.
Until you've paid off the loan. :-(
I think it all depends on how well you take care of them. But most cars are supposed to last at least 100,000 miles from what I've heard .. and from what long term warranties many auto manufacturers are offering.
Hopefully about 10 seconds. I wish that the cars built in the 1960s would last forever.
A quarter million miles + and 15 to 20-years is a quite reasonable expectation with proper care and maintenance for a quality vehicle.
7 years
Thanks to advances in metallurgy, manufacturing techniques, computer-aided engineering, and the like, the basic mechanical foundation of most vehicles are very durable. With regular maintenance (mostly oil changes), expecting a modern car to last 20 years/200,000 miles is reasonable.
There are a few caveats to note.
--Modern cars have much more "stuff" (especially electronic stuff) than cars of the past. More stuff equals more stuff that can potentially go wrong. Most of that stuff won't be the major mechanical system, but the failures will still be annoying/inconvenient.
--Some of the peripheral systems of modern cars (interior trim, convenience features, etc.) are engineered more for aesthetic qualities than absolute durability. I replaced many many BMW window regulators because the plastic parts (chosen for light weight/low generated noise) failed while the metal parts were in as-new condition. These sorts of failures won't cause your car to stop running in most cases, but they can be costly and discouraging.
--When major mechanical systems on modern cars do fail, frequently it is more expensive to repair them because components are not field-repairable or the only replacement parts are whole assemblies. For example, I learned to strip down/rebuild a GM TurboHydramatic 350 automatic transmission in about 2 weeks of class, and a competent mechanic with a couple of not-too-special tools could rebuild one in about 4-5 hours. Repairing a modern front-wheel-drive 8+ speed computer-controlled transmission would almost certainly involve obtaining a factory-remanufactured complete unit (at much higher expense).
lol
That sounds about right.
Good to know.
Even with today's models that are all high-tech and stubborn?
I think you hit on my biggest problem. I caught part of a show where they were fixing a car up from the 50s or 60s and I thought, "No way will mine last that long." It's only about 9 years old, but everything is failing on it. I think next time around, I'm going to find a good mechanic and an old car.
Exactly.
You're almost as old as I am, grandpa.
If they were "Fixing it up"...Then it didn't last very long either ...LOL.
I think with regular maintenance and reasonable driving most cars will easily make it to 200K. The engine at least..
@JA -- When you see an older car and think, "Gee, I wish my car would last that long", it's a bit of a self-deception. What you DON'T see is the hundreds of thousands of identical cars that broke, crashed, rusted out, wore out, etc. and you're seeing the one "lottery winner" among those cars.
I drive a 15-year-old Saturn and, so far, it's needed almost nothing beyond maintenance (a couple of batteries and an electric cooling fan motor). But that doesn't tell me if ALL Saturns were as trouble-free as mine.
Only ten years or so.
