How often do you change cars?
Discussion
Just out of curiosity, on average how long do you keep your cars for? The car that we have owned the longest is my wife's Fiat 500 that we owned from new for 3.5 years (this was only her 2nd car ever though - she doesn't like change)!
The longest that I have ever kept a car for is 2.5 years for my Polo TDI (not because I liked it particularly but was bought new on finance and didn't want to be upside down financially) and my Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon, which I also owned for 2.5 years taking it from 60-80k. Would quite happily have kept it longer and run it to 100k but had to sell it due to emigrating. My 205 GTi would probably have been a long-term keeper too but unfortunately I wrote it off after only 18 months of ownership.
My shortest tenure would be my 1999 Mercedes C-Class diesel Estate, which I owned for only 6 weeks! Would have happily kept it longer but it was bought as a temporary replacement for the Subaru prior to emigrating. My shortest genuine tenure then was a nearly new Mazda MX5 bought on finance when I was 24 that I owned for only 9 months. I decided it was cool to own a sports car but decided that I would be cooler if I sold the car and stopped living with my parents instead!
On balance my average ownership time is probably about 18 months, although between 2004 and 2010, I bought a new (to me) vehicle every year! Not sure if this is a good or bad thing!
I hope that if I found the right vehicle, it would be a longer-term relationship. Fortunately, I am more loyal in my personal relationships!
The longest that I have ever kept a car for is 2.5 years for my Polo TDI (not because I liked it particularly but was bought new on finance and didn't want to be upside down financially) and my Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon, which I also owned for 2.5 years taking it from 60-80k. Would quite happily have kept it longer and run it to 100k but had to sell it due to emigrating. My 205 GTi would probably have been a long-term keeper too but unfortunately I wrote it off after only 18 months of ownership.
My shortest tenure would be my 1999 Mercedes C-Class diesel Estate, which I owned for only 6 weeks! Would have happily kept it longer but it was bought as a temporary replacement for the Subaru prior to emigrating. My shortest genuine tenure then was a nearly new Mazda MX5 bought on finance when I was 24 that I owned for only 9 months. I decided it was cool to own a sports car but decided that I would be cooler if I sold the car and stopped living with my parents instead!
On balance my average ownership time is probably about 18 months, although between 2004 and 2010, I bought a new (to me) vehicle every year! Not sure if this is a good or bad thing!
I hope that if I found the right vehicle, it would be a longer-term relationship. Fortunately, I am more loyal in my personal relationships!
I'm 23 and i'm on my 7th car, learnt to drive when I was 17 but didn't own my first until I was 19 - so I guess that's almost an average of 2 per year?
I'm on my second golf R32 too, sold my first one hoping to get a 335i/S3 but neither really did it for me so I got another golf for the noise
I'm on my second golf R32 too, sold my first one hoping to get a 335i/S3 but neither really did it for me so I got another golf for the noise
Normally 3-4 years for me. The shortest time I have owned a car is just over 2 years. I guess I get a bit attached to what I've got. Generally after about 2 years I start getting bored, but it takes me a while to work out what I want next. Changing cars infrequently doesn't stop me looking in the classifieds several times a week though!
My wife still has her first car that she bought 11 years ago and has no intention of replacing it until it's no longer viable to keep it running or it gets written off.
My wife still has her first car that she bought 11 years ago and has no intention of replacing it until it's no longer viable to keep it running or it gets written off.
Edited by RDB on Saturday 19th October 23:31
hotchy said:
If i had the money it could easily be every few months. I dont so its been 3 years so far. Current car im happy with and its nearly been 3 years so i dont think ill be changing. Drove for 9 years now and iv owned 3 cars... im ashamed lol
Only had 5 in 20 odd years, so you're not that bad.From that, I guess my answer is not often enough.
Just worked mine out. Have been driving for 13 years and have owned 24 cars (9 in the last two years).
Shortest time was a BMW 330 coupe. Moved that on after 4 weeks because I found it bland.
Longest was a BMW X5 for 18 months. Got bored with it after 6 months and let the wife use it most of the time after that.
Looking to replace the daily driver at the moment, but can't seem to make my mind up what to go for.
Shortest time was a BMW 330 coupe. Moved that on after 4 weeks because I found it bland.
Longest was a BMW X5 for 18 months. Got bored with it after 6 months and let the wife use it most of the time after that.
Looking to replace the daily driver at the moment, but can't seem to make my mind up what to go for.
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