How many miles on your cars?

How many miles on your cars?

  • Under 50K - I want it to cost more than my plane

    Votes: 19 14.5%

  • 50K to 100K - Just breaking it in

    Votes: 31 23.7%

  • 100K to 200K - Going to TBO...

    Votes: 61 46.6%

  • Over 200K - TBO? What's that?

    Votes: 24 18.3%
  • Total voters
    131
Honda RC51 has 33,000 miles on it, which seems high for a motorcycle
Click to expand...

That seems high because most people don't ride them enough to rack up the miles. Last year I put 4000 miles on mine and this year I have about 2000 already. It'll make 100,000 miles easy before a major overhaul. The opposite is my sisters friends two harleys. Both are over 10 years old and as of two years ago they had 280 and 325 miles on the odometers when I looked - yet he's worried about wear and tear. :loco:

1982 Honda 650: 43,000+
1985 Motorhome: 102,000+
1988 Jeep: 160,000+
1999 Trailer: 30,000+
200x Kayak: Used (low use) however 0 miles since I bought it less than a week ago. Estimating 50 miles minimum this year.
Most of those miles are on them since I bought them.
 
Everskyward said:
You can't count me because I don't own an airplane...
Click to expand...

I have photographic evidence of you being handed the keys to a shiny new Citation. ;)

Maxmosbey said:
Why is that the smart thing? Why would a good used truck be any smarter than a new truck?
Click to expand...

In 2 years of owning my Dodge, I absorbed a ridiculous amount of depreciation for the 108,000 miles of use that I had on it. I could have bought a similar good used truck for what I ended up selling my truck (makes sense...). It would have suffered lower depreciation over that time period, since the biggest hit is the beginning. I wouldn't have spent the amount of money that my Dodge depreciated in maintenance.

The story might have been slightly different if I had bought a 4x4 variant instead of 4x2. If I had done that, I would probably still own it today. I sold it when I moved to Pennsylvania because I need at least one 4x4 vehicle here, and a 4x2 pickup is pretty useless to me here. When I bought the Dodge, 4x2 was preferable as it had a better turning radius and got better mileage. Still, though, if I had bought a good used truck (assuming 4x4), I have no reason to believe I wouldn't be driving it today. The previous-generation Dodges and Fords were hitting 200,000 easily.

As I stated before, though, I do all my own maintenance. So my cars breaking every now and then isn't a big deal, and I do appropriate preventative maintenance to try to fix things when I suspect they're going. Cost of maintenance is whatever I pay for the parts, plus my time.
 
fgcason said:
That seems high because most people don't ride them enough to rack up the miles. Last year I put 4000 miles on mine and this year I have about 2000 already. It'll make 100,000 miles easy before a major overhaul. The opposite is my sisters friends two harleys. Both are over 10 years old and as of two years ago they had 280 and 325 miles on the odometers when I looked - yet he's worried about wear and tear. :loco:
Click to expand...

The bike does have high miles. I bought it as a certified pre-wrecked bike about a year ago. The first owner I'm guessing rode it a whole bunch and put most of the miles on it, maybe there was a second or third owner in there. I know that the guy before me bought it in pre-wrecked condition, and tried to make it into a track bike. He forgot to put the shims in on the front wheel, which made for some interesting handling characteristics, and he wrecked it again. That's when I bought it. Amazingly, the frame is straight and it rides true. I can take my hands off on the highway and it will go in a straight line, and I can change lines by tilting my head. No unusual handling characteristics or vibrations. Of course, I did just do some work on it, so we'll see if that's still the case. I'm about to the point where it still looks like something out of Mad Max, but is fully functional.

My first bike was an '84 KZ700 that I bought about 7 years ago. It had 100,000 miles on it when I bought it. Virtually no compression, but it didn't burn oil and it still went decently. Was a great first bike.
 
Trapper John said:
Doesn't the answer really depend on what the measure of "smart" is? Is it cost/mile or something else?
Click to expand...
I can see trying to keep some classic running forever. I can also understand that there is a point where some people just want to see how many miles they can put on their car, and they will keep it going even if it is on life support. I'm not trying to pick a fight with you Ted, you can do what you want and I'll never say you are wrong, but for me to go out and buy a truck with thirty, forty, or fifty thousand on it just to save money, is not going to work. Money does not drive a lot of my decisions. Well, I guess it does in that I just wouldn't buy a new vehicle if I couldn't afford a new vehicle. That is just me. I'm saying that the smart thing for me is to buy new. Anyway, I'm all into feeling good, so whatever makes you feel good, you should do just that. Don't anyone run out and buy a new truck to make me feel good. :D
 
1995 Chevy S10 - 255,000 miles
1998 Chrysler Concorde - 175,000 miles
2001 Suzuki Bandit 1200S motorcycle - 35,000 miles

There simply is no way buying new could possibly even remotely be considered a better financial decision for me. The amount I spend per mile is incredibly low including the purchase cost and maintenance.

