Average U.S. vehicle age hits record 12.6 years as high prices force people to keep them longer

return2ozma@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 428 points –
Average U.S. vehicle age hits record 12.6 years as high prices force people to keep them longer
nbcnews.com
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I’m in your camp. Take care of them and drive them into the ground.

I can understand the lure of buying a new car. They're neat and shiny and have features your car doesn't. But it's so wasteful and unnecessary. It's not like upgrading a computer because it won't work with any modern software and you won't be able to use the internet. A model A Ford can drive on the same roads as a Tesla assuming it's been maintained.

Macroeconomically, it's not wasteful because cars find new life in resale. It's definitely wasteful to your pocketbook to get a new car every 5 years.

Right, but only the first buyer gets to decide what's produced. So someone buying new dumb pickups every two years is flooding the market with gas guzzlers and this results is much more waste than someone doing the same with Camrys. That's not the same definition of waste that you used though, but I wanted to chime in because the new car buyers define the future used market.

I feel like driving a car into the ground isn’t taking care of it…

300k miles, then engine swap!

where I like salt gets the body before the engine goes. I have 220k on one and it is starting to rust through.

Frame and body repair, or get a donor car!

Nice in 220. What car you got?

can you put on a rustproof undercoat?

3M Professional Grade Rubberized Undercoating. ... WD-40 Specialist Long-Term Corrosion Inhibitor. ... Rust Converter Extra. ... Fluid Film Protectant and Lubricant. ... CRC White Lithium Grease Spray. ... Rust-Oleum 7776830 Stops Rust Spray Paint. ... Boeshield T-9 Rust & Corrosion Protection.