Ready For 10 Year Loans? Average Age For Vehicles On The Road Is Now 12 Years

The average age of a vehicle on U.S. roads has climbed to almost a dozen years.

It's part of a long-term trend of people holding on to their cars, trucks and SUVs longer, but the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to add even more pressure to this phenomenon, possibly pushing the average up four to six months compared with a more modest increase in recent years.

Todd Campau, associate director of aftermarket solutions for IHS Markit, which reported the findings, said the virus has created a "perfect storm" for this trend to continue.

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MDarringer - 7/28/2020 10:42:20 AM

0 Boost

People are in an entitlement mindset where they believe they deserve things they haven't earned, so I tell myself I deserve the Puramerda when I can only afford the Supercretino.

We have people buying Expeditions that can barely afford a base Explorer. People will put their down payment on a credit card.

qwertyfla1 - 7/28/2020 10:50:17 AM

-1 Boost

Anything over 36 months is utterly stupid unless it is a 0% finance deal for a longer term and you can park your money in another income vehicle/appreciating asset. The upcoming global depression (thanks to Covid and the Chinese) will grenade the subprime market and be the fuel for the next toxic asset class. How soon we forgot 2008 and the CDO clusterfuck...

MDarringer - 7/28/2020 12:00:04 PM

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36 is a pipe dream for most people, but 60 is 100% reasonable.

PUGPROUD - 7/28/2020 11:30:22 AM

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Financial suicide.

ricks0me - 7/28/2020 8:23:01 PM

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I gave my bought new 2006 Pontiac Vibe to my daughter years ago. She still has the car as it is approaching 200,000 miles. I have and continue to change the oil every 2000 miles since the car was new. The car is starting to show signs of it's age. If I didn't baby the car, I don't think it would still be on the road.
Most people don't take care of a car like that and the car would be dead before the 10 year loan is paid off.
I am with Matt on this one: 36 is a pipe dream for most people, but 60 is 100% reasonable.

qwertyfla1 - 7/29/2020 6:52:05 AM

+1 Boost

Rick

That Vibe is a Corolla -the worlds most reliable car (Toyota DNA) and is good for 300M easy and probably way more if you changed the tranny fluid regularly. I've seen them with 800KM still going strong and the bodies will rust out before the driveline goes.

If people can't swing 36 months then they should be buying something much cheaper and used. My first house was a POS in a bad neighborhood but I gutted it and had it paid off in 3 years and sold it for a $85K profit. I am old school in my thinking and it is against my principal to pay interest.