I really laugh at those who buy new and sell in 5 years. The depreciation is insane and they keep hitting themselves with it over and over. If they bought one two years old it'd be just as good and they'd lose a lot less money.

I have no qualms with people buying new vehicles - I need them to so that I can buy them ten years later. That said, it's pretty funny to me when they try to justify it as being a better financial decision. In the end it might give them peace of mind, a warm fuzzy feeling, whatever - but it didn't save them money.

There is this little part of me that wants to buy a brand new motorcycle. Just because I could. Not because it'd be a good financial decision.
 
Last edited:
Livery service we used in DC uses Lincoln Town Cars and Chrysler Aspens (SUV).

One Town Car we rode in had 260,000 miles, pretty much like a new car. Driver (owner of the business) said he typically starts considering replacing them at around 600,000 miles.

The Chrysler was new (looked new to me); had (at about 14 months) 130,000 miles. He calls it "new," is very happy with it; says best part is, when snow has all the Town Cars down, he's rolling with 4WD.
 
In the last 13 years I've bought 2 Windstars from Carmax, and sold them a Ford Ranger with 260,000 miles on it. ($400, no hassles or tire kickers or phone calls)
My mother in law and father in law both drive Carmax cars as well as both of my parents. In each case, at the time we purchased the vehicle, you could hardly tell it from new cosmetically and mechanically. The depreciation of the price from new off the lot was substantial. In the case of my Dad, he bought a 18 month old F-150 with 18,000 miles on it for $16,500 which had sold new for $22,800, and it has been a trouble free truck. All our purchases offered similar savings.
A friend at church who is the used car sales manager at the local Chevy dealer heard me discussing Carmax one day and got all angry. He said " Carmax goes to the auctions, cherrypicks the best cars, runs up the price where we can't afford to buy them and resell at a profit, and leaves us with less than the best to choose from". I told him that was the best advertising I'd ever heard for Carmax. He was not amused.:dunno:
 
re: new vs old, for me, buying new has provided the ability to get certain features that weren't previously available (plus the warranty).

Not a lot of 5 year old vehicles had ABS when I bought my new '93 Explorer. Not a lot of 5 year old vehicles had 4wd, ABS, front, side (and roof) airbags when I bought my new 2001 SUV. Not a lot of 5 year old vehicles were hybrids when I bought my new '06 Mariner.

My next car will probably be a plug-in hybrid. I don't think I'm going to wait 5+ years after they are introduced to buy one.
 
jesse said:
1995 Chevy S10 - 255,000 miles
1998 Chrysler Concorde - 175,000 miles
2001 Suzuki Bandit 1200S motorcycle - 35,000 miles



I really laugh at those who buy new and sell in 5 years. The depreciation is insane and they keep hitting themselves with it over and over. If they bought one two years old it'd be just as good and they'd lose a lot less money.

I have no qualms with people buying new vehicles - I need them to so that I can buy them ten years later. That said, it's pretty funny to me when they try to justify it as being a better financial decision. In the end it might give them peace of mind, a warm fuzzy feeling, whatever - but it didn't save them money.


There is this little part of me that wants to buy a brand new motorcycle. Just because I could. Not because it'd be a good financial decision.
Click to expand...

You're laughing at me then. As I said, buying a vehicle for me is not a financial decision. I disagree with the depreciation hit. Well, let's put it a different way. If you buy a new truck that is a left over from a previous year, and you buy it when there are incentives to get it off the lot, it has been my experience that you can get that new vehicle for less than a lot of used one. Of course, you won't get it for less than a five year old vehicle with fifty thousand miles, but the idea that the vehicle looses so much value as soon as you drive it off the lot has not been true for me anyway.
 
97 Sable LS 24V DOHC 167,000 (for sale and gone soon)
2000 Sable Premium 24V DOHC Wagon 137,000 (daily driver)
1991 Olds Silhouette minivan 113,000 (hauler)
97 Mustang GT Convertible 87,000 (prolly to be sold this year)

I may sell the minivan and get an SUV. Thinking Toyota FJ Cruiser now but I haven't tried one for size.
 
