Average car age

[merk23literturbo]

Quote:
Cars in operation are older than any other time in history - 14M vehicles are 25 years and older. #MitchellTrends

[Ed Lijewski]

"Car owners and drivers today are older than any other time in hustory..." #Ed Lijewski

YMMV

[Ed Lijewski]

More Old Than Young: A Demographic Spreads Around the Globe - http://tiny.iavian.net/bpxm

YMMV

[brokencase]

11.4 years in USA. For Cuba it's a whole different story.
http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita. ... 6.html_mfd

It's nice to see the increase of longevity over time. But is it all truly attributable to better quality of the vehicles?
Or is it the case that over time people have become more knowledgeable and are able to better care for their vehicles?

Or maybe people in US are becoming more thrifty over time?
I can remember news talk after the 2008 financial crisis where they reported that many folks were holding on to their cars longer.

[DAReese]

Cars are better. Growing up my parents got a new car every three years, right before they hit 50,000 miles. Cars rarely hit 100,000. Now, they're still considered new till they hit 100k. They go faster, stop better, get better mileage and are safer.

[brokencase]

I agree that cars have technically gotten better, especially if you are comparing carburated versus computer managed EFI then, sure, there is a big difference. But that change was a long time ago.

I don't know if you can tell from the more recent data if people are holding on to their cars more so for financial reasons.

[DAReese]

Most likely why, but the price when adjusted for inflation has been fairly stagnant. Our perception and the economy is likely a big contributor.

[John Brennan]

Most likely why, but the price when adjusted for inflation has been fairly stagnant. Our perception and the economy is likely a big contributor.

Unfortunately, it's because incomes have not been "adjusted for inflation," not to mention the fact that more people are un/underemployed than ever in our Brave New Worker's Paradise.

Hopefully, the latter can be resolved, but we'll still only be caught in a game of catch-up. No true or lasting resolution will be achieved until we deal with what's causing all that lovely inflation in the first place, AKA Inflatable Paper, Fiat Currency.