Average car lifespan

[CortinaDave]

Driving home tonight around 20 miles through fairly heavy traffic, my 52 plate MG was the oldest car of any I passed, despite me still not considering it a particularly old motor.

 

Made me wonder... What is the average lifespan of a car these days? And what sort of percentage of cars built in say 2002 are on the road now ?

 

This is the sort of rubbish that fills my head when I'm stuck in traffic.

[Eddie Honda]

14.7 years*

 

*Obviously made up.

 

Have a butchers:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2017

 

9.1 year for Pez. 6.6 for Diz.

[CortinaDave]

That seems crazily low but I guess most of us on here live in a different world to joe public when it comes to what they consider an "old" car.

[Tamworthbay]

I pick my daughter up and wait at the bus stop for her every night. To pass the time I often play the stupid game of how many cars go past before one older than mine (R reg). I have gone a week before on one occasion. The road is through a very busy retail park and there are very few gaps in the traffic and I am usually there for 10-15 minutes.

[Kiltox]

About 10 years less than the average Autoshiter’s daily driver?

[Jazoli]

It seems crazy to me too, my Avensis is a 55 plate and still seems like a modern car to me yet it's the oldest in the staff car park despite me being one of the highest paid.

 

Most of them think I'm loaded because I have a Jaguar, I've not the heart to tell them it cost me 500 quid, I do have an 18 plate bike to balance things out but it's only rented.

 

I commented to the wife last night as we were following some 14 plate Peugeot thing that it was already 5 years old but looked brand new, I find it hard to believe it would only have a lifespan of 5 more years.

[theshadow]

less up here with the amount of non insured feckers up here who get pulled over,are crash do a runner quite common now

[mrbenn]

SMMT suggests 14 years which seems a more reasonable figure:

 

https://www.smmt.co.uk/industry-topics/sustainability/average-vehicle-age/

[BorniteIdentity]

I think it’s about 15 years - which, absurdly, means we’re about to see people start chucking away the first of the MK2 Focus’ and MK5 Astras in bigly numbers.

 

I do 100 miles a day and I’m frequently the oldest relic en route. The Avensis is 20 years old in August.

[Kiltox]

I think it’s about 15 years - which, absurdly, means we’re about to see people start chucking away the first of the MK2 Focus’ and MK5 Astras in bigly numbers.

 

I do 100 miles a day and I’m frequently the oldest relic en route. The Avensis is 20 years old in August.

1.6 TDCI Focus and 1.9 CDTi Astras are way ahead of you on that front I reckon

[rml2345]

14 years seems about right given what my local breakers seems to pick up. At 24 and 28 the Volvos are well past the average but not far beyond their designed lifespan. Even the Mini (still for sale BTW!) is doing well at 15-16 years.

[captain_70s]

Even when I had the '05 Civic it was often the oldest car in a row at a car park, the fact I considered it a modern car used to baffle people...

[Eddie Honda]

SMMT suggests 14 years which seems a more reasonable figure:

 

https://www.smmt.co.uk/industry-topics/sustainability/average-vehicle-age/

Which is somewhere around the first figure I plucked out of my arse.

 

Because that is the ave age at scrappage, not the average age. Two different measurements.

[mercrocker]

Oh no.   Does all this mean I have to look at Jukes for at least another 12 years?

[Lacquer Peel]

I guess some of the newer cars with parts that are in demand don't even see public scrapyards.

[willswitchengage]

Counter-intuitively, vehicles are actually getting... older!

 

There's some interesting data (only four years admittedly) and fancy graphics on here:

 

https://www.acea.be/statistics/tag/category/average-vehicle-age

 

Britain has the least old fleet of any EU country other than Belgium and Luxembourg. Weirdly commercial vehicles tend to have a longer lifespan - odd as I thought emissions legislation got old ones off the road quickly, and they fundamentally never really stop driving so tend to wear out quicker.

[PhilA]

Vehicles tend to have a longer lifespan here, mainly because the annual test is either not a thing or significantly less rigorous than there.

Plus down south here the roads never see any salt so usually the car is bodywork sound and mechanically shot by the time it's parked up under the proverbial tree.