172k, 130k and 82k



Buying new or leasing is only 'dumb' if you intend to only keep the car for 2years. If you keep a car for 100-150k or 5years+, the initial depreciation is spread over enough miles to matter little. For shorter term needs, a 2 year old used car will be a lot more economical.
 
Last edited:
2003 Jeep Wrangler - Odometer says 62k, but it actually has somewhere around 115k
1999 VW Passat - 235k -- bought with 86k in 2006. Just did timing belt, water pump, thermostat, and valve cover seals a couple weeks ago, so looking at another 100k, right? ;)

No mechanic has touched any of my vehicles (other than tire changes) since 2004 - I can throw parts at a problem just as easily as they can, and I actually have motivation to solve the problem rather than keep running up a tab.
 
CJones said:
No mechanic has touched any of my vehicles (other than tire changes) since 2004 - I can throw parts at a problem just as easily as they can, and I actually have motivation to solve the problem rather than keep running up a tab.
Click to expand...

The Ford dealer here gets $100/ flat rate hour. :eek: That's more than my A/P IA gets, and the dealer has no feds looking over their shoulder. Ans, I've gotten pretty good at diagnosing problems on my fleet. We have the third car because the insurance is $100/year with three cars than with two, and the tag for my third car is only $38/year. Go figure. That third car makes it nice when you need to work on one of the two "main" cars.
 
Maxmosbey said:
If you buy a new truck that is a left over from a previous year, and you buy it when there are incentives to get it off the lot, it has been my experience that you can get that new vehicle for less than a lot of used one.
Click to expand...

For some reason, dealers try (and are successful, I guess) to sell used pickups for a much greater percentage of new cost than they do for ordinary cars. It's been like that for a long time. I don't know why, it's not like there is a pickup truck shortage.
 
There is no shame in driving a old car, until you pick up a fellow pilot who says, "I saw it was a s*tty old car, so it must have been Mike."

Next time, he walks.
 
130 thou on my 2003 Toyota pickup and 172,000 miles on my 1974 BMW R90/6 motorcycle that I bought new. Never been rebuilt, but getting to the point where it needs some work.
 
Maxmosbey said:
You're laughing at me then. As I said, buying a vehicle for me is not a financial decision. I disagree with the depreciation hit. Well, let's put it a different way. If you buy a new truck that is a left over from a previous year, and you buy it when there are incentives to get it off the lot, it has been my experience that you can get that new vehicle for less than a lot of used one. Of course, you won't get it for less than a five year old vehicle with fifty thousand miles, but the idea that the vehicle looses so much value as soon as you drive it off the lot has not been true for me anyway.
Click to expand...

You are correct that the minute it leaves the lot it doesn't depreciate hugely anymore. However, you're following the model of buying a new or relatively new car (say, under 10k miles), and selling it by the time it hits 100k. So if you're looking in that realm and with those constraints, you're right. This is why it's worked for you.

People like Jesse and me then buy that car you're selling and drive it another 100K. You have absorbed a good sum of depreciation (how much depends on the car, but a good amount). My Excursion for instance, had about 85% of its initial purchase price depreciated out by the time I bought it with 8 years and 90K on it, and in very nice condition. The Range Rover was even moreso - 90% depreciation in 8 years and 60K miles. With new for a comparable vehicle, you will never beat the cost per mile that I am spending. And Jesse beats me by a landslide on his cost per mile.

The difference is I'm driving vehicles with big numbers on the odometer, that doesn't have that new car smell (it has that old dog smell), and doesn't have whatever fancy new features. But, I'm happy with the features that my '82 Jaguar XJ-S had on it, so my feature requirement is pretty minimal. I would do an ABS and airbag delete option if I could.
 
We became weary of so much driving, so we've made lifestyle adjustments to cut down on the miles. So our cars are pretty light on the odometer for their age.

One car, purchased new in January 2000, has 90K; the other is a 2007 model we bought used in December 2009 with 34K at that time; it's at 48K now.
 
