[Sheel]

My choice is a bit different.

I will change my rides when I am financially able to upgrade. Upgrade to a better segment, may get a loan, but I should know that I can pay it outright if need be.

I am a self employed person, so, I do not have the luxury of having my salary on 1st of every month, so I need to plan my finances that way.

Hence, it won't be in terms of number of years, rather when I can without any burden to all expenses / savings.

[HKap]

Currently have a 2009 Honda City V and a 2014 Vento TSI in India. Both with very low kms - ~ 45k and 20k kms. Also a 2017 Acura ILX in Toronto. Plan to hang on the the city and the vento for as long as possible and the Acura lease comes up next year. I'm tempted to pay the balance and buy it coz its a fantastic car (an extra 50 horses would be lovely) with a 2.4 NA engine and a 8 speed DCT. The steering feel is amazing and honestly, the feedback felt better than some BMWs. It's not overly heavy like the playstation steering available in most new cars.

The M340i does sound tempting though...

[DLC5005]

Voted for 10+ years.

Like most of the people, we too buy cars with an intention to keep it for long.
Inline with what GTO says "choosing the right model is the key to happy long-term ownership", If the right model and right car is choosen and if it serves our purpose without much trouble, then its worth sticking to that car to max number of years possible.

At home we believe in the saying "take good care of the machine and inturn the machine will serve you good".
So 90% of the times, all cars at my home are driven and maintained either by me or by my father, and due time and care is given to the vehicles.

Our current garage includes :
1. My humble i10: 2013, with 85k KMs on the ODO
2. My father's Ertiga: 2013, with 58k KMs on the ODO
4. Innova Crysta: 2017
5. Renault Duster: Brought new in December 2019

Additionally,
My father's first car Omni, served us well for 15 years without much trouble.
Bought in year 2000, it served us till 2015 with almost 1.5 Lakh+ KMs.

But, in few cases things doesn't go as per our plans.
Our new Omni (2016) which replaced the old one was sold within 1.5 years due to some personal constraints and my wife's pre-owned i20 was also sold in 1 year, since we replaced it with Duster, 6 months back (a review and story for another day.)

So this time around, we have decided to keep and maintain our current cars, for minimum of 10 years and even further (till the cars runs without troubling us.)

[V.Narayan]

Sadly Delhi-NCR now has this rule on 10-years and 15-years for diesels and petrol cars. I wonder if they have a different one for hybrids? I will keep my diesel {Volvo XC60} for at least 8 years and petrol{Jazz} and hybrid {Lexus} for 12 to 15. My next round of purchases in the early to mid 2020s which will bring the garage from 4 to 2 might be my last!

[NPV]

My first gen petrol Swift Dzire VXI is in it's 12th year and doing great at 99k Km , recently replaced tyres also.

During march first week it reached 99k milestone on the odo and I was hoping for a nice, quick 1k km to get to 1 lakh km but due to the lockdown that wasn't the case and it's still around the 99.3k km mark!

Last couple years I've been thinking about an upgrade but then put if off since I really don't need a new car right now and this deferment can help take care of other immediate outflows of higher priority.

Looks like I will hold on the car for couple more years at least.

[Asmt_b]

We have a 2017 Audi Q3 petrol and a 2019 Seltos GTX DCT.Both were purchased brand new and are running perfectly with 5 year warranties.Plan to keep both cars for another 6-7 years atleast.

However Over the years We did have a number of cars which were replaced fairly quickly for different reasons:
1. Hyundai Santro 2009-2011
2.Hyundai i20 2011-2013
3.Honda Civic 2013-2015
4.Maruti Ciaz 2015-2018
5.Audi Q3 2017-present
6. 1.8 TSI AT Skoda Octavia 2018-19
7.Kia Seltos 2019-present

[Ithaca]

I bought my Dolphin Honda City in New Warm Silver in June 2004.
Got her fitness certificate done in May 2019 and eventually gave her away to a friend of mine in Dec 2019 after an excellent ownership experience of 15 years & 5 months without zero breakdowns.

Bought a 3 year old 2.4 L AT AWD CRV from a fellow member on this forum and I will hold on to her till she needs her fitness certification - may not be possible since she is BS4.

As of now, the petrol CRV is enough for my driving needs since mileage is not a concern for me.