 

It's not uncommon to see 15-20 year old vehicles in use here. There's less OMGNEWCAR snobbery too because vehicles hold their value better with less artificial depreciation. My 2007 pickup truck is still valued over eight* grand, 37k new.

 

Phil

 

 

*Just went check KBB

[mk2_craig]

I would be interested to know what proportion of vehicles registered new in the U.K. are subsequently exported for further use in another country rather than broken up.

[Schaefft]

The UK really is an extreme case, used car values here are so low that people rather just buy a new car (or lets say a year or two old) than keep anything on the road once it needs a bigger repair. The only other country I can think of where used cars are this cheap is Japan. Go figure.

[treehugger]

Not as old as our trains....................................          

[Schaefft]

I would be interested to know what proportion of vehicles registered new in the U.K. are subsequently exported for further use in another country rather than broken up.

 

A much smaller one than in any other comparable country in the world I would say, why would anyone buy a cheap rhd car if they can get them from Japan? The rest wants lhd cars they find in Europe pretty much everywhere. Hence the extreme oversupply of used cars and their low value here.

[Yoss]

Not as old as our trains....................................          

You'll wish we kept the old ones if you see some of the new trains coming out. As they know most passengers are a captive audience they've decided to make all the interiors as cheap and nasty as possible. But anyway we have another thread for that.

[richardmorris]

I play a similar game driving up to my parents in north wales from Surrey. I am usually the oldest thing on the road, even in my daily Mercedes which is 25 this year. I’ve had it 7years next month, and it was rare to see an M reg even in 2012.

 

It’s often rare to see prefix regd cars these days. Round here in north surrey, anything older than 59 is rare. One of my neighbours has an M reg MX5 ( not moved in years), the next oldest is a 57reg clk merc and the others are virtually brand new.

[sutty2006]

I think looking after them has a strong indication of the average life. People buy a car and tend to run it from MOT to MOT without spending anything.....not even a service. It faults, they buy another. People who look after their cars on a regular basis will see a much higher lifespan out of their car. My Carlton is 26 years old and still feels like a really well looked after car. It’s had 2 oil changes in the 12 months I’ve had it. Simply lovely

[bigstraight6]

There seem to be plenty of cars way over the smmt average mentioned earlier down in the Westcountry, both of our 2 daily drivers are for starters, and most days I see a fair few 20 year olds still doing daily duties. Things have come a long way since the 80’s when sub 10 year old Cortinas and British Leyland stuff were just about being kept on the road held together with chicken wire and wob.

I think this is a golden age for the shite enthusiast, with a good choice of reasonably well made used vehicles that are well capable over doing well over 14 years if LOOKED AFTER!, I think we should enjoy it while we can as the coming electric ‘revolution’ will bring a whole load of new challenges...

[GrumpiusMaximus]

My '05 Golf is frequently the oldest car in my car park at work (we have several) and there are a couple of older cars on site.  With that said, there are a few '08 and '09 cars usually parked with mine.  Then some much newer stuff - but not much in between.

[willswitchengage]

The UK really is an extreme case, used car values here are so low that people rather just buy a new car (or lets say a year or two old) than keep anything on the road once it needs a bigger repair. The only other country I can think of where used cars are this cheap is Japan. Go figure.

 

When I traveled the old USSR this summer 90% of the second hand cars over there were ex-German or Dutch - often they kept their old D / NL stickers and on commercial vehicles their old owners were easily recognisable as they often never bothered to delete the old brands. Great advertising for Willi Betz etc.

 

Other than commercial vehicles to Africa I assume the majority of British stuff just gets scrapped. Our cold and wet climate probably keeps corrosion as a big killer. I guess the value of a car as scrap when it's been a heavy MOT failure etc is greater than its potential value to export it. Japanese cars profligate as they are in far better condition when no longer wanted by the local population.

[catsinthewelder]

Don't forget that the 11 year old figure is the average age of a car not the expected lifespan.  Cars I see on motorway trips are far newer than what I think of as middle aged cars that fill up the roads out here in the sticks.  Its noticable in the stats linked to above that vans on the mainland last longer than cars.  In the UK and Ireland they have shorter lives probably due to the popularity of the Ford Transit and cost of welding.

[fordperv]

Simply lovely

Plenty in the tank sir

[bub2006]

Plenty in the tank sir

Bloody good shot.