Fourteen years ago, my husband and I had our first child, and just three months after he was born, we bought a minivan. A Toyota Sienna, to be exact.
We planned to own the car for a while, especially since we bought it brand new, but honestly, I never thought that 14 years and 193,000 miles later we’d still be driving that vehicle.
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Let’s Hear It For A Paid Off Vehicle
We took out a five-year loan and worked hard to pay if off early.
We paid it off in four years, so we’ve driven that vehicle for the last 10 years without making a single payment. The only expenses we’ve had are routine repairs, replacements, and requisite license plate tabs.
Glamorous It’s Not
I’ll admit, now that the car is quite a bit older, it’s certainly not the envy of the neighborhood.
In fact, my kids, especially my older two who are 14 and almost 10, find it quite embarrassing. However, it’s been a very reliable car, and we plan to keep it until it finally gives out completely.
Our van had one electric sliding door and one manual. As is common for electric doors, ours stopped working at about year 10. I didn’t want to pay the $1,500 plus that it would cost to fix it, so we just stopped using that door.
About two years ago, our passenger manual door outside handle became loose. No biggie. We just opened the driver’s side door, reached into the back, and used the inside handle to open the slide door.
Was that embarrassing? Yes, but why spend money when the door did work, just not in a conventional way?
We’ll Never Wash The Car Again
We joke that we’ll never wash the car again, and we probably won’t. The dirt might be the only thing holding it together at this point!
A year ago we were at a manual car wash when the outside handle that was loose completely broke off. That, even I can admit, was embarrassing. A motorcyclist was there, and he just stared at us.
My kids were so embarrassed.
When it broke off, we could no longer open the door from the inside, either, so we had to admit defeat and pay $700 to get that door handle fixed.
Surely, that was a fluke, right, and a car wash every now and then would be fine, right? Right?
Yeah, no.
This summer, we again tried to wash the car at a manual car wash. After my husband hosed down the car, I heard a loud pop, much like a gun shot.
I looked all around, but didn’t see anything. Then, I started washing the car and the passenger window on the electronic door that does not work just completely shattered. Glass filled our entire interior.
We had heard a rock hit the car a few weeks before when we were on the highway, and I think that weakened the window before the car wash.
The Air Conditioner Gives Out
This summer, our air conditioner gave out, which isn’t a good thing in the middle of an Arizona summer when temperatures routinely reach 110 degrees daily. The problem ended up being two-fold, and we had to pay $2,500.
I can see the day is near when we’ll need to replace this vehicle, but I’m hoping we can hold out for a few more years.
After all, even with car repairs and routine maintenance, owning this vehicle for the past 14 years has been much cheaper than owning a newer model that needs fewer repairs but requires a monthly payment.
What is the longest you have ever owned a vehicle? What finally made you decide to take the plunge and buy a new vehicle? Are you comfortable with driving a car that others may find embarrassing just so you can save money?
We had our Toyota Camry for 19 years, 250,000 miles, across three states. We bought her when our kids were 13 & 8 and said we would not get rid of her until both kids had graduated college. She made it. Not just through bachelors degrees but also masters degrees. Finally, she became very temperamental with starting. We had her into multiple different mechanics to try and resolve and no one could duplicate the problem. When we finally traded her in, we got a whopping $250 for her when the dealer was able to duplicate the problem. We were ULTRA sorry to trade her in but she just became unreliable. As for washing … we did that roughly once a year. Oh, we lived in Arizona for a spell as well and totally understand the A/C need.
I typically try to buy a gently used 2-3 year old used car, pay in cash, and then drive the car until it drives no more.
While I drive that car I continue to save monthly car payments into a saving account, and typically when the time comes to upgrade cars I’ll usually have enough cash to pay for the next one up front. Wash rinse repeat.
My last car I bought as a 2 year old car, with 30k miles on it. I drove it for the better part of a decade and 100k miles, and then finally upgraded once the repairs needed on the car were larger than what the car was worth. By that time I had enough cash in my car savings account to pay for a new to me used car.
Thankfully I haven’t had any car parts falling off the vehicle, although I have to say I think our next vehicle might be a Toyota – based on this article and comments, and based on this article showing that the most commonly driven car for millionaires is Toyotas:
What Do Millionaires Drive
I don’t like to change my car every 2 years, just to be ‘en vogue’, but I won’t keep my car when it starts breaking apart either. When repairs get costly and it’s not in good condition, I’ll consider selling it. Mine has 10 years now and is in excellent condition, but I’ll gladly exchange it for a newer one, when we need to :)
I’d much rather replace a car then pay a few thousand dollars for repair – assuming the car is old and likely to continue to need more work in the future. My approach has been to drive a car until it starts needing significant repairs and then replace it. My previous car I had for 10 years and something like 140,000 miles. My current car is 7 years old and just passed 40,000 miles (I work from home and all of our family driving is in my wife’s car because it’s bigger) so I’ll probably have it for a while.
