Lifespan of cars where you live...

"dieselwagon" (dieselwagon) 09/21/2013 at 14:43 • Filed to: None

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I noticed yesterday, and confirmed again today that I rarely see a car older than one registered in '99 around here. Is this the same where you are, or do cars live longer?

Cars are very disposable in the UK and people tend to replace them fairly often but this seems quite extreme to me. In the last two days, in commuter traffic the only cars i've seen older than '99 were two '97 VW Polos and one '94 Toyota Carina.

I'm part of this problem, as much as I like older vehicles, portraying an appropriate image to my clients means driving around in anything less than current is not setting a good impression. I might be able to get away with it if i switched to a true classic although that might get my clients thinking I charge too much so I can keep the classic on the road.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 14:48

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Something I never understood about the English, getting rid of your cars after 3 years. Over the past 20 years I've owned 3 vehciles, two of them I still drive.

exizeo - still loving fourza > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 14:53

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I own a '97 Volvo 850.

Up until 2 years ago, my mom's friend owned an E28 5er.

Milky > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 14:54

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I live in Detroit ... so as long it still rolls, some one will be driving it.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 14:57

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Cars live longer in indonesia.

Heck, lot of people still drive a car older than 30 years old.

Even one of my friend still drives Morris from.the 30's.

desertdog5051 > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 14:58

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Where I live, in the desert southwest, you see old cars all the time. Most people finally get rid of a car after it gets too many oil leaks.

dieselwagon > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. 09/21/2013 at 14:59

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It's quite odd, and i've never been anywhere with the same attitude.

The three year rule works well for people with money, buying brand new vehicles... Once a car is three years old it needs an annual safety/emissions/roadworthy test (MOT).

I'm yet to own a car for longer than 2 years, only been driving for 8 and owned 5, with a two year stint having a company car and none of my own. I wanted to keep my Accord until the wheels fell off, which they almost did. Was a 2000 with 93k on it. The front subframe had rusted to nothing, so that needed replacing, there was something wrong with the suspension control arms, and it needed new rubber all around. Bought for <£1k, driven it for 2 years, 20k miles and had only replaced the discs and pads. Just doing the sub-frame would have cost way in excess of what the car was worth. So I got scrap value for it, when I bought my current Mondeo Wagon.

duurtlang > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 15:05

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In my commute I do see cars from the late 90s, compacts and subcompacts like the mk3 Golf, Polo, Xsara, Twingo and 306, that kind of stuff. Larger cars from the 90s are quite rare. I haven't seen a Toyota Carina in ages. When I'm not commuting but cycling through town I do see many older cars parked in front of houses. Cars that, most likely, aren't being used for commuting.

Being Dutch I'm not only geographically very close to the UK, I think our economies aren't that different either. Yet it occurred to me depreciation in the UK is much higher than it is here. I still struggle to understand why this is so. Maybe it's got something to do with insanely high insurance rates in the UK and thus the fact that depreciation has a relatively small effect on the total cost of owning a car.

I used to have the theory it was due to the UK car industry and the crap it produced. British people got so wary of not-new cars they didn't value them at all.

dieselwagon > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 09/21/2013 at 15:06

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From my experience of living in the Caribbean, having a car is good enough, thats the status symbol within itself, so unless you really have the money it doesn't make any difference. I would assume Indonesia is much the same, the car by itself is the luxury, if you happen to have an S600 thats awesome ;) but most would still be very happy with an early 90's Suzuki Vitara.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 15:09

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God damn, I've been driving my 04 X-type going 0n 8 years and it has 128k miles on the clock. My second vehcile is an 04 Discovery with 93k miles on the clock.

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 15:10

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I think that is one of the main reasons people get rid of cars in high regulatory states/countries. If a car can't pass emissions or a safety inspection, it is pretty worthless, and its resale value is pretty minimal. I was pretty amazed at what, for me, are fairly new cars were selling for in the U.K. on a Top Gear episode. $3,500 for a less than 10 year old high end import? Sign me up!

Here in N.W. Ohio, we don't have any type of inspections on our cars, either safety or emissions. I remember, back in the early 70's, the Highway Patrol would have safety inspection stations posted on the highways, and pull cars over for random safety checks. But that was long ago, and isn't likely to return. So, as long as a car can go, stop & turn, people will drive it until it literally falls apart. A 10 year old Honda Accord, in decent shape, will sell for $3,000 to $8,000 typically. Really high end BMW's, Audi's and Mercedes', however, fall in value like a rock, as buyers don't want to deal with the headaches of trying to repair very expensive electronics & other hardware in those cars.

fhrblig > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 15:13

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I live in Colorado, which despite the recent flooding is a very dry place. Humidity is rare, which helps keep rust at bay. Consequently, you can see lots of older cars here, especially if you venture to the smaller towns or neighborhoods with a lot of older people.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 15:19

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Ya.

But the thing is, used cars in here are cheap, like really cheap, but new car is expensive.

My S600 only cost 10k. By comparsion, the honda fit msrp is 19k in here.

