Hey this is weird topic but I have to ask other people about this.
I bought my Toyota Yaris back in 2011, a really simple small car I was able to buy in cash without going in debt.
I wanted to replace this car so many years ago but everytime I searched for new cars it was the wrong time. For example when I changed my job, I didn’t want to go in debt. Or when Corona the prices skyrocket for simple cars I didn’t want to replace it.
Now, 13 years later I am still driving this car and today ( I am from Germany) it got through TÜV again. Good for me, I can still drive it around. I once again dont want to buy a new car now anyways (just built a house, got no money and expensive asf here).
But now I am at a point I dont ever want to replace it ever again. I want to get this car through so many TÜVs as possible and use it til it just dies.
It transported me to my first shift as a nurse, to my first night shifts, it transported me through my cancer back in 2013, it transported me to my first flight ever in Frankfurt and back, it never let me hanging. Heck, we crashed into three animals (two dears and a rabbit), someone opened the door against us at a parking lot on accident, we failed many times in parking houses cause of failing to stop and go on “ramps”…
And this thing is still running good. It needed one new battery replacement in all these years.
I feel really bad if I give it up one day. I dunno, it somehow feels like I’d lose a good friend at this point. The car itself really sucks, its slow on highways, it’s very loud, but come on… its doing what it should.
Like I am giving up my identity. I can’t give us up. I am at a point it’s a “us” and “we” and not a car. It is me.
Yeah it can’t get to 100 km/h in 3 seconds. In fact, it takes almost 15 seconds. But I’m fine and it’s fine with it too. If someone would trade my car against a newer car I am really not sure if I’d do it. I’d honestly have to think about it a while. It’s stupid because a new car would remove all my worries “what if it wont work tomorrow” but I’d still need time to think about it.
Is my behaviour somehow kind of pathological? Is this something really awkward? I am not even a “car” person. I couldn’t care less what I drive…
I currently ain’t in the position to replace it anyways, but in 2 or 3 years I will be and I am not sure if I will replace it or just try to get through the “TÜV” again and drive another few years.
I have friends that visit once a year from Berlin and Hamburg and every year they say: “Wow you are still driving that car?!” Yes, the seatbelt in the back has the green blue red marks that my friends drew on them when I picked them up from a party where they were totally drunk. My now wife (30 years old now) who was my girlfriend back then (17 years old) puked in that car when I picked her up from a party after my nightshift LOL.
This is insane because time flys… people I am saying it, time really flys.
I am with you on keeping it as long as you can. Have had two trucks that after I finished paying on I was fine with running as long as they would drive. Bluetooth adapter to get my phone on. Don’t need touch screen or heated seats or backup cameras.
With both my wife semi-forced my hand as she kept upgrading horse trailer, the primary reason for me owning trucks, until now I have a huge beast with a gooseneck trailer that I personally only put about 200 miles a year on. I think when it’s time for her car to be replaced I’ll take over the family car assignment and let her be the big truck person.
I get this. I have not had the particular experience with cars although I might if dodge was higher quality. I have had it with a bag, two jackets, a shirt, other things. Granted for me its often times that I can’t replace it with something exactly the same and I really like the particular item. I know that is not quite what you mean. More that you have it so long it becomes part of your life. This artist has had many about the car she got coming out of college which she painted to advertise her stuff and traveled to all the cons with https://thedevilspanties.com/archives/tag/car
Keep it maintained, rebuild the motor if it dies…no reason to buy a new car if you enjoy this one.
I have 3 supras with over 250k miles on them, have multiple 20+ year old Lexus cars with 200+k and daily drive a 100 series Landcrusier with 300k+ miles on it. Why buy new if old does just fine.
I mean, why replace it if it still works fine? Maybe start squirrelling away some money every month to put towards a newer car for shen it finally does die, but if I were you I’d keep using it.
My first car was a secondhand Toyota Corolla with five years on it and I ran it for another thirteen before the radiator was completely shot and my mechanic told me replacing that was more than the car was worth.
Feel you! I drive a 20 year old VW and it just goes and goes. Some repairs here and there, but it goes. Only thing that worries me is that the gearbox keeps getting worse so I might have to replace it one day. Otherwise, I have so many memories with the car if the engine breaks down I’ll probably just replace it.
As long as the car is safe, somewhat fuel efficient, and maintenance doesn’t cost you an arm and leg, it’s a smart decision to keep driving that old car. Nothing depreciates in value quite as quickly as new cars. Don’t worry too much about your friends’ comments. Cars are a status symbol, and people who don’t follow the mainstream consumerism of buying a fancy new model open themselves up to some remarks. But it doesn’t matter as long as you are happy with it.
I still own the car I learnt to drive, thirty years ago. My dad bought this VW beetle in 1970 and gave it to me when I was twenty. Not driven it for years but I can’t let go of it either.
Definitely hold on to it, original Beetles are cool.
