Average car age on the increase - what’s yours?

[Datsuncog]

Average fleet age: 23.6 years old.

[LightBulbFun]

theres been a thread on this before

https://autoshite.com/topic/32989-shiters-average-chod-age-where-on-the-spectrum-are-you/

(and a couple ones older then that that I discovered while digging that one up! much like the cars on this forum, nothing is new it seems )

 

my daily driver will be 49 in November!

[beko1987]

I did this wrong, I went from a 23 year old car to a 16 year old car 😂

[Sham]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

theres been a thread on this before

https://autoshite.com/topic/32989-shiters-average-chod-age-where-on-the-spectrum-are-you/

(and a couple ones older then that that I discovered while digging that one up! much like the cars on this forum, noting is new it seems )

 

my daily driver will be 49 in November!

That stretches the term "daily driver" a bit, no?

My only car is 15 years old, so still above the average, but rather modern really.

[mk2_craig]

10 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Sounds old, but I realise I had no idea if it was - UK it turns out is 9.4, and EU as a whole about 12

It would be interesting to see how this has changed over time, was the average age any lower in the late 1980s when annual new car sales were probably a higher proportion of total vehicles on the road?

[Marina door handles]

I am currently switching between my 1994 Rover 827 and my 1999 Subaru, which gives an average of 28.5 years... When I get the 2005 Freelander back on its wheels that will bring the average down to just 25.6 ...... 

[Dobloseven]

Six cylinder and Mrs6C may take a while!

Ours are 8,10 and 36.So an average of just over17.

[HMC]

3 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

Six cylinder and Mrs6C may take a while!

[ProgRocker]

With some mental number crunching I'd say my average is around 12 or 13 years. Current one was bought at 3 years old and is now 7.

[Snipes]

8 hours ago, Three Speed said:

Ignoring my wife’s 8year old Golf, mine come in at 51, 54, 66 and 74, averaging 61. The majority of the miles are shared between the youngest and the oldest which average out at 63.

No cheating!

[Metal Guru]

21 and 4 , so 12.5 average.

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, Dobloseven said:

Six cylinder and Mrs6C may take a while!

Ours are 8,10 and 36.So an average of just over17.

We would need help and a super computer! 

Recently I have been driving 4 cars 9, 24, 53 and 92 years old. 

[Supernaut]

My two are 14 and 27

So an average of 20.5

[rusty_vw_man]

Long term trend data wise I can’t find anything pre early 90s - when we were at 6.7 years old .

The yanks seem to have better long term data which for them at least shows that back in the 70s average was only around 7 years old. 

[rusty_vw_man]

27 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

We would need help and a super computer! 

Recently I have been driving 4 cars 9, 24, 53 and 92 years old. 

I love the casual 92 at the end there!! 

[motorpunk]

52, 23 and 13, so 30ish average. Running costs are inversely proportionate to age.

[grogee]

37, 30 and 17:

28 years average 

[83C]

12 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Mrs RVM is Finnish and was struck by this article that the average age of Finnish cars is now 14 years - and there annual sales rate is about half what it needs to be to reduce that, so it’s only going up - 

https://yle.fi/a/74-20172016

Sounds old, but I realise I had no idea if it was - UK it turns out is 9.4, and EU as a whole about 12, although honourable mention to Estonia with a 17 year old average  

So what we’re saying is that on average everybody’s cars here and in Europe are all life expired, need major work and aren’t worth anything?

sierramanmode/off

1, 15, 18, 19, 20, 24 and the bonus ball 25 to give an average of 14.83 17.43 for me, the 19 and 20 yr olds being my daily drivers.

Edit: forgot the 15 yr old Polo.

[danthecapriman]

24 minutes ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Long term trend data wise I can’t find anything pre early 90s - when we were at 6.7 years old .

The yanks seem to have better long term data which for them at least shows that back in the 70s average was only around 7 years old. 

It’d be interesting to see how that graph would work over a similar one for the economy. 
At a quick glance, it looks like age began to rise around the recession (2008ish). I think it’s got much more to do with how flush people are feeling at the time rather than the cars themselves. Obviously easy credit and lease deals will have an effect too.

