Car change - how long and why?

[vrsmxtb]

On average how long do you keep a car, daily or toy, and what is the most common reason for change?

So far mine have been:

Citroen AX - 1.5 years - written off by insurance company after minor accident
Peugeot 106 - 2.5 years - boredom, doing more miles, wanted a bigger, newer car, had cash saved up.
Ford Focus - 3.5 years - boredom, wanted a more powerful car, bit of a whim.
Skoda Fabia VRS - 3.5 years and ongoing! Likely to keep for at least another year.

Suzuki Samurai - 2 years - few local off-roading opportunities, crap on road and very thirsty afford
Mazda MX5 - 1 year and ongoing. Have invested quite a lot of ££ so likely to keep as long as I can afford a second vehicle.

So mine is just over 2 years on average, and most common reason is just a bit of boredom and urge for something different. Now money is tighter I think I'll be letting my head control my heart a lot more!

[crazy about cars]

every 3 months.

[nottyash]

most I ever had a car was 2 1/2 years. A Fabia VRS i bought new.
This year ive had 6 cars already but am down to 2 now and likely to keep them as weve just had a little boy.
I just like to change, although wish I hadnt a lot of the time

[Timberwolf]

After some initial rapid chops and changes I seem to have settled on around 3 years now, with the most common reason for change being gradual enshedment. I hate driving around in cars not knowing whether they're going to give up terminally in three years or three miles, so tend to shift them on (with problems mentioned upfront - I've never had this negatively impact the sale) while there's still something for the next man.

I did move on my Vauxhall Omega for the opposite reason, though; it showed no sign of dying and while a nice enough car I didn't want it to be my last one! Ended up getting an oddly terrible price for it too - barely more than scrap. I guess for the same reason an honestly described with faults car goes surprisingly quickly and easily; show someone an 11 year old but clean, low-mileage second hand car with everything on it in good working order, and they'll assume you have to be hiding something...

Edited by Timberwolf on Wednesday 18th July 21:59

[Ecosseven]

It's a good question. I love scanning the classifieds and planning my next purchase. I've had my current daily for over 6 years and the urge to buy something different gets stronger all the time. My current thinking is to take my £13-14k budget and actually buy a series of older and interesting cars, maybe changing every 18 months or so, rather than spending all my budget on a car I keep for a long time.

[dema]

Escort- 12 months - Engine falling off
Golf GTI - 4 yrs- finance finished after 4 yrs, fancied a changed
350z- 3 yrs- I dont know, still regretting it!
Fabia VRS diesel - 6 months - heavy front end, didn't feel planter
159 SW JTS - 4 moths - mileage - power/mpg ratio

[carlove]

2-3 years usually.
Usually the reasons are getting bored, the 159 however was purely reliability and a bit of boredom.

[littleredrooster]

12-15 months.

Boredom usually accounts for a spur-of-the-moment change, often late-night on ebay and after drink has been consumed!

[snowdude2910]

Seicento sporting - 1year broke it
metro derv - 2months broke it
cinquecento sx - 6 months couldn't break it so scrapped it for a profit
Lupo Gti - 4 years because I'm a dick never ever should have sold it
Polo bluemotion - 10months turns out the house I was panicing about didn't cost as much as I thought it was going to to run so no need for an eco stbox that I hated
FN2 Civic type r - 1year ,was owned outright and I wanted the cash back so sold it and financed another car (fking stupid Idea)
Leon FR - 14months so far and have wanted to sell it from day 1 hate finance so will be selling it as soon as it isn't broken
Golf Gti - 4months so far will be selling soon as it's on cheaper finance to replace leon but I don't want any finance I'm not too keen on it but the mrs will be very sad to see it go I might end up having to save up and pay it off
Mr2 - Bargain at £300 I've had it for 6months and fix it a little bit every now and again when it works I think I'll keep it for a few years as we rarely need a second car so I could put silly tyres on it and track it :-)

[matthias73]

littleredrooster said:

12-15 months.

Boredom usually accounts for a spur-of-the-moment change, often late-night on ebay and after drink has been consumed!

There should be an online test involving spelling the alphabet backwards when you log on to ebay to prevent drunk people like me nearly losing all their savings on a french rally car.

Thank god someone else put a bid in..

[OdramaSwimLaden]

The daily hack (currently a new shape 730d) every 2-3 years. Usually on a lease......

Why? I like new cars.

[anonymous-user]

The longest I've had a car was 3yrs, it was in great condition & I still loved it when I traded it in, but I love cars & life's too short not to try a different one every now & again!

I think its in my DNA, my Uncle was a serial car changer, shortest time he ever owned a car - 1 day!

[Dave Hedgehog]

2 or 3 years depending on the lease

R32 golf i liked so much i bought it from the lease company for 3k less than retail and kept it for 5 years

i will only change the current car for an R8 now

[NadiR]

When I start driving, I'll change my car every 12 months for 3 years due to ridiculous insurance, then I'll be changing cars frequently, every 3-6 months. Why? Because there's an endless list of cars that I really want to own.

[Glosphil]

Current car coming up to 7 years old and I have owned it for 6 years. Except for tyres, 2 couple of bulbs, windscreen wipers and standard servicing it has cost me less than £300 in repairs. Can't justify changing it on economic grounds but probably will chnage in 9-15 months as I'm being to fancy a change to a higher spec car.

[Riknos]

6-12 months, I get bored of cars, life is too short to have the same one, so I like to change. I always lose money on a sale though.

I had only had my latest MX5 for 3 months and 500 miles driven before I started looking for it's replacement, and have only been delayed due to insurance, otherwise it wouldn't have lasted this long.

[Ki3r]

Fiat Punto - September 07 to November 09 - Wanted something more reliable.
Ford Focus - November 09 to January 12 - Written off (not my fault).
BMW 528i - January 12 - Present

Around 2 years seems to be average.

[KevinA4quattro]

Approximately 6 months on average, usually boredom. Longest I have kept a car is 2.5 years. First was a Lada Niva, absolutely brilliant as an off-roader and station hack, second was a Ferrari 348, but I was trying to sell it for about 15 months....

[billzeebub]

Usually every 6 months or so I have changed one of my cars. However, in the last couple of years Ihavent changed any of them. Saving for the 993/ Chimaera purchase