That's why old cars still selling like hotcakes in here.
Couple that with free imports law, where you can import anything from anywhere.

dieselwagon > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus 09/21/2013 at 15:19

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That's certainly part of it, and as noted about my Accord, repair costs end up being astronomical, especially in London, parts and labour mean ££££ and most people don't actually have anywhere to work on their cars, so a garage is the only option.

Running costs are an issue here, if I went to buy any V8, that was registered after 2001 I would have to pay $790 just in Road Tax every year (always rising too), insane insurance premiums, and contend with $8+ per gallon(us).

dieselwagon > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 09/21/2013 at 15:28

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I just had a little look on the net and although I havn't seen any S600's in this bracket, late 90's early 00's S500's with around 100k are going for about $5000. Running costs are just insane here for that type of vehicle by the time you factor in insurance, and road tax (post-2001) and then $8+/gal as I mentioned elsewhere. So you can pick up a really nice luxury car with a big engine for cheap, but don't expect to be able to afford to actually use it.

dieselwagon > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 09/21/2013 at 15:37

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I actually just found a dealership with the following in stock:
2001 Mercedes-Benz S500 in black - 110k - £2450
2004 Vauxhall/Opel Corsa 1.4 - 69k - £2450

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 15:41

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I think, if I lived in Jolly Ole' England, I'd build me one of these.

dieselwagon > duurtlang 09/21/2013 at 15:50

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I can't even think the last time I saw a Mk3 Golf on the road, or a 306. Xantia's and Xsara's still pop up every so often but are increasingly rare, and the ones that do tend to be late models, on 00/01 plates.

Reasons for depreciation in the UK: Consumer culture/keeping up with the Jones', Repair costs and RHD means a lot less potential for exporting our domestic market vehicles, and you can almost certainly do it cheaper and easier if you go to Japan for a RHD.

And yes, memories of British Leyland are still probably more like nightmares for the older, new car buying generation. The rest are just consumerist whores... All of my clients lately have been driving around in post-2010 cars, except one, because Ferrari...

Hoccy > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 16:18

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In Norway the average age of cars are 10,6 years, so I guess that makes the lifespan 20 years. But it really depends what car it is, and I see newer cars getting wrecked and older cars still going.

The survivors, which I see all the time is Volvo 240/740/940, Golf Mk2, MB w124 and w201 and Saabs. 90's cars are as usual as new cars.

The reason is that new cars have a lot of tax on them, so a regular wagon is 60 000+ $. So keeping an old car is just a lot cheaper than buying a new one.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 16:18

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I see almost daily cars from the 70's and 80's, even a few Model T's and A's run around here....

I live in NH, southern, more specifically the seacoast area, which is fairly abundant with car people, every store you go to you are bound to see something interesting in the parking lot.

Telumektar > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 17:07

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I'm in Uruguay, nobody throws a car away here. They cost too much new and even used they are FAR from cheap. Something between $4K and $7K for any used car from the nineties, not cheap for rust buckets.

stuttgartobsessed > dieselwagon 09/21/2013 at 17:23

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I think this goes for most of the USA, but especially here in Tacoma, WA, there are a great many cars from the 50's - present. I myself drive a 1977 Alfa.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > dieselwagon 09/22/2013 at 01:53

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Well, I bought my car with arround 70k kilometers on the clock from a local coal buinsessman.

If you want to own an old, cheap, big engine luxury saloon, just move here.

The new cars in here is expensive because the 200% luxury tax for new cars. Used cars didn't get this rule.

Plus, tax and insurance is cheap as well. I only pay 700US$/year for road tax and another 700US$ for insurance.

Even my friend that dd a 1970 Toyota Century (some kind of ultra premium japanese car), only have to pay 17US$ road tax.

Couple that with 2.6US$/gallon gas price and 2US$/gallon for diesel, and I think it's almost a no-brainer to use a cheap new cars.

gavinski91 > duurtlang 09/22/2013 at 04:39

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I'm visiting Holland for the first time, and I'm actually surprised at how new most of the cars on the road are. I'm from Washington state, where there is no required emissions testing, so you see plenty of beater cars from the 80s and 70s. You can usually pick something up off of Craigslist for $500, which is why they're still around.

duurtlang > gavinski91 09/22/2013 at 06:05

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You can get a perfectly running car for €500 here too, but it's still required to pass the emissions and safety check each year. You can imagine what happens when such a car needs €1000 in repairs to pass. €1000 seems like a lot, but if you don't do your own maintenance and you need new tires, a new muffler, some brake work and some rust repair to pass it can get quite expensive fast.

€500 cars in the Netherlands: http://tinyurl.com/otpdxzb

Happy Panda > Hoccy 09/22/2013 at 15:52

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I think that depends a lot on the job of the owner though. A lot of my colleagues in IT seem to also just do the 3-year thing until the first EU check.

TractionControlOff > dieselwagon 09/24/2013 at 12:05

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I actually thought about this once near me. I tried paying attention to cars passing me for a few days where I am in Bergen County, NJ and I would estimate over 90% of cars are 5 years old or less. I would even guess that at least a quarter of cars downtown are 2 years old or less. Aside from Stingrays and such, most cars are close to new here.