How in the world are people doing this????
Many are not. The average age of vehicles on the road has set a record at 12.3 years nationally and is expected to continue to rise.
This AutoBlog article:
Average age of cars on the road sets a new record - Autoblog has some interesting observations.
- Western states are sitting at 12.4 years. I assume this is due to less salt exposure.
- Montana is at 16.6 years, while Vermont is at 9.9 years. Again, that salt is a monster.
- a record 278 million light-use vehicles are currently registered.
I have 3 "older" vehicles. A 2015 Mercedes GL350, 2014 Mercedes E350, and a bulletproofed 2005 F350. No, we aren't some weirdos who had to have 350 in every model - it oddly evolved that way. I've been trying to convert our entire engine lineup (including tractors & generators) to diesel because I want to store diesel on my property and have it delivered. We're not there yet. When it comes to vehicles, this limits the options a bit. Anyway...
I could have payments on two daily drivers. My last two cars with payments were around $500/mo. each (loaded F150 & Explorer). If I buy those same vehicles today and finance them similarly, I'd be looking at around $900/mo. each. $1,000/mo. vs. $1,800/mo. Annually, that would mean $21,600. These past 12 months have been expensive with the GL350 as it has 130,000 miles, and your typical stuff needs replacing. I estimate we've spent around $4,000 in maintenance and repairs. A normal year is less than $1,500 for all three vehicles, including rust-preventative treatments. I can argue that we are saving close to $20,000 a year not having car payments.
Reliability & cost of ownership is strong
(knock on wood).
All three vehicles have a decent sound system (the Ford is all aftermarket), navigation, power windows, heated seats, etc. The Mercs have moonroofs, and the GL has butt coolers. Remote starts would be nice for cold Vermont winter days. Would I love hands-free cruise control and the towing capacity of that new Ford 6.7L H.O. diesel - you better believe it! But we've got some very
comfortable features that still hold up today.
My point in telling this story is that we have
no need to buy anything newer. Rationally, it is tough to justify anything unless we come into a big chunk of cash (looking at you Mega Millions). With the cost of living increases, or dare I say, the bullshit word that's been mangled to a meaningless metric for some sound byte on the moronic news... inflation, I believe more people are thinking rationally. And any car guy knows a rational car buyer is a dangerous thing.
In the long term: The supply chain is improving and we will see capitalism reign by giving us cheaper cars to play the volume game again.
as downloaded from Automotive News.
Autozone is on the rise.
