Older cars keep their shine as drivers pinch pennies

[atlaw4u]

But like people, cars need more maintenance and repairs as they get older.

Sandra Pedicine - DETROITNEWS - June 17, 2012


It has faded paint, a leaking sunroof and 295,000 miles on the odometer, but Joey Rodriguez doesn't plan to stop driving his 1995 Nissan 200SX anytime soon.

"My mechanic told me it's one of the cleanest engines he's ever seen," said Rodriguez, a building inspector. "It's paid off. If I (found) a car with the same kind of gas mileage, I'd end up with another car payment — much more than I want to spend right now."

Rodriguez, who lives in St. Cloud, Fla., is one of a growing number of Americans hanging onto older cars. The economic downturn, longer loan terms and hardier engines are discouraging drivers from turning in their clunkers.

U.S. cars are now on average about 11 years old, according to automotive-research firm R.L. Polk & Co. Nineteen percent of drivers surveyed by market-research company NPD Group reported owning a vehicle 15 years or older, compared with 14 percent five years ago.

Several things are driving the trend ... [Read More]

[herm]

speaking of shine.. do modern paints last longer than they used to?.. I get the impression they do.

[RedylC94]

Originally Posted by herm

speaking of shine.. do modern paints last longer than they used to?.. I get the impression they do.

Car salesmen say so. They've been saying so for at least 51 years.
Paints of circa 1990 or so were especially short-lived.

[Chuck]

The Volvo paint jobs are definitely better than in the 70's.

[ALS]

My old 87 Volvo really didn't start to cost me money until I went over 310,000 miles.
Had it painted at 200K, new turbo at 240K, alternator and AC compressor, around 318K miles. The only reason I got rid of it at 370K was, it was going to cost me around $2,000 - $2500 to get another year and a half to two years out of it. Surely not worth it on a car worth at most $750 - $1,000.

[chilimac02]

i only got rid of my 2000 explorer because it needed new power steering, suspension and either an A/C recharge or replace... all at the same time. I had it 10 years, and put nearly 150k miles on it (it only had 9k on it when I bought it).

[RedylC94]

At nearly 581K so far, three repairs over $100, not counting accidents or my labor.

[08EscapeHybrid]

Originally Posted by herm

speaking of shine.. do modern paints last longer than they used to?.. I get the impression they do.

Yes they do. My 98 GMC K1500 shines very well, and I rarely wash it, and I have never waxed it.

[phoebeisis]

Ditto- my 1998 Suburban has great paint-and it refuses to rust.
It has leaked-plenty-every time it rains I get a puddle just inside the left front doorframe.
(I'm finally determined to hunt it down- have newspaper taped in various places to find the leak-suspect it is sagging door-bushings/pins etc)
Despite water sitting/pooling there for 5 years-zero rust.Being held there by padding(until about 1 year ago-elevated padding carpet
If that paint isn't scratched thru-it just won't rust!!
Same story underneath it-whatever it is plated with really inhibits rust!!
Yeah GMs paint got a lot better about 1995-

[brick]

Out of idle curiosity I did the math on getting a new or lightly used newer car vs. keeping the Prius and assuming a couple of expensive hybrid repairs like a new HV battery. Keeping the Prius crushes all but the cheapest econoboxes in terms of total cost to own. No matter what you already have, it is tough to get over the new car depreciation hit.