I came across an AA article that studied the standard ownership length of car owners.
It would appear that most owners keep their cars for only 4 years !
As a side note most cars are scrapped at 16 years of age.
So I was wondering what is the shortest / longest you have owned a car for ?
My shortest ownership is 12 months (fiat 127 scrapped) and longest is 5 years (Astra 1.6l part ex'd)
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Shortest: Ford Fiesta 1.1 (about 18 months in the 1980's, dreadful car)
Longest: Nissan Primera 2.0 SE Auto (9 and a half years and 120k miles from new, lovely car)
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Shortest one week - Rover 200, a thoroughly vile little thing. Lost £100 quid on it and worth every penny to see the horrible little heap drive away.
Longest 6 1/2 years, Mondeo 1.8 diesel, fantastic car.
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Shortest: 20 minutes. Back in the 90s working at a car bodyshop I bought a V-reg Honda Accord from a customer for 20 quid and sold it to a colleague for 30 quid in the same teabreak.
Shortest realistic: 9 days. Bought a B-reg Sierra that was bodily falling apart for £700, its engine seized just over a week later.
Longest: 3 years. Y-reg Vx Cavalier 1990-1993, new Y-reg Skoda Octavia 2001-2004, R-reg Ford Escort 2008-2011.
Bought my ex Mrs a '99 Mondeo in 2003, she only scrapped it 9 years later in Aug 2012. And my dad's had his 04/53 Merc for 8 years so far.
Last edited by: Dave_TiD on Sun 14 Apr 13 at 23:09
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Longest; my GMC pick-up. Bought in 2005, still own it. Had my BMW 525 for 4 years, longest I've owned a "daily drive" car; sold it to a friend who still runs it and I really wish i'd kept it rather than buy the Hyundai Coupe.
Shortest; a Morris Marina 1.3 Coupe which I suffered for a couple of months in the late 1980's. Not the most unpleasant car I ever owned (that title went to a Citroen ZX) but by far the biggest heap; fifty quid was a lot of brass then!
On two wheels; I still own the 1972 Harley Sportster I bought in 1999. In my Army days there were a good few I owned for a matter of weeks or even days, as I used to buy them from soldiers being posted and sell them on to a motorcycle dealer in Reading. Back then you could have a Norwich Union "rider" policy and own as many as you liked within reason. Most were Japanese 250's but another "one that got away" was a beautiful MV Agusta 350 which I fondly remember as being the sweetest-handling bike I ever rode.
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It would appear that most owners keep their cars for only 4 years
Most owners? Or is that an average that includes Dave's 20 minutes and people like Cliff who measure ownership in geological strata?
Funnily enough, I've owned one car for eight years and the other for one - average four-and-a-half. And the last one we sold went on the eve of its fourth anniversary.
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Shortest - Ford Prefect, about two years.
Longest - Peugeot 205GTi, Thirteen in use, but still SORN in the garage eight years later.
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Shortest was a Saab 9-3 HOT Aero Estate, which I had about 2 months. It was a company car, and I resigned (to go to a better job) only a few days after receiving it.
The Saab ended up as a pool car!!!!
Longest has to be my current Landcruiser. It does everything well and has never broken down, so I just keep it. Even my local Toyota dealer's prices are reasonable - a major service and MOT last week cost £300. Minor service and MOT comes out at £240.
Last edited by: Tigger on Mon 15 Apr 13 at 05:16
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It occurs to me that many fleet cars are on 4 year deals - or does the survey only cover private motorists?
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>> So I was wondering what is the shortest / longest you have owned a car
>> for ?
Shortest ~ 3 months ~ 20 years old 1936 Wolseley 14. Sold because (amongst other things!) of a hole in the top of one of the pistons.
Longest ~ 8.5 years ~ 2003 Ford Focus.
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Shortest 2 months - Rover 216, HGF at 30k miles and less than 3 years old, followed by an Audi 80 which I got rid of after 7 months as the main dealers could not solve the over cooling then over heating problem. That car would run 20 to 30 miles without the temp gauge moving, cold air coming through the heater, two minutes in traffic and it would be whistling it's head off, steam coming from under the bonnet and recently erupted lava temp coming out of the heater. Suspect it was the heater matrix as everything else had been replaced.
Longest: current car which I've had since Nov. 2006.
We still have my wife's CBR600 which she bought back in 1999, it's a '97 model.
