I have a 1992 Chevy Truck that was a victim of the bad GM paint job that they did NOT recall...ugh! The hood and roof are bald, it's in great need of a new paint job, it still runs great. I have a 1996 Chevy two door Tahoe that's garaged, it still looks great other than some door dings from uncaring people that have parked beside me...errrrr...it still runs great too! My husband has a 2002 Saturn SC2 that he absolutely LOVES. We have no plans to buy a new vehicle. They will have to last 'till the wheels fall off! Both trucks are around 150,000 miles and the Saturn is only about 60,000. My dream car would be a mint Cadillac Seville from the early 2000 age, I love the big cars with a big ol' trunks.

I've always driven my cars for a lot of miles. Age was never a factor. My current car is a 2007 Hyundai Tucson. It only has 64,000 miles because I've never used it for commuting. I drove a BMW 318 to 180,000 miles and the best car ever was a Mazda 626 which I drove for 225,000 carefree miles.

Yes, a 1963 Triumph TR4 and a 1932 Ford Pickup, haha! But my daily driver is also a 2000 Jeep Cherokee- she's a beast and just keeps trucking along, never let me down in snow, mud, great hauling ability, 170,000 miles. Having the a/c fixed is the only issue at the moment.

1993 Honda Civic sedan...standard shift...here. Fondly known as "Henrietta Honda"! She has about 98,000 miles on her and occasionally requests new parts...like brake shoes...brake lines, batteries, tires, etc...but all considered...she doesn't owe me a thing and I'm happy to accommodate her needs. She still gets about 27 mpg around town and about 34 mpg on the highway. I figure the old gal and I will probably expire about the same time. LOL Or my eye sight will reach a point where it'll be safer...for both of us...to retire her. She's never been garaged so I have seasonal rust spots to touch up from time-to-time due to our lovely [NOT] New England winter road salt. But...if all the young auto buffs who offer to buy her are around when that time comes...I'll probably sell her to some Honda lover for up to a thousand or two. She's a very popular lady among Honda collectors...and the young neighborhood "studs" just drool when they see her. :-)

1996 Chrysler Sebring...75,000 miles...still drives just fine and man, I love that Freon-based A/C on hot days. The front spoiler looks pretty rough as it is very low to the ground and hits everything.

1979MGB and a 1971MGB GT. Drive them both very often (laps around Lake Michigan every summer - nonstop, about 24 hours driving on a rallye circuit). My daily driver is a 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo (which I traded my 2001 Mercedes Benz SLK for).

Add my name to Liz's post, only I don't have a Benz (and Hubs doesn't take care of the mechanics because it's under warranty). I bought a 2013 Lexus ES 350 brand new with 10 miles on it. It was in my possession in Sacramento less than a week after arriving in San Pedro on the ship. More than 2 and a half years later, it doesn't yet have 13,000 miles on it. I don't plan to buy another car, although Hubs is now going to get a new one. He's just trying to decide what to get. Currently, he's driving a 2001 Chevrolet Impala LS

My vehicles are all old, running great & looking good. The trucks we own are a 1 ton Chevy purchased new in 1979. The next one purchased new in 1988 is a 1 ton Ford, this one only has 56,000 miles on it. The next 2 are the cars purchased new. 1987 Buick LeSabre with 168,000 miles. The best one is a 1986 Buick Grand National with 82,000 miles. This one has speed & being black looks great. Most likely we will never get another vehicle.

I am driving my husbands 2003 Silverado (40 thousand miles on it) in the summer and leave it in the garage all winter. It is two wheel drive so not good in the snow. My dream car would be a black convertible Chevy HHR or I like the Chrysler PT Cruiser. Love those little cars but I need a all wheel drive in the winter.

We used to have a 1989 white Cadillac Coupe De Ville and about 6 yrs. ago gave it to my brother...he still drives it in the summer. Loved that car!!

My vehicle is old or young, depending on how you look at it. (2005) I'm looking at buying a 1959 Edsel. Light blue. Hate the color, really want the car!

I'm glad to see I'm in such good company!

Cynic, I guess you could always have it repainted--for a price.

Love those MGs, Chloe. And the Triumph, Aviastar!

Hey, no fair, Liz and Lindsey! LOL But those are nice cars. Oh, and just so you know, my dad had three "last cars." He bought his true last one for his 89th birthday.