[Night Raven]

We have three cars in our family.
1. A 2012 Tata Nano Cx: This was our first car. At that time my parents could only afford this one or a used Alto/maruti 800. My father chose the Nano primarily because the higher & upright seating position helped his backache a lot. It is still serving him faithfully and he just refuses to let it go. He says nothing else matches the comfort and convenience of the nano in the narrow streets of our town. This car is already in it's 9th year and is going to be with us as long as possible.
2. 2015 Punto Evo MJD: My daily drive, our undisputed champion of the highways. Already in to the 6th year of ownership, it has been my faithful companion through 82000 kms. Countless road trips as lovers, as newly Weds, as soon to be parents and then as parents, not even once this car let us down. Not even a puncture while on the road. The only time it went to Fiat service for more than a day was during the 2018 Kerala floods. The fact that nothing below 15 lakhs feel like an upgrade coupled with the emotional attachment me and my wife has to this car makes it very difficult to let it go.
3. 2020 Grand i10 Nios AMT: Just about 6 months old, going to be primarily used by my wife and occasionally by my father when he decides to go out of the town. Too soon to say how long it is going to stay with us, but the intention is to keep it for 7-8 years at least.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

- The Maruti 800, my first car is already 33 years old. It still runs flawlessly and other than changing oil and lubricants, tyres and doing some periodic checks, its still in fine fettle. It still dons the original Francois white factory paint.

- The third one (though they say small family(with TWO),happy family), a Mahindra Scorpio was bought by me in 2009. It was among the first few batches of the refreshed versions with the torquey 2.2 L MHawk engine. It has been my daily driver and I am very much happy with its performance and reliability. I have undertaken a few long journeys with this and the commanding view of the road it offers is unbeatable. It's fuel economy is too good for the huge 2190 cc engine.This Brute SUV has endured 11 years with me and by 2024, will go for its 5-year fitness test.

No way I will part with any of these anytime.
[/i]

They don't make them like they used to, for sure in the case of M800.

A few months ago I met an ex-employee of central silk board with an M800 in red, the model that released after SS80. It was maintained so well that it looked like it just came out of the factory. He bought it new back in the day and still maintains it so well, a proper car guy by all means.

Our Scorpio will turn 6 years young next month and over these years it has changed our expectations from what a car should be (Car?!), for the foreseeable future ahead it appears that nothing else will do

[AtheK]

Mine Vento TSI is 4.6 years old now, and I plan to keep her atleast for 2.5 more years, or maybe keep it forever and get another car.

[pnredkar]

I voted for 10 years+.

I bought my first car, an Opel Corsa 1.4 GSI, in 2003 and sold it in 2016. My second car, a Volkswagen Vento 1.6 MPI, was purchased in 2012 and sold in 2019. It was exchanged for a Volkswagen Passat which I intend to keep for atleast 10+ years.

My purchase philosophy (not just for cars but for other items also) is buy the best you can afford and hold on to it for long. My way of implementing "reduce, reuse, recycle". But I have one other compelling automotive reason: the annoying speed alerts . I bought my car just before the deadline for the implementation of those alerts. Anything newer I replace this with will have those, kind of dissuades me from changing!

[F150]

I currently own a 2015 Skoda Rapid TDi DSG, with 30K kms on the ODO.
I originally planned to retain it for 7 yrs.

But, the incremental value, that I am gaining in purchasing a new car, is diminishing every day with prices going up.

Now I intend to retain it for 10 yrs, provided DSG doesn't give up.

[84.monsoon]

I voted 6-7 years. I think this depends on the point in the model’s lifecycle when one buys the car. I have always preferred to be first in line when a new generation is introduced. I bought the Polo in May 2010 and the Ecosport in July 2013, literally the same month these cars were launched as brand-new models globally (not just in India). This helped to make sure they are fresh even years down the line. I see people still lining up to but literally the same cars with mild facelifts, 7-10 years later. Instead if I had bought a Swift or a CRV then, my cars would have looked so aged today and I would have felt compelled to change them a lot earlier.

So, buying a model as close as possible to a global launch and keeping it for around 7 years seems to be a good balance of freshness and novelty. Now waiting for the VW/Skoda Vision IN cars which should be fresh and hot off the press next year.

[Axe77]

While I voted 8-9 years (currently my 3 GT is at 4.5+ yrs) but honestly that's more because this is my first premium german car and I will discover what it is like to own first hand. The car today feels really tight (touch wood) and if it doesn't give major gremlins (I can understand major maintenance over extended years) and remains reliable for city as well highway use, I will definitely keep it 10 years plus too. My relatively low kms is another advantage favouring extended ownership. I "may" add another different body style vehicle when the car approaches closer to 8 years or so just to have a newer car as a more primary vehicle. Maybe a Seltos / used CR-V sort of vehicle.

[Vysakh]

The 2011 1.6S has reached 9.5 years. 5 years with the previous owner doing 75000km and I could add only 40000 more in 4.5 years. The Duratec still feels like new and is revv happy as always. I don't plan to sell this one, ever.