And even though you haven’t driven it in years, I’m fairly sure it would be quite easy to get it running again.
It seems like you should keep the Yaris, even if you get a new car. That little guy is your trusty friend. Take care of it.
If it works, absolutely do not get rid of it. If you can afford to keep it and get a second vehicle or pass it on to someone you know. Because the moment you get a new vehicle it will have 1/100th the reliability and you’ll sorely miss it. Not that im saying “they were built better back then,” but something thats worked this long probably will keep working for a while (bathtub curve of failure)
I felt that way about many cars. They can be a part of your life and define you in odd ways. There are other cool versions of you out there when you are ready though. Don’t be scared to go find them.
I’m weird I guess, in that I have never really owned a normal car. Everything I got was cool and everything I owned I sold for more money than what I paid. Like my 71’ FJ40 over doubled its value over the years that I owned it. My last Camaro was like a totally different car with a different interior, motor, rear end, suspension, and supercharger. I started riding a bicycle everywhere to justify building that one for higher compression than pump gas supports and running a water injection setup on a street car. I was a real car nut that learned to paint cars and owned a body shop just because that is the one aspect of car culture that the fewest people are capable of doing.
Once upon a time I fell on hard times in a recession and had to leave said Camaro with a friend and move back across the country for awhile. It had a cracked block and I had no way to fix that on the fly. I got a job at a machine shop, built a new motor, got a $400 Fiero, fixed it, replaced the passenger seat with my motor and drove 2k miles to toss the motor in the Camaro without a cherry picker or anything but basic tools. I sold the Fiero and then drove the Camaro back 2k miles across the country while troubleshooting and tuning a fresh motor in a beast of a hotrod. That was an epic journey. I even had a ridiculous clutch issue where a stupidly designed plastic ring broke and wiped the disk in the middle of a native American reservation in New Mexico and I had to wait a week to get shipped a replacement, then pulled a trans on the side of the freeway and tossed in the clutch.
If I wasn't disabled now, I think I would find someone willing to part with a GC8 impreza with a modern STI swap (popular build to do in the USA, but not an actual vehicle that was ever imported here). That is one that will also appreciate with time. It is the best of all worlds as utility of a 4d, but it is by far the smallest impreza ever built and that light weight makes it a blast with a newer motor swap.
Cars that can be owned will be worth a lot more in the future based on the present trajectory of the world. Even if we start swapping engines for motors and batteries that is more valuable than anything new. New cars running proprietary software that is connected to the manufacturer cannot be owned completely and are not reparable. New cars are worthless long term and are already destroying the independent used car market. We still haven’t seen this end game but it is only a matter of time before cars become the new HP inkjet printers. It is already a situation where only the manufacturer’s dealer can service the car so when that stops, so does the car. There is no longer a possibility to buy something cheap or repairing it yourself. I can repair anything including reverse engineering electrical hardware, but not the entire software stack.
In that sense, keeping anything you can actually own is an investment in yourself and your future. Citizens in a democracy are never asked to trust others and sign away their autonomy. Not owning tools and property while trusting others is feudalism. In the present way the world is changing, your old car has far more value than you may realize right now.
My yaris is a 2007. So I feel you, very much :)
We have a 15 year old Yaris that I’m pretty sure my 1 year old will learn to drive on in another 15 years 😂 I remember the feeling selling my first car too, it was a weird attachment after being the first “big purchase” I had ever made in my life. That car will have a lot of years left in it if you keep it maintained (although I’m not sure how the TUV you mention in your country works - I don’t think my country has anything comparable). The feeling of having no car payments is bliss - when our cars get paid off we just keep transferring the same payment amount into a savings account to help pay for a new car when the time comes.
Find a decent mechanic who will understand your goal of keeping the car running, reliable, and safe. Take the car for repairs there as necessary, but also learn to do work on it yourself.
Not an issue tbh. It’s nothing bad because you just don’t feel like servicing a loan, and i get that. It’s tiring and anxiety inducing considering the economy now. I do have that feeling too, as evidently i still driving a 20yo car. If it still run and if i can get it fixing, i’m gonna keep driving it until the day it cause an irreparable issue.
Also, i swear Toyota doesn’t make car as good as their late 2000s/early 2010s car do. Thing around that time is a beast.
People making fun of you are just stupid, you’re definitely few hundred buck richer every month without servicing that loan you gonna sign into. It’s financially and environmentally responsible
You can start saving now to buy a newer car once this one dies.
Normally I put back about 250 € for car a month. All that money I used after it got through the “TÜV” for my house construction. I am saving again now though… it will be fine the next two years and even if it breaks down now my father would buy me a new car and I’d pay him back instead. But honestly that isn’t my plan. I don’t want to rely on his money.
You can always step your way up in car, it’s tedious but doable. If you sell your car + 6 months to a year of saving you can get a better car, then do it again in a year. Cars less than 10k don’t really depreciate that fast, so you aren’t losing a significant amount of money.