Last edited by: gmac on Mon 15 Apr 13 at 08:14
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3 cars all owned 2.5 years: Daewoo Matiz SE+ from new, Suzuki Carry from new and my lilac Daihatsu Charade which I bought at 5 years old. Have had current car nearly a year now, no itch to change it as yet...
Fastest was a Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0, bought for £80 in the morning, sold it for £200 in the afternoon.
I had a Jaguar for a couple months, drove it around then sold it for £250 over what I paid for it and took a Rover 600 in part ex and sold that to a trader the same day for £50 profit.
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Longest: Current 2003 Golf mk4 TDI. 5 years next month.
Shortest: 1999 Golf GTI 1.8T. 8 months. No reflection on the car. I got a company motor, and it became surplus to requirements.
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Shortest was a Citroen BX bought new in the 80's - outed it within 6 month.
Longest was a Volvo 240 GLT - the towbar made it even longer.
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Shortest, 1996 Fiesta bought in 2008 for £350, I quickly realised it was a rusted death trap and got rid of it after just one month.
Longest - Currently just under three years, my 2010 Panda bought from new.
Apart from my Panda I have never owned any car for more than a year.
My 1999V Corsa - 11 months (head gasket blew)
My first Fiesta - 10 months (engine died)
My third Fiesta - 2 months (actually mad dads, but he was injured and couldn't drive, so why waiting for my Panda I transferred it into my name)
Hopefully I will keep my Panda a while yet to make up for it!
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Not sure what the longest car my dads has owned, it is probably the N reg Escort which he had for five years from 2002 to 2007 or the N reg Punto which he had for just under four years before writing it off in 2002. Actually just realised his longest owned car was the Lada, an E reg bought in 1992 and scrapped early 1998.
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Shortest a 1960s Viva 1156cc auto... 1 week.
Longest my recent 3yr C5 lease... and my excellent Xantia 1.9TD for a similar period about 8yrs ago.
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I suppose we're all to a greater or lesser extent "guilty" of changing cars too often. Boredom, fear of expensive repairs, change of needs, whatever the justification we apply, the probable truth remains that we often bail out far too early.
My own theory, which I can't claim to have ever fully followed, would be to buy a 3 year old well cared for example of a car ( so some other schmuck gets hit with the hefty depreciation ) and which fits all my current and predicted criteria and keep it maintained and running until it finally disintegrates.
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>> My own theory, which I can't claim to have ever fully followed, would be to
>> buy a 3 year old well cared for example of a car ( so some
>> other schmuck gets hit with the hefty depreciation ) and which fits all my current
>> and predicted criteria and keep it maintained and running until it finally disintegrates.
>>
Did something similar with our current car, a Saab 9-5 Aero estate automatic with "the lot", including ventilated leather seats. Paid £10,500 for it in 2007 at three and a half years old and still have it. Had 71,000 on the clock when it arrived, was chipped at 90,000+, and now on 191,000. Worth peanuts now due to mileage and the whole Saab bit, but all the toys still work and it runs sweet as a nut. The fuel consumption is a bit of a hit at 27 on local runs and 33 on a journey, but because of the virtually zero depreciation it's cheap to run.
Can't remember how much I paid for it, but I had a 1987 Saab 9000i poverty spec model which I ran for 10 years, it owed me nothing but cost so little to run over the years once it had fully depreciated.
Shortest ownership was a Cortina estate which I bought when I needed a cheap runaround having been made redundant, that lasted about 3 months.
I find I'm keeping cars longer as I get older, perhaps a change in balance between head and heart decisions kicks in at a certain age? Certainly my 9-5 estate does everything I need, but just sometimes I think I wouldn't mind a change - then common sense and the spreadsheet prevails!
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Shortest.. Standard 8 Bought day1 (with an Austin A30) Sold next day. Profit £10.
Longest: SWMBO's Peugeot 106 - which she trashed outside our gate.. her fault. 17 year old..
Last edited by: madf on Mon 15 Apr 13 at 10:20
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Shortest - 4 weeks, Alfa 33 1.7, cambelt snapped and destroyed the engine.
Longest - 4.5 years, VW Touran 1.9 TDI. Traded in for a new one of the same, but with DSG. Which then got traded after 2 years because of the DSG.
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Shortest: 1/2 hour. Saab 96. Bought for spares, nearly collapsed on trip home, scrapped on arrival.
Longest: Ferguson tractor. 29 years so far.
Most of my cars - about 10 years.
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Just worked out the average ownership length for Mrs F and self.... 13mths.