Now to really blow your minds.....
This story was recently featured on the NOVA tv series on PBS.
There is a man not far from here who, waaaay back in 1966 when he was young, bought a brand new Volvo P-1800 sports car. Today he is much older, but he still has his Volvo. It still runs and LOOKS like BRAND NEW.
.....and it has over TWO MILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES on it!
See the story here online at NOVA.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/car-with-most-mileage.html
 
I've seen that story. To me, that's just cool. But it's actually not unusual. There are a number of Dodge Rams with the Cummins Turbo Diesel that have clocked over 2 million. When the first one turned 1 million, they bought it back to have on display. They started popping up like weeds - it's a durable engine. You're more likely to have the truck fall apart around it.
 
I buy my cars for the same reason I bought a plane. Because I can. Maybe they are new, maybe they aren't. There is no other justification - although with the new vehicle, I'm not inheriting someone else's problems.
 
"Lil Bandit", my 1990 Mustang LX, has just over 120K on it, and doing well. Southern car most of its life, so very little rust. And one thing for sure about that 5-liter V8 and the 5-spd tranny- they're durable. I don't need to drive every day, so it's fine for me right now. Did my first long trip in it back in January (down to the Florida keys and back, mostly nonstop), and all that went wrong was that a front wheel bearing gave out. Replaced the engine mounts last fall, and this year all I have planned is a good tune-up and maybe new struts and shocks.

I got that car for a song from a friend a couple of years back, when I was confronted with a baffling vac problem with my '96 Tracker, which survived me putting over 180K on it in just shy of 8 years. I drove the hell out of that thing, and did all the maintenance myself. That sucker will probably keep going another 200K miles, since I sold it to the sister of a mechanic.... those little Suzuki engines are hard to kill. I once drove all the way to New Mexico and back in that Tracker with a leaky main bearing seal- never had more than 2.5 qts of oil in the (6 qt) sump the whole way, and it did just fine.

For me, driving a "beater" definitely has a lot to do with the flying habit- the Tracker was the only vehicle I've ever bought with less than 40K on it, and the payments really put a damper on my flying for a while.
 
A while back our sole remaining vehicle under 100k miles graduated...

2001 Chrysler 300M - 101,000
1997 Dodge Ram Cummins Diesel - 168,000
1995 Jeep Wrangler YJ - 155,000
1995 Saturn SL2 (kid's car - handed down thru all 3) 175,000 (kid #2 blew up the engine at 160k - swapped in a salvage yard engine with unknown miles)
 
CJones said:
No mechanic has touched any of my vehicles (other than tire changes) since 2004 - I can throw parts at a problem just as easily as they can, and I actually have motivation to solve the problem rather than keep running up a tab.
Click to expand...

I understand that. Nobody, and I mean absolutely NOBODY at all, touches my vehicles except for me unless it's something I simply don't have the equipment to fix at the time which is pretty minimal nowadays since I carry about 150lbs of tools all the time. The motorcycle and trailer are 100% off limits. Everything else is restricted to major core engine and internal transmission due to dropping the hardware off the vehicle (no jacks/lifting hardware or place to do it IF it ever needs to be done) and tire changes is the extent of it. I don't even let them pull and replace the wheels during a tire change. I take them off, watch over the workers like a starving hawk as they change the tires then remount them myself.
At the going rate of $100/hr+ I could have easily bought a couple small countries with what I didn't spend on labor by now and still had spending money left over.
 
Anthony said:
1958 Merecedes Benz 300 SL "Gullwing" - 5K original miles, yeah guess I don't drive much either.
Click to expand...

Drool


1999 Jeep Wrangler, a touch over 165,000 miles on the clock and still running fine.
2006 Jeep Commander, a touch over 82,000 miles on it. And that's a lower annual rate than the 1997 Grand Cherokee it replaced.

Why replace when they keep running? In fact, I would seriously consider dropping a new engine in the Wrangler if it came to that as that would still be much less expensive than buying a new vehicle.

Fuel economy? Jeeps? Mutually exclusive. However, gas has to get a bunch higher for a more fuel efficient car to make up for the fact that I don't have any payments on the Wrangler. I can buy a lot of gas for $400/month.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Well, Tony's house/garage comment got me thinking. How many miles does everyone have on their cars?
Click to expand...
All three daily drivers in my family are in the 50-100k range. I think my 2005 S4 is under 65k, my wife's Passat wagon of the same vintage is pushing 90k
and my daughter's Mazda 3 must be somewhere around 80k. I do have two 1992 Mercury Sables (a wagon in Michigan and a sedan in Florida) that belonged to my parents and they are more in the 40k range with an annual increase in the 500-1000 mile range.