I agree with you!
We have two autos. One is a 2001 Toyota Camry that I drive to the airport and the train station. My wife has the “nice” car—a 2010 GMC Terrain. We paid the Terrain off a few years back and now just sock the amount we were using for payments into a car fund. No more car payments. My kids, now 23 and 19 have never had car payments and have no intention to do so. Family tree corrected!
Your story is very similar to ours. 10 years ago we purchased a brand new Dodge Minivan (pre debt-free journey). The bottom line price was $18,300.00 (base model, we got a deal) We paid it off in 3 years. It currently has 212,000 miles on it. Knock on wood, we haven’t spent a lot on repairs, just general maintenance. We have no plans to replace it until it DIES. Our side door did stop working at about year 7, but I broke down and had it repaired because it is instrumental in getting the kids in and out in the dropoff/pickup lines at school. We do have a savings account earmarked to replace it but until it’s funeral she will be our ride. Her name is “Minnie” and I LOVE her! :)
We’re still driving a 2004 Toyota Matrix that we bought used with 14,000 miles on it. It now has 205,000 miles on it and going strong. It’s almost a matter of pride to see how long we can drive this vehicle and how much mileage we can put on it. However, this is not our only vehicle. This is our grocery getter and errand runner. I think every family needs one dependable car without worries of breakdown in crucial situations.
I drove my 2001 4WD Jeep Cherokee for 17 years. We bought it brand new, but were fortunate to keep the mileage fairly low. The last 3-4 years it had problem after problem, but we held out as long as we could. It was still fun to drive! Finally gave up on it when the motor had one too many expensive problems. My husband’s 2008 GMC Sierra is still going strong and has relatively low miles as well. Plus, so far it is not having any major problems, so it has plenty of good years left. Hoping my newer car will last just as long as these two!
I have a 16-year-old car that is in limbo right now at an auto shop parking lot, so I’ve had my car for a long time. However, I want to warn people about something. If I drove that car until it dropped, and that caused an accident (it died on a busy street, etc.) and I *knew the car could be unsafe* I would automatically be at fault in an accident. Also, I could even lose my auto insurance. This does not even cover lawsuits that could occur because of negligence. So, in my case, I had the car towed to a repair place, so I would not have those liabilities. If the repair is too pricey, then I would rather do without a car, than cause an accident.
That’s all. Merry Christmas to everyone!
Iris
Going on 19 years. . . I am still driving my 2001 Honda Prelude, (thank you, Lord!!) which I bought new. My husband and I had many cars in our long marriage. Early on, we did buy new ones. But after children started arriving, and we now have five, we would buy pre-owned cars. Since I didn’t work outside the home, even having a second car was a blessing. I know the kids were embarrassed with the small station wagon. When the youngest entered junior high, I went back to work. I needed something more reliable, and we bought a very used Honda Prelude. A couple of years later, my husband said we should get for me a new Prelude. Ever since ‘discovering’ Preludes (seeing them on the road!!), I have liked them. I got a five year loan, and paid it off in five years. For some time after this, I put the amount of the payment in a savings account. However, by this time my husband had retired, and decided we needed to redirect that money.
My Prelude runs well and has given me very little problems – kind of normal maintenance, etc. My husband and I were married 50 years. Sadly, he passed away last August. I still love my Prelude and tell my children that as long as I am comfortable with its reliability, I do not want to change.
I own four Mitsubishi Expo LRV’s built 1992-94. Total price when new around $90,000. Total purchase price when I bought them used, maybe $7000.
Outside sliding door handles break on these too but I rebuild them at negligible cost — maybe four hours work per, plus a couple hours to remove/replace. If an electric actuator (for a window, door lock …) quits, the parts are out there, though they’re getting harder to find — just got one from Lithuania. But by the time they run out completely I’ll have stocked spares from somewhere.
It’s hard to say what those cars actually cost us, for one thing I don’t keep great records and I do stock spares for items that are unique … not more than $250/month for the lot, I’d say, for all maintenance. I always have a parts car so that covers a lot of what’s needed.
And of course there’s tools: I have a much more comprehensive set than I’d need if I were having a mechanic do the work. Shop manuals — I have them all, and now a second set because the first set wore out.
Things that sometimes fail on the road — distributors and fuel pumps — I keep spares in the car plus (usually) the tools to change it. Doesn’t happen often.
Air conditioning work? I can do whatever’s required and have overhauled all four car systems but I have about $200 worth of special tools. A day to pull it all apart, clean the evaporator, reassemble with a new RFD cartridge, evacuate and recharge.
It’s really a hobby that pays for itself. For most people your approach (and that of many commenters) makes more sense — don’t fix anything you can live without and replace the car with ‘gently used’ when an expensive repair becomes non-optional.
I do think that a young mechanically inclined person ought to consider working on his (or her) own cars as a possible hobby. Most everyone needs a car and getting one packaged for free with a moderate cost hobby is a pretty good deal.