Average age of a car on the road in the USA

linear · Coal Joined: Jul 29, 2005 Posts: 14

Anyone know what the average age of a car on the road today in the USA is? I'm curious how long it would take to swap out say 10% of the vehicle fleet.

I've been hearing alot about ultracapacitors lately and if it ever works out that will be the next big thing. Of course we'll burn alot of coal to charge the things but thats another story.

frankthetank

MY guess would be about 8 years? You don't really see many cars on the road that were built in the 80's (atleast up here). Sometimes you'll see a Honda or Toyota
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green_achers

When I was a kid in the 60s, every teenager had a '55-59 Chevy or Ford in the driveway they were forever rebuilding. A 10-year-old car or one with more than 60K was junk. Nowadays, they seem to last a lot longer. I have a '01 Ranger with over 135K and a '96 Corolla that I plan to drive for a long time.
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Twilight · Expert Joined: Mar 02, 2007 Posts: 3076 Location: UK

I agree, build quality has greatly improved. Here in the UK, I would guess the average age of a car is around 10 years, but even the mid-90s stuff has no visible signs of rust. Whereas in the 90s you would see lots of 80s cars with clearly visible rust on bodywork. Lots of people were driving stuff that was literally falling apart. It's been years since I saw an exhaust drop away, but I used to see it several times a year. The 100,000 mile mark is easily achieved these days. In fact, it would have to be an exceptionally bad car to fail to get there.

joewp

Wikipedia knows all:

pup55 · Expert Joined: May 26, 2004 Posts: 3843

SILENTTODD

It’s possible and cheaper to keep a vehicle running and in shape for 20 years or longer with proper maintenance. Even if you have to rebuild or replace the engine and transmission your way ahead of putting out enormous sums every 2 to 5 years buying a new Car or Truck!

I drive a 1987 Nissan pickup with a 4 cylinder engine. Have 301,0000 miles on it. Have replaced the starter 3 times, the water pump and fuel pump once, and had the transmission rebuilt 10,000 miles ago. Everything else but the brake and muffler system(par for the course) is original. Change your Oil every 3000 miles!

I paid this Vehicle off 16 years ago. I pay the minimum for registration and insurance each year. I am far better off than many of my coworkers I see buying new SUVs or BMW’s or Hummer’s every 2 or 3 years!

A book that convinced me of this you can still get on the Barnes&Noble website under Used and Out of Print books is:

Why Trade It In? by George and Suzanne Fremon

I have a 1982 edition of this book and it changed my life about repeatedly buying new cars! If you are reading this site, and know what is coming, I would advise you to hold on to what ever vehicle you have now. Make it last. And start looking at the best bicycle you can get (maybe 2 or 3 as I have!).
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I_Like_Plants

Here ya go......

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/02/us_vehicle_flee.html

Newsseeker · Light Sweet Crude Joined: May 12, 2005 Posts: 1226

joewp

When I hear these discussions about replacing the vehicle fleet, two thoughts go through my mind:

1) Doesn't anybody realize that building cars takes from 20 to 50 barrels of oil? Perhaps it would be better to keep the current fleet on the road than use up all the oil just for making more disposable cars?

and

2) Will you people give it up! The happy motoring age is going to be over sooner than you think. Switching to marginally more efficient vehicles will only extend the driving around for a short time, if at all. Even if you manage to increase gas mileage by 20% (a lofty goal), that will be wiped out in less than 10 years just by population and economic growth.
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"Only when the last tree is cut; only when the last river is polluted; only when the last fish is caught; only then will they realize that you cannot eat money." - Cree Indian Proverb

FairMaiden

shortonoil · Fission Joined: Dec 02, 2004 Posts: 2749 Location: VA USA

Newsseeker said:

MonteQuest

From the Hirsch Report: