[k491]

My dad's 2014 Rapid TDI will be 8 years old in June, clocking close to 2.8L kms on the odo.
My dad wants to replace it with a crossover SUV, but I really want to fix all the issues with it and drive it for another 6 years. I'm ready to spend the money but my dad is really hesitant as he has spent more than the worth of car in services and repairs. (1.5 lakhs for turbo replacement, 50k on EGR issue just to name a few).
There are issues with the engine, like the initial pull is very low, even a Maruti Eco will outdrag the rapid after going over a speed breaker, but once it gets going its still a hoot to drive. I drive it twice a month, BLR to Mysore and BLR to Chennai, doesn't fail to put a grin on my face (sometimes tears too, recently self starter motor failed in the middle of road in chennai ).

[TejasKinger]

We typically change our cars at the 10-year mark, we'll be making an exception this time.

- We had a Ford Ikon from 2003 - 2014 for 95,000 kilometers. Had to change it because of the need for a modern, reliable car (too many failures post the 9-year mark)

- We had a Mahindra Scorpio from 2007 - 2017 for 70,000 kilometers. Bomb-proof reliability, but changed it because we needed something more modern, manageable, and automatic.

- We have a 2017 Hyundai Creta Petrol AT that is only at 25,000 kilometers and going strong. No plans for a change anytime soon.

- The only exception here is the 2014 Grand i10. Absolutely flawless this car has been over 8 years and 44,000 kilometers, but this has to go because a Manual transmission car is just not manageable in Bangalore traffic any longer.

[Jeroen]

My 1986 Alfa Romeo Spider I bought in 1995. Currently 36 years old about 200k on the clock. I will never ever sell!

My 1982 Mercedes W123 I bought in 2005. Turning flurry this year with about 150K on the clock. I like to hang on to it for quite some time. If I can trade it for a nice Pagoda I might consider it. Open to offers��

My 2002 Jaguar XJR I bought in 2009. It has about 250K on the clock. It is one of the nicest cars I have ever owned. Like the Spider, the kids are likely to inherit it.

My 1998 Jeep Cherokee XJ Sport I only bought a few weeks ago. I am still sorting it out. It is likely to be my daily runner for the next decade. Only done a little over 300K so barely run in.

We bought my wife 2015 Ford Fiesta in 2016. Done only 85K. Biggest job on it, replacing the AC condensor soon to be published on TeamBHP. Perfect car and my wife loves it. Whenever I drive it it does put a smile on my face. Proper small hatchback. Practical and bags of character. We are not selling it any time soon. But say in another 4-5 years it is probably time to upgrade to some electrical contraption.

My current daily runner, 2017 Ford Focus I got in 2017 new, on a lease. I will need to hand it back to the lease company in August. About 85K on the clock. We briefly considered buying it from the lease company. It has been utterly reliable, not a single problem with, very practical, quite nippy, reasonable comfortably, drives really well. But overall it just doesn’t rock my boat. It is a just a transportation pod. And the lease company still wanted euro 17500 for it. Which is almost half its new price. So this one will go definitely.

According to my wife, the Jeep is the replacement for the Focus. But I haven’t seen that in writing. So I figure come August, when I hand in the Focus, I ought to get another car.

PS the poll requires a more than 25 year option.
Jeroen

[Bismaya]

Have a 2001 MPFi Maruti 800 AC which has done 1.58L KMS. Folks have a new car at home and my uncle & cousin have a Baleno & Nios Magna as well. I use the 800 as a city beater in the heat and on occassional highway runs. Fitness expires in March 2027. I still plan on renewing the fitness if the government permits still.

[sunikkat]

My last 2 cars, Zen and Fiesta 1.6s, I upgraded during 4 and 6 years respectively.

When I got Octavia TDI MT in 2016, my plan was to use it for 5 years and look for an upgrade. Though I was super happy with the car I flirted with the idea of taking a SUV route for its go anywhere ability - mainly tried Compass S facelift and Fortuner. Being a sedan guy I could not connect with Fortuner at all. Compass (both manual and auto) diesel’s power delivery felt underwhelming and did not feel like an upgrade. Though I loved Compass for its ability to take any road or no roads.

My dream car was always been a BMW and hence thought of upgrading to 320d and had multiple test drives. But being a salaried class, I am not yet ready to take such a huge depreciation hit. Plus less practical than Octavia.

Now with this, I did few mods like Stage 1 remap, Bilstein B6, android head unit, 17inch wheels, new HIDs and few other visual mods. Now with all these changes car felt like new and a segment above. Only car I can think of an upgrade is 330i, whenever I am ready. So Octavia is going to stay with me until it completes 10 years minimum. It’s a very difficult car to upgrade.

My other car i20 IVT which I got last year might also stay with me for 10+ years as it’s mainly bought for city use.

[Gotcha]

I've a 1999 Santro which has done only 51,000 kms. I love driving it as it's still as good as new - very nimble and easy to manoeuvre! The first few thousand Santros had a Mitsubishi engine which made them special.

Fitness is valid until 2025. Will not be renewing it as I'm already unable to find genuine spare parts. Also, don't want to pollute the environment further and I'm eagerly looking forward to get an EV.

[GreasyCarb55]

Cars with us usually last 10-12 years in our family.

The first car ever to be bought in our immediate family was my dad's 2005 WagonR (1st facelift) that served us for 2 Lakh km and 12 years (2005-2017).

We bought an Innova in 2011 (2.5 Turbo Diesel) and it just turned 11 years old this march and is sitting at 176,000km, my dad has been hinting at checking out the upcoming Scorpio as a potential replacement when it's launched.

The car that replaced the WagonR in 2017 was a top of the line Honda City ZX Petrol CVT which turned 5 years old this February (this is almost solely used for dad's commute to work so I'm not 100% sure of the mileage)

That figure is more like 8-10 years with our 2 wheelers.

2003 Honda Activa (2003-2013) replaced at around 57,000km by a 2013 Vespa LX 125 (currently at around 38,000km) at looking to get rid of it now.

2004 Hero Honda Ambition 135 (2004-2013) replaced at around 48,000km by a 2014 FZ-S (gen 1), the FZ-S (69,000km as of today) had been handed down to me in 2021 and now I'm looking forward to selling it and buying one of the Royal Enfield 650's

[Phaseolus]

Personally, I like to change my car every 5-6 years despite relatively low running. I cover around 7-8000 km/year, so by the 6 year mark, I've done around 50,000 km.

There are 2 main reasons for this, 1st is that I get bored and want a new driving experience and number 2, I've notice with my previous vehicles that the pool of buyers drops off drastically for a vehicle that has crossed the 50-60k km no matter how well maintained, which results in a long and painful selling process.

[DieselAddikt]

One of my cars is a 10 year old Altis 1.8G with 60K on the odo. It still feels like new with absolutely no signs of ageing. I am sure i can use it for another 10 years and i am planning to keep it till then. It is a fill it, shut it, forget it type of car. Easy to maintain and gives decent fuel economy if driven at around 90 to 100 kph. Meanwhile the other car (Safari) which is also 10 years old is being replaced by the Scorpio N (delivery being scheduled for early 2023).

[Osteon206]

Voted for 4 - 5 years.
Currently own a 9 month old VW Taigun 1.0 TSI MT. My parents insist on holding cars for at least 15 years (they have a 2007 Honda city vtec plus, recently sold their 1996 M800) and I agree with them. But due to high usage I’ve opted for 4-5 years. My average monthly usage is 4000-4500km which translates to over 45000km a year. So by 4-5 years the car would have run over 1.8L km when it will start showing it’s age and start requiring expensive repairs and overhauls. Hence this choice.

I have personally experienced this issue in my pre-owned Honda CRV 2.4L iVTEC AWD MT earlier which was sold to me with a clocked odo showing 85000km when in reality it had run 135000km. I drove it a further 95000km in the next 2.5 years after which maintaining the car in terms of fuel and service was getting eye wateringly expensive. I didn’t realise the fuel expense initially since we lived in Pondicherry earlier enjoying lower cost petrol.

Before the Taigun I owned a Hyundai i10 nios Asta which again was driven a good 60000km in 2 years. As GTO mentioned I got bored with the car and also got a good offer at that time for it and hence switched to the Taigun.

Initially planned to keep the Taigun for 10 years, but with the increasing usage this is only possible if I get a second car (EV) after 2-3 years for city use (approx 60-80km per day) and use the Taigun for highway duties alone. In this case I’ll be able to keep the Taigun for 10 years.

[shankar.balan]

Best to keep the car for longer periods of time. They won’t go bad if you look after them because they are built to last.
Considering the prices of cars these days, it’s best to buy a dream car used, and hang on to it for its life span as per the fitness certificate, God (and Gadkari) willing.

[Maky]

Voted for 8 years.
My current two vehicles are to turn 12 years and 10 years old respectively in a few months time in very early 2023. Through the ownership experience of these two I realised that 8 years is the sweet spot after which the major expenses start rolling in and one ends up bringing the car to near new condition mechanically for the majority ownership period of the next owner rather than self.

I have been trying to move away from the Japanese and on to Germans, having shortlisted the Octavia and Tiguan thus far, knowing how finicky(and expensive!) these euro darlings tend to get later during the ownership period I have more reasons this time to find the need to stick to the 8 year ownership period : )

[Cyborg]

No time limit for me as such. I keep any vehicle till it serves me well with not too much of a headache in maintaining it. Normal servicing is fine, if it starts giving too much trouble, say garage visits, then it’s time for it to go. I believe, love your vehicle and all but never forget that the car is there to serve us, not for us to serve it.

Cheers

[rajshenoy]

My corolla altis is now 8 year old(bought it used) and shows no signs of aging. I had earlier chosen 6-7 years due to my past history and I guess now inching towards 10+ years due to lack of upgrade options.

[masudvorajee]

My Silver Arrow Honda City is 10 years old now. Have done 97,000 kilometers and still going really strong.

I never felt the need to change the car but I am looking to buy a pre-worshipped SUV or MUV. At the same time, I am investing in my car like getting the new set of tyres (CC6), maybe new seat covers, fixing some of the dents etc.