How often do you buy a new vehicle?

[MSWR0319]

OP here, just curious what safety features you would upgrade for for those of you who said you'd upgrade for safety reasons?

[SnuggleBuggles]

My '99 Civic didn't have side air bags. I wanted those.

[hellokitty]

I upgraded my 2001 Ody to a 2009 Ody (but I bought it used in 2011) for the side curtain airbags. Had a family member who sustained a traumatic brain injury in a pre-side curtain airbag car and it still haunts me that if he would have gotten a new car (he was shopping for a new car, when he got T-boned by someone who ran a red light), he wouldn't have had to go through all of that. So, I'm like mega paranoid about the side curtain airbag thing, due to that particular incident, more than, "normal" ppl.

[lhafer]

I usually keep my cars about 10+ years, 125,000 miles+. My current car is 11 years old, 150,000 miles. I am thinking of getting a new one next year, but we have to see our financial condition. Repairs do get higher as they get older, but new cars also cost money, whether paid in cash or borrowed.

I think how long you keep a car depends on where you live and how much you drive. I put 180,000+ miles on my car in six years. I currently drive a 2012 and already have 52,000+ miles on it. I live in a VERY spread out city where driving from one end to the other takes 1.5 hours without traffic. It also is a car dependent city as we lack good public transportation. So I could not see keeping my car for that long just based on miles and needed a new transmission or something.

[MelissaTC]

My current vehicle is a 2008 (78k miles) and DH's 2005 (75k miles). I just spent $425 on repair and a new tire today. Spent $250 a few months ago to replace a faulty part that got chewed up by a critter. I'm already jonesing for a new car - just don't know what. Plus it's nice not having a car payment.

[KrisM]

OP here, just curious what safety features you would upgrade for for those of you who said you'd upgrade for safety reasons?

Our 04 Malibu only has headrests in the outboard seats. So once all the kids are out of booster, we can't use it for 5 of us since one would have no headrest. It's fine for DH though, since all 5 of us go in the minivan and he never has more than 2 kids with him.

[pinkmomagain]

We buy our cars new outright and then trade in every 3-5 years. Not sure that it makes total financial sense, but that's what we do.

[daisysmom]

I seem to be about 7 years. I just upgraded this year bc I wanted a rear camera and blue tooth (and we needed a third row and captains chairs in the second). Dh has a company car so his is new every 3 years.

[niccig]

My family never get new cars. Dad bought one last year when I was visiting, new from a dealer, and I nearly went into shock. Their other cars are all 15+ years old. DH's dad got a new lease every couple of years and Dh used to do the same. His Prius is now 10 years old and we're hoping for another 1-2 years until I'm working. My car is 2008 and I plan to keep it at least10 years too. We haven't had a car payment for over 2 years, and it's soooo nice to not have one.

[pastrygirl]

About 10 years, because that's when we start getting into 2K+ repairs. I've yet to pay that much for a repair; I usually trade in at that point because my trade-in is worth a little more (and so far have been able to pay cash). ETA: my last car had fewer than 100K miles at 10 years old.