-My 2000 Ford Excursion has 151K and counting.
-My 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 has 145K, and blowing oil (valve seals, rings, or turbos. I'm replacing the valve seals and turbos, that way I'll be sure it's the rings ;) )
Click to expand...
If the oil smoke occurs shortly mostly after startup and is minimal after that it's likely valve guide seals. A big puff of smoke when you go from hard acceleration (about the only valid reason to own a 3000GT VR4) to closed throttle indicates a problem with the turbos. If the smoke is pretty much constant it's the rings.
 
I own an aircraft ;)

99 Subaru with about 152k. Only thing wrong with it is a small dent in the fender which I've never had the inclination to fix. One day the heater coil will die because it already isn't as toasty as maybe it should be.

04 Toyota Tacoma extended cab. About 55k. Doesn't get driven much, mostly my airport truck. Will last forever I think.

Thinking about buying an almost new family carrier of some sort that might give us a little more interior room than the Subaru (will never ever buy a new auto unless business depreciation makes it right); if we do so I'll be holding my nose while I write the check. The better gas mileage on newer autos these days will make it go down better I suppose.
 
I just realized I put more miles on the plane last year (and not many at that) than on my car.

March of 2010 through March 2011
'66 Cherokee 6: 53 hours, ~7950 sm, with ~2540 total hours on the tach.
2001 Dodge Stratus R/T: ~6000 sm, with ~65000 total miles on the odo.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I would do an ABS and airbag delete option if I could.
Click to expand...

You can bag the ABS, but the airbags are essential. My wife and I were spared facial reconstruction surgery because of airbags. In fact we walked away, while the folks that caused the accident left in body bags. Its kinda like the shoulder harness in airplanes, its simple, works well, there's no performance hit and someday you may be really glad to have them.
 
ScottM said:
That 4K is an annual cost to keep the Triump running, right? :D
Click to expand...

Actually, since the re-do, surprisingly reliable. But I still carry a toolbox in the trunk with some spares, I'm not stoopid!

Anthony said:
No that is just to repair the electrical system. Its more for the mechanicals.
Click to expand...

After swapping out the alternator from the Dark Lord, Lucas, with a suitable Delco unit, not so much. :fcross:

CJones said:
No mechanic has touched any of my vehicles (other than tire changes) since 2004
Click to expand...

We had three family vehicles due for tires last October, decided to try a Harbor Freight tire changer and Discount Tire Direct (double rebates at the time, free shipping). Mr. Tire got deleted from my list of bills permanently! :thumbsup:
 
My fleet should make me hard to profile:

2004 Silverado Duramax 132K
2002 Ford Explorer 125K (Taos airport car)
2005 Lexus GX 470 35K
2007 Toyota Prius 40K
2008 Toyota Prius 15K
1982 Jeep CJ5 w/ LT1 350 ??K (Who cares by now)
1982 Mercedes 240D SLOOOOW (Wife's first new Mercedes) 300K+

I bought my latest truck with 100K for $18K after selling my 2007 Dodge that I bought new. I saw the 2009's were almost $60K and I just said no way. I also do a lot of my own work or it wouldn't make sense.
 
89 jeep Cherokee bought new, 240k, runs and looks as good as the day I bought it. Lots of mods. 87 Toyota MR2 bought new for the wife, 120k, just restored it for her. Offered to buy her another car, but she wanted THAT one.
I like to buy things once.
 
Alexb2000 said:
I bought my latest truck with 100K for $18K after selling my 2007 Dodge that I bought new. I saw the 2009's were almost $60K and I just said no way. I also do a lot of my own work or it wouldn't make sense.
Click to expand...

What kind of truck were you looking at for 60K?
 
So I just made a deal to buy a new Nissan 4x4 Frontier. It will replace my '97 Pathfinder that I bought new and put 135,000 miles on it (and which I now need to sell) and is still in pretty good shape (no accidents, normal wear/tear).

Why new? Because the prices of recent vintage used trucks were within a couple of thousand of the new vehicle. I buy 'em and drive 'em - I put 14 years on this Pathfinder; I previously owned an '87 Pathfinder that I bought in '89 from a trusted friend and drove for 100K miles in 9 years.

I've also got an '06 Civic that's got something close to 50K on it. Great car, great gas mileage.

Now as for the plane... sigh.
 
1999 Ford Taurus... 197,000 miles and not burning or dripping anything... Amazing what changing the oil on time can do for longevity:fcross:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top