My cars tend to have something functional, that never gets fixed right, go out after about 20 years, so I do buy a new one now and then. The first one had something in the seat break and I hated the replacement. The next one kept having steering issues that made it hard to drive (I sold that to a mechanic so I wouldn't worry about safety). I figure if the trend holds, I may be on my last car. Or at least the last one that doesn't drive itself. :)

My 2000 Ranger is manual transmission. The "new" Escape is automatic. I expect I will wreck the Escape. I've read that no one steals a manual shift because they don't know how to drive them ;-)

Our vehicles are a 1998 drk blue Cadillac Seville, a 2001 silver Buick Century, a 2004 red Isuzu Rodeo and a 2007 gold (champagne color maybe) Chevy HHR (it's like the PT cruiser)

All were bought at car auctions....

Sad to say but we finally sold our old car a while back. DH was heartbroken but he knew it was the right decision. He bought a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang convertible, black with red interior and then spent years fixing it to his specifications. Since it wasn't all original when he bought it he felt free to add power steering, seat belts and a fancy exhaust.

My sons loved driving it around town but we never felt comfortable when they were out since it obviously didn't have the safety features that we take for granted now. So he sold it to another Mustang enthusiast.

It looked like this but without the red sidewalls.

http://www.packautomotivemuseum.com/Images/DSC00275.jpg

2000 Honda Civic. Often think about getting a new car, but this one has been maintained and runs well. I don't drive that much, so why get a new car?

you wouldn't believe the comments we got when transporting fils, 2001 Pontiac Bonneville...he can't drive anymore and our dd1 needed a extra car for the 16 yo...HA!! our sil is having more fun than anyone and bet she doesn't get a chance...and while I love my new equinox (2014) I wish to heaven I had NEVER used my chevy venture minivan to help buy it!

Been driving my 99 GMC Envoy for 10+ years. Coming up on 175K miles soon. Some major repairs like heater core replaced in 2013. A/C replaced in 2009. If I have to have a replacement vehicle I would love to find another one just like it. :)

It's interesting how many of you drive large cars.

The biggest reason I can think of to get rid of older cars is that newer ones are safer to ride in - better and more airbags, crumple zones, reinforcing, etc. etc. Many include Bluetooth connections so that the driver can avoid handheld telephone use. Most also get better gas mileage. And, new cars usually have more toys to play with and are more fun to drive.

On the other hand, spending patterns vary from person to person. If what you have is what you can afford, operate it safely and be happy.

2003 ZR2 Chevy Tracker here. It is Wildfire Red. It has been a great vehicle. Just turned over 110,00 miles. You would be surprised how well it goes in the snow with the 4 wheel drive. I'm a short gal so it is perfect for me.. Hubby has a 2006 Silverado truck and a 2013 Colorado truck.

I can't answer the question without asking one of my own.

Just what, exactly, qualifies as an older car?

To me,it should be at LEAST 20-25 years old before I'm going to call it an older car.

My first was a 76 Pontiac Catalina. This was mid to late 90s. I was the kid driving the "clunker" to school while everyone else was driving the "newer" cars, late 80s to early 90s models.

I sold it and got a 94 Pontiac Grand AM which I drove until it was totalled by an idiot driver who thought he could turn the grass median into his own exit ramp at 60 mph.

Used the settlement money to get myself a 05 Pontiac Sunfire (in 2008) which I loved until DH drove over a piece of debris in the road and totalled it.

Replaced it with an 08 Cobalt (I was very sad to see the Pontiac brand die, I had an obvious affinity for it) and then a year later got an 08 GMC Acadia. (2011/2012)

I wouldn't classify my current vehicles as older. My first car, I would.

Snidely, the lack of modern safety features are a big reason I finally got rid of the bad steering one instead of finding someone who could totally rebuild it properly. I loved that car. OTOH, the new one, with all the safety features and bells and whistles (literally), barely gets better mileage than the hand-me-down Newport that I drove when I first got my license. OTOH, I use so much less gas than average I don't let it get me down. :) The Newport was an interesting car. It was designed to be driven at 70mph, and actually got excellent mileage at that speed, but it was wasted in a 55mph world. ;(

Omgosh, Maire, that is one cool car! I can see why selling it was a sad occasion.

On the other hand, spending patterns vary from person to person. If what you have is what you can afford, operate it safely and be happy.

Snidely, if you think most of the responders to this thread are driving older cars because they can't afford to buy anything else, I'll bet you're wrong.

As for safety, yeah--the Caprice has only one airbag, so if anyone else is going to be in the car I take my Subaru, which is loaded with airbags. But the Caprice gives me a lot of metal between me and the drunks. I don't care about Bluetooth because I almost never use my phone in the car. I love to drive, but I lose my focus when talking on the phone, so I don't. Not many people have my cell phone number.

As for being fun to drive, I can't wait to get behind that wheel in early spring! It is a great driving experience. I've talked to many cops who say they miss driving a Caprice. For years it was the gold standard of cop cars.

