Average US vehicle age hits record 12.6 years as high prices force people to keep them longer

[pizzadude]

Cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. keep getting older, hitting a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people hang on to their vehicles largely because new ones cost so much.

S&P Global Mobility, which tracks state vehicle registration data nationwide, said Wednesday that the average vehicle age grew about two months from last year's record.

But the growth in average age is starting to slow as new vehicle sales start to recover from pandemic-related shortages of parts, including computer chips. The average increased by three months in 2023

https://apnews.com/article/average-vehicle-age-record-prices-high-5f8413179f077a34e7589230ebbca13d

[Thomas_Thumb]

Thanks for the article. I would disagree that vehicles are made better (meaning more reliable) today. From my perspective build quality peaked a decade ago.

Cars should be built to last. It is better for the pocketbook and for our limited resources. Kept my 1993 Camry V6 for 13 years. Traded it in for a 2006 Honda Accord V6 hybrid which I sold after 16 years.

[pizzadude]

Agree, I'm not sure that newer cars are more reliable overall given that most now have hundreds of component parts which could be subject to failure.  

Also it should be noted the 12.6 years number is based on "state vehicle registration data" which would skew this number towards the newer side.  Many, many people are driving unregistered / expired cars and these would all skew older if the total population of vehicles is taken into consideration.

[xenon3030]

No clear conclusion can be made from it. There are floods of new cards into the market with lots of incentives and the people that can afford it, jump on such offers. The older cards would also stay with the people at much lower costs (and also less insurance cost). So, by removing the oldest cars that cannot pass safety parameters and add the new cars to the market, it is hard to say anything by reviewing only the average age of the cars in the market.

The public transportation quality does not meet the expectation of several individuals. The other alternatives such as Uber/Lyft have also several issues. So, several people prefer to buy their own car, even for short distance commute. It is very good, if there would be several investments on public transportatations. Several good models exist in the other countries. 

[Gollum]

The average age of my registered vehicles is 15 years: one has a custom engine and is 29 years old and the other is one year old.

[MissLiz]

I have a 2004 Toyota Sequoia with 300,000 miles and a 2016 VW Jetta, both in outstanding mechanical condition. I plan to use them until the wheels (literally) fall off, so this data tracks with my household. 

[ptatohed]

Still rocking my 21 yo 2003 Acura TL daily driver / beater.  

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@ptatohed wrote:

Still rocking my 21 yo 2003 Acura TL daily driver / beater.  

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That's crazy! Where's your head at?

(No offense spud)

[ptatohed]

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@ptatohed wrote:

Still rocking my 21 yo 2003 Acura TL daily driver / beater.  

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That's crazy! Where's your head at?

(No offense spud)

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T_T,

I have other / nicer cars.  The TL is my daily commuter.  It keeps on ticking!  

[Thomas_Thumb]

Yeah, I have a 2007 Toyota Highlander as a daily driver and a 2018 Audi A6 3.0T as my nicer car. Just couldn't resist messing with your @ptatohed