably doesn't _want_ to keep the car for 15 years. The interior is going to be shabby regardless of what you do, and the car will be out of date / an old style. Japanese cars (at least in standard trim) are the stereotypical low TCO keep it until it stops worki…
Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available. My 2003 Pilot was not a utilitarian transport. It was a well equipped car with 80% of the doodads of an equivalent Benz at half the cost. I got rid of it last year, because it had hit 300k miles and key suspension parts were worn out.
> Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available.
In what sense? Japanese automakers are notorious for discontinuing model-specific parts after a few years (e.g. look at the Jalopnik blurb about the guy restoring a CRX).
Meanwhile you can get nearly any part from nearly any model Mercedes has ever manufactured. More esoteric stuff will cost you, but you can still do it. The other German manufacturers are somewhere in between. I currently have a few twenty year old BMWs and haven't run into any availability issues yet.
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#34As a Japanese car owner I'm a fan, but a list of 'cars people keep forever' has a huge amount of selection bias, no? The sort of person who buys a new Merc probably doesn't _want_ to keep the car for 15 years. The interior is going to be shabby regardless of what you do, and the car will be out of date / an old style. Japanese cars (at least in standard trim) are the stereotypical low TCO keep it until it stops worki…
In Michigan at least a Merc was always short hand for Mercury. Now I realize they no longer make them but this is the first time I've ever heard a Mercedes referred to as a Merc. They will forever be a Mercury to me - and there were some sweet Mercury's as well ;I owned a brown LN7 with a moonroof and got more requests for rides from pretty girls than any car I've ever owned.
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available. My 2003 Pilot was not a utilitarian transport. It was a well equipped car with 80% of the doodads of an equivalent Benz at half the cost. I got rid of it last year, because it had hit 300k miles and key suspension parts were worn out.
> Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available. In what sense? Japanese automakers are notorious for discontinuing model-specific parts after a few years (e.g. look at the Jalopnik blurb about the guy restoring a CRX). Meanwhile you can get nearly any part from nearly any model Mercedes has ever manufactured. More esoteri…
> Japanese automakers are notorious for discontinuing model-specific parts after a few years (e.g. look at the Jalopnik blurb about the guy restoring a CRX).
They stopped making CR-X in 1991. It is not "few years". 3 years ago I retired a 1994 Rover 600 series, which is basically a Honda Accord -- sans few body panels, trim and lights. It was still possible to get the spares for the Honda version, but not the Rover specific ones (got a headlights cracked). Otherwise a solid car after 21 years... Currently happy with Honda Insight.
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#36I am surprised there are no lexus cars. Those things last forever.
Less of them around? Lexus is Toyota.
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#37My daily driver (Ford) is 30 years old, my toy car (Dodge) is 47 years old. I've owned the Ford for 28 years, the Dodge for 30 some.
I like older cars. I suppose I got it from my dad, who'd buy them new and keep them for 30-40 years.
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#38As a Japanese car owner I'm a fan, but a list of 'cars people keep forever' has a huge amount of selection bias, no? The sort of person who buys a new Merc probably doesn't _want_ to keep the car for 15 years. The interior is going to be shabby regardless of what you do, and the car will be out of date / an old style. Japanese cars (at least in standard trim) are the stereotypical low TCO keep it until it stops worki…
In Michigan at least a Merc was always short hand for Mercury. Now I realize they no longer make them but this is the first time I've ever heard a Mercedes referred to as a Merc. They will forever be a Mercury to me - and there were some sweet Mercury's as well ; I owned a brown LN7 with a moonroof and got more requests for rides from pretty girls than any car I've ever owned. https://www.flickr.com/photos/52345709@N…
Well, from across the pond, this is the first I've ever heard of Mercury at all.
You learn something every day!
(and the link you posted is a beauty.)
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#39About Your Privacy on this Site Welcome! To bring you the best content on our sites and applications, Meredith partners with third party advertisers to serve digital ads, including personalized digital ads. Those advertisers use tracking technologies to collect information about your activity on our sites and applications and across the Internet and your other apps and devices. You always have the choice to experienc…
I read it from the Google web cache.
Re: Cars People Keep for 15 Years or More
#40I am surprised there are no lexus cars. Those things last forever.
My GX is 15 years old. I had to repair some of the things the previous owner left broken, or had repaired badly. But so far there have been only a few age-related items needing work, like the radiator. Everything else has been just fluid changes and normal wear parts. It also helps that it's a California/Texas/Carolinas vehicle, with no rust.