Texas_Gem, obviously "older" is a relative term. Most Motor Vehicle Departments define "antique" cars as 20 - 25 years old. I was not speaking of antiques; I was thinking of cars older than the usual fairly late models. It turns out quite a few of us are driving them.

I drive an '05 4Runner, dark blue, and don't intend to get rid of it ever. I love the style of this one and it's in near perfect condition. I can fill it up on errand day and trust in its reliability. It is under 100,000 miles and people ask me to put them on the list if I ever need a buyer. ;) That's flattering.

Be glad you didn't buy it a couple of years earlier, FlamingO. From 1998 to 2003 Toyota used an inferior metal on the frame and undercarriage of the 4Runners and Tacomas. Dangerous, horrible rot. They recalled the pickups (and paid megabucks to the owners), but ignored the 4Runners because they hadn't sold as many.

I'd still be driving my beautiful, pristine, luxurious (can you tell I liked it?) 2003 4Runner if it weren't for that.

"Snidely, if you think most of the responders to this thread are driving
older cars because they can't afford to buy anything else, I'll bet
you're wrong."

Yes, could be. But often with disparate opinions, reality or truth can be found in the middle. So it's probably yes for some and not for others.

Another factor is that some people like to drive recent models, that's why many will lease cars rather than buy them and will look forward to a new model every 3-4 years. The opposite pole for that is that some people prefer to keep cars until the bitter end, when repair costs become too frequent and too expensive.

And the rest of us are somewhere in the middle of that spectrum too.

My Uncle won't drive a fancy car because he's afraid of being sued...he's quite wealthy!

When personal injury lawyers start a suit, they assume the outcome will be a settlement from the defendant's insurance company. In major injury and loss situations, it's indeed the insurance company that protects your assets.

What will protect your uncle is good liability insurance coverage, not driving a moderate car.

OH well, his way of thinking served him well for over 80 years. He just didn't want people to know how much money he had.

1981 Chevy 4x4 truck. I've had several guys stop me and want to talk about it....I don't drive it because I like it....it's for hauling tree limbs and trash. It's a working truck. :0) I once hauled a fully loaded UPS delivery truck uphill, that was stuck sideways, on solid ice with it! :0) Impressive!

I drive a 2005 Buick LaCrosse with 113,000 miles and at times I think of trading up to a new car.....but big problem.... In 2013, the car styles all went to those darned "bucket seats" that curve up on the sides and since I have had both hips replaced, they hurt those joints, and when I get in I need to sit down from the side and swing my legs around....can not do that with that style seat.

I have looked and sat in several different models of cars, but so far, no luck! So I guess I will just stay with my ole Buick....where my seat is wide and comfortable....and it still has that "Buick ride".

Re showing the money, a guy I know had to meet someone at the yacht club and received a lift through the parking lot from a guy in a Rolls Royce. He said something pleasant to make conversation like, "Nice car." The driver answered that he had to drive it because his Toyota was being serviced, but that he'd much rather be driving the Toyota. Sometimes popular cars are popular because they're drive well and ride well, and just because a person has enough money to be able to drive anything he wants doesn't mean that his favorite car of all is the showy one. :)

Haha pilog. Re showing the money, a Rolls Royce is nothing if not ostentatious. Like a diamond encrusted Rolex. Driven by professional athletes with little more than a high school education, reality show stars, Hollywood producers who smoke fat cigars, and the British royal family.

Not a performance car at all, they're known to be too heavy and with rides and handling like land yachts the American Big 3 are well known for.

If this person dislikes the car, did someone force him to buy it?

Yeah. The wife.

You get better hop-to when you show up in a Rolls than you do in a Toyota. There's no hop-to at the yacht club though. :) A decent steak, but that's about it. :)

That was some time ago. Since the Rolls Royce sell off, it's Bentleys that are the show cars. I haven't driven one, but there's at least one model that's supposed to be pretty hot. I think it's a Volkswagon. :) The one that makes me giggle though is the Lamborghinis being driven in heavy traffic. Can't be good for the gear box. Talking about wearing your money on the outside of your pocket!

[Just for reference, it's three L's, LLL, no i's]

M first car was a truck-56 Ford. The ex still has it. I remember freezing in it in the winter. No insulation, lots of air leaking in and a small heater not much bigger than a shoe box.

A 1990 Mazda Miata (first edition of a car they weren't sure was going sell?! Boy were they wrong) and a 1996 Acura Integra. I spend a lot of time getting and keeping them working!

