TUCSON, Ariz. - Older cars are ruling the road.
People are holding onto to their cars longer than ever before.
People may love the cars from the good old days. They're great to look at but younger old cars, maybe ten or fifteen years old are the ones taking care of the business of life day after day.
Now a new survey by the business data firm IHS Markit says more drivers are keeping more old cars on the road.
The average age is 11.8 years. Here in the West, we keep cars the longest: 12.4 years.
Jennifer Chronister says she spent about five hundred dollars to get this old Pontiac for a work car. She knows relatively modern cars hold up well enough to stay on the road a long time.
"My personal car is a newer car but I bought it used as well. But I think they last a lot longer.">
At Brakemax on Pantano, John Amstutz was working on a car from 2001. He says cars ten to fifteen years old are better made than cars of the past and that helps them stay on the road with mileage that used to send cars to the junkyard.
But he does not recommend reaching back to a car from say, the late 90s.
“Those older cars, availability of parts is getting harder. A lot of times, say, I have a 2002 Pontiac a lot of those parts are discontinued through GM now."
There will come a time where you take a look at your car and you have to make a calculation. Does it make sense to keep pouring money into this thing to keep it running or does it make more sense to get a new car, or more likely a newer used car.
But the price of a new car and the long loan you may need to pay for one steer more drivers to test just how long a modern car will hold up.