(2 people, 72 cars, 39yrs)
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Shortest was my first, a 73 Mini 1000 bought in 1982. Kept it a year before rust an it's tiring nature on long journeys had it replaced with a Pug 104ZS.
Longest, 14yrs. 91/H BX diesel estate, ex fleet car, bought at two years/60k in April 93. Scrapped in 2005 when steering rack failed MoT with warnings about numerous other parts. No fast but a supremely capable and reliable load lugger.
Current Xantia, bought new in 2000, is getting near same timeline. Lovely car but it's cost a lot to keep on road in last 18months. Anything else major might be end of it. Mileage wise its 2.5k short of 150.
Berlingo, bought on 2005 to replace the BX, will almost certainly be run into ground. Currently on 130k.
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I still have the Land Cruiser I bought new in Jan 1994 from Abbey Toyota in Eastbourne.
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Average value is misleading because that will be heavily affected by very short and very long ownership numbers.
Median age of ownership is better indicator.
I also wonder how the figures differ for longer warranty manufacturers like Kia.
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Shortest, 14 months, a Vauxhall Frontera as I was fed up with the faults.
Longest, 29 years, a Morgan 4/4.
I tend to keep daily drivers for at least 6 years and will have had the three wheeler for 16 years in June.
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Shortest: Citroen C4 Grand Picasso - the seat gave me chronic back-ache.
Longest: Citroen 2CV - 15 years and counting (though it spends most of its time tucked up in the garage).
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Bought a mint ' old lady owned Polo ' at teatime...sold it for a considerable profit the same evening. I had the buyer horned up over it in advance !
Longest 41 yrs and counting...that'll mess the averages up !
Ted
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shortest = 6 weeks....Jaguar XJS 5.3 V12 auto....when I was 21 years old. I got rid for two reasons:
1,
I wasn't enjoying it, because I was worrying about it...will it get damaged by an oik when I park it? (it was immaculate, bright red, with black leather interior)...will something hideously expensive go wrong?.....so I worked out there's no point in having something you are not truly enjoying.
2,
I wanted to keep my job. I'd been in the Old Bill for 2 years and quite liked the idea of staying there...and knew the performance of the thing would get me in to some serious trouble...when you're comfort braking for the corners on a motorway (M5 between Bridgwater and Exeter), having just thrown sand in the face of a Camaro...you are going far too fast.
longest = 23 years.....Triumph 2000 mk1 auto..........still got it.
My 14 year old Jag S Type will go down that route now, as well...I've had it 11 years, it's 'sorned' in a shed in my garden.
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Shortest was a Mazda 626 L-reg - 12 months - poor quality, dull utilitarian car with expensive parts and terrible dealers.
Longest was BMW 525i SE C-reg - 6 years - bought when I was 19 - was immaculate, lovely smooth straight six, then it was smashed through a sign, (handling was terrible by today's standards), but continued to use for 9 months before selling for £60 to a ~70 year old sikh I saw at the side of the road working on a similar car.
I aim to keep cars ~5years before I get a bored.
Last edited by: sooty tailpipes on Mon 15 Apr 13 at 20:18
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>> Longest, 14yrs. 91/H BX diesel estate, ex fleet car, bought at two years/60k in April
>> 93. Scrapped in 2005 when steering rack failed MoT with warnings about numerous other parts.
>> No fast but a supremely capable and reliable load lugger.
>>
>> Current Xantia, bought new in 2000, is getting near same timeline. Lovely car but it's
>> cost a lot to keep on road in last 18months. Anything else major might be
>> end of it. Mileage wise its 2.5k short of 150.
>>
>> Berlingo, bought on 2005 to replace the BX, will almost certainly be run into ground.
>> Currently on 130k.
>>
Are those cars from a totally unreliable French manufacturer Brompt? You'll regret it you know ;-)
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What have you got lined upto replace the Xantia?
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>> What have you got lined upto replace the Xantia?
Probably another Berlingo, apart from Autotrader etc the local Cit specialist usually has one on his forecourt. He'd probably source me something if I asked.
Only reason not to is bikes and roof racks. I won't use tailgate mounted aberrations. Something on a towbar might suit but would be a long overhang.
Maybe aa Picasso would be a compromise.
Otherwise a Mondeo or other conventional estate.
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Alfasud for just under two years before writing it off via a hedge. 1984 Golf diesel for fifteen years.
alfalfa
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Average car ownership length - Londoner