Rob, my email gave me the first part of your post, and I thought it was going to read, "I spend a lot of time getting gas." That's the way it was in the 1970s with my Fiat Spider because the tank was so small. :-)

They're actually both fairly fuel efficient cars... I just looked and the current day Miata, same MPG. Weird! Thinking about keeping the cars running bothers my stomach if that counts? ;)

I just love my 2002 Jeep Laredo! It's silver with bottom in a darker gray. This is an elegant-looking SUV when it needs to be, but also serves me well carrying plants, soil and even hay!

Hubby and I work together so we have only 1 car. It's a 2001 GMC Yukon Denali with 297k miles on it. It's comfortable, good in the winter and great for picking up large items. Has 3rd row seating but we took those out immediately. Tow package for when we need to tow as well. We bought it in 2004 for 20k and I'm dreading the day we have to let it go. When we do it will be another one, used as well.

Until recently, we drove older vehicles. I had a 95 Chrysler Cirrus (bought in 95) and a 02 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder (bought in 05). The Chrysler had 107,000 miles on it when sold to 16 year old as her first car. I traded the Spyder in for a 14 Chrysler 300C. Hubby drove his 99 van until the frame rusted out and we replaced with a 12 Ram 1500 PU.

My family has always driven older cars. My brother has my dad's 96 Chrysler Sebring convertible and recently ventured into the 2000s by picking up a 03 Jeep Liberty. He drives multiple cars every day (utility purposes), switching between a work van, his personal 00 Dodge van and a 73 Plymouth Gran Fury. He's got a bout 7 cars (never less; you'd understand if you knew our family).

My all time favorite car to drive is now in a museum. A 27 Dodge Cabriolet that was in the family for 30+ years. I loved driving it. The heavy duty truck transmission requiring double clutching, the "grabber" brakes that required an oh so gentle touch on the pedal. I miss that car.....Here's a picture of the car being loaded up to take to the museum. The guy's head that you see is the guy who's in charge of the car. We've kept in touch and they haven't modified the car at all. Still looks like this and is driven very frequently.

I've been fortunate to have driven cars from every decade starting with the 1920s and I've enjoyed the heck out of each one.

1986 Ford Bronco, 1996 Expedition and 1996 Ford pickup. Husband is meticulous about maintenance. I wouldn't hesitate to hop in any one of them and head cross country if I needed to.

I have a 98 Toyota Sienna Van that just turned over 90,000. Even though our kids are grown it's very handy to be able to carry 6 (7 in a pinch) in comfort. Plus it's great for hauling stuff. My husband recently put in an in dash backup camera, Bluetooth, and satellite radio. It rides well and still looks decent, not beat up.

My other car is a 2007 Camry, I've had it 9 years this month and it has about 75,000 miles. I guess it's older but it seems pretty new to me. It's the top of the line model and has most of the current bells and whistles.

What I'm finding surprising is the low miles a lot of you have on your vehicles.

I'm sure it's dependent on where you live, I just can't imagine having a vehicle from the 90s or early 2000s with less than 150,000 miles.

Have a 2000 Toyota Camry LE and a 2005 Lexus LS430 with all the luxury options. Love both of those cars. My granddaughter drives the Toyota to work every day, never have had any trouble out of it. The Lexus is my delight to drive.

TexasGem, being from Texas, I know exactly what you mean. My vehicles got all their miles in very few years when we lived in Texas. Over here in Ohio, it's more common for people to live very near their jobs. Probably a 10 to 20 mile daily commute is more normal. People that I know that live and work in Houston will drive a hundred miles a day for their jobs. That was a hard pill to swallow when gas was so high.

TexasGem and arkansas_girl: You are both so right. I grew up in Midland, Texas, and we thought nothing of driving up to Lubbock or Fort Worth for a day of shopping or driving over to New Mexico for a day of skiing. And for many years I drove 90+ miles a day to and from work. That is why I can't quite get over people on the HGTV house hunter shows demanding that they have a house not more than 10 - 15 minutes from their work site.

About 6 or 7 years ago I bought an '88 Mazda 323, standard tranny that I drove until a couple of years ago - had thermostat-controlled rad fan and the thermostat let it overheat, blew seals on the waterpump.

It would have been about $65 for a new pump, and about $300. to install it and the mechanics said that they thought that it was time to scrap it ... I almost told them to fix it, but I suspect that they figured that some other repairs might have been needed before too long.

Don't remember how many miles it had on it - I'm getting old and can't remember a darn thing!

Oh, yeah- I do remember that I now have an '05 Chevy Cobalt ... will it be my last? And, sad to say, the former parishioner (45 years ago)/auto body guy who helped me get my last few oldish cars sold his business a few years ago ... died of cancer a couple of months ago.

ole joyfuelled ... with a little gas for the Mazda, from time to time