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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Or perhaps people are starting to realize that you don't need a new car as soon as your 5-year loan is paid off.

I do okay financially; if I wanted a new car, I'd buy one. I bought mine brand new off the lot 15 years ago, and I intend to keep driving it until I can no longer repair it. Why would I possibly want to buy a new, 5G-connected, spyware-infected plastic shitbox when what I have works perfectly well and probably has another 100k miles of life with a few minor repairs and maybe an engine swap at 2-300k or so?

Only reason Id buy a new car is to get a full electric, affordable, nontesla that has more than 150 horsepower.

Car payments are a poverty trap. I haven't had one in a decade. Buying a used car for cash is such a better deal anyway. I do need suckers to get those 1-2 year leases though to make my cars cheaper.

CarPlay and radar cruise control are worth it for commuting imo… but beyond that I don’t care.

2021 civic I’ll be driving into the ground thank you very much.

I frequent the Bay Area (Cali) and wouldn’t dream of taking a car without some semi-autonomous driving features. Sitting in traffic while the car brakes, accelerates and steers is the best.

As a lover of manual transmissions, I think that would make me feel very strange.

It’s takes sometimes an hour to go 15 miles up hills on 680 in the bay. My competition clutch car can help me enjoy the canyon roads, but my “self driving” car can take care of my “grindset” driving.

I used to drive all around the Bay Area with my Honda del Sol. Ah, good times. I miss my twenties.

Installed CarPlay in my 2011 car. It’s awesome and still no car payment.

Did AA/carplay on mine too and it t was surprisingly easy, literally plug n' play on a VW.

Only reason I am thinking of replacing our car is because a BEV would pay for itself fairly quickly if I hear back from a job I applied to that has a 50 mile round-trip commute. Gas alone would be an extra $1000 per year compared to our current 11 year old vehicle.

I'd personally wait a bit as the market is trending down from the high prices during COVID and manufacturers are slowly rolling out more and more incentives again.

There are a good amount of incentives for EVs honestly. My state is also giving a more inclusive rebate for them.

Same, my 2013 Sonata Hybrid has ~80'000 miles (130k km), paid off yeeeaaarrrsss ago, no problem with it, why change?

My 2010 Passat Wagon has 211000 Miles and is about to get its first set of new shocks/struts. some big things I had to replace were the mechatronics and rebuilt the cylinder head. Cylinder head was because I ignored a timing issue with the chains. Chime in if you have high mileage.

For sure. I had my last car for 20 years until it finally NEEDED to be replaced. And my current car I've had for five years. After paying it off early, I've enjoyed not having that payment, and I hope it lasts just as long as my last car.

How to sound like a boomer without saying you're a boomer.

"It's just more stuff to break! I don't need none of that wifi or internets and touch screens or whathaveya"

Not wanting unnecessary “features“ that are just thinly veiled spyware that overcomplicate every aspect of driving is not a boomer opinion. Wanting buttons you can feel without looking for instead of a giant screen that has automatic updates and needs to have access to your cellphone for basic functionality is not a boomer opinion.

Knowing that tacking voice activation onto every 'smart' device, including vehicles, is just an excuse for companies to record everything you say for their shitty marketing isn't a boomer opinion.

In my experience doing tech work, boomers love that shit and fall for all of it, and it all fucks up in some way much more quickly than should be allowed.

I guess you didn't see the recent article that studied all the information manufacturers collect on you in these new generation of vehicles. Some notable ones are Nissan and Kia collecting information on your sexual activity and six companies collecting your genetic information all for what? So you can control Spotify from your infotainment screen?

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

I'm not OP, but if wanting cars that have physical buttons and cars that don't charge me subscription fees makes me a boomer, then I guess I'm a boomer.

What a strange take. In fact most highly technical people tend to want simple unless they have enough money to treat things like cars as toys.

Ya if you don’t like pissing your money away that makes you a boomer!

Sick take chief.

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