[rusty_vw_man]

1 minute ago, danthecapriman said:

It’d be interesting to see how that graph would work over a similar one for the economy. 
At a quick glance, it looks like age began to rise around the recession (2008ish). I think it’s got much more to do with how flush people are feeling at the time rather than the cars themselves. Obviously easy credit and lease deals will have an effect too.

I reckon you’re right, if you’ve not got as much spare cash a new car slips down the list. 

The trade bodies seem to be attributing the latest rise to the cost of living, and also potentially a reluctance to buy electric yet - I.e. let’s see how the early adopters get on before we all rush in. 

I’ve seen a shift away from company cars as well, which were typically under 5 years old, to car allowances which allow more flexibility. 

Apparently it is contributing to a rise in breakdown services and a boost to independent garages as people don’t feel the need for main dealer services for their ageing heap. 

[danthecapriman]

18 minutes ago, rusty_vw_man said:

I reckon you’re right, if you’ve not got as much spare cash a new car slips down the list. 

The trade bodies seem to be attributing the latest rise to the cost of living, and also potentially a reluctance to buy electric yet - I.e. let’s see how the early adopters get on before we all rush in. 

I’ve seen a shift away from company cars as well, which were typically under 5 years old, to car allowances which allow more flexibility. 

Apparently it is contributing to a rise in breakdown services and a boost to independent garages as people don’t feel the need for main dealer services for their ageing heap. 

When I was working at SSE, the managers all had company cars. They were usually on a 3 or 5 year lease but not long before I left loads of them stopped renewing the leases and went for car allowance instead. I’m sure I remember something changing regarding company car allowance/tax or something like that. 
Most of them went for stuff like Mondeo’s or up to Octavia’s, A4’s etc but when the change came in very few of them got new ones because they became considerably more expensive. 
One guy I remember bought a 57 reg Focus estate and ran that instead.

[HMC]

As we a talking stats, its fair to say we would be statistical outliers. age is a badge of honour and nothing to be shamed over- thats a fundamental difference.

My a level maths is failing me- is  an outliier greater than +/- 2 standard deviations from the mean? 🤓😜

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

Ours are all very, very young.

Average 19.23 years

 

[chaseracer]

43/22/21/20: avg= 27ish

[Stinkwheel]

Have only counted the 4 wheeled conveyances, not bikes but average = 33 years

[mk2_craig]

2 hours ago, rusty_vw_man said:

Long term trend data wise I can’t find anything pre early 90s - when we were at 6.7 years old .

The yanks seem to have better long term data which for them at least shows that back in the 70s average was only around 7 years old. 

Would be great to see how, say, Germany compares - difference being that disposal of used cars is unlike the UK due to there’s neighbouring countries on the same land mass with (1) steering wheel on the same side (2) more relaxed approaches to vehicle roadworthiness

[MiniMinorMk3]

2018 MINI Cooper  7

2008 Ford Focus   17

1997 Rover Mini Cooper   28

1971 Innocenti Mini Minor   54

Average age 26.5 years, a drop on last year. Next year it will be 27.5 years, so it will be increasing again.

 

Last year

2008 MINI Cooper Clubman   16

2008 Ford Focus   16

1997 Rover Mini Cooper   27

1971 Innocent Mini Minor   53

AVerage   28 Years.

 

2023

2008 MINI Cooper Clubman   15

2008 Ford Focus   15

1997 Rover Mini Cooper   26

1971 Innocent Mini Minor   52

AVerage   27 Years.

 

 

2022

2008 MINI Cooper Clubman   14

2008 Ford Focus   14

1997 Rover Mini Cooper   25

1971 Innocent Mini Minor   51

AVerage   26 Years.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Current fleet average is 44 years, my sensible modern* daily is 24 years old.

My neighbours all think that I drive old cars because I am poor. The truth, of course, is that I am poor because I drive old cars.

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, mk2_craig said:

Would be great to see how, say, Germany compares - difference being that disposal of used cars is unlike the UK due to there’s neighbouring countries on the same land mass with (1) steering wheel on the same side (2) more relaxed approaches to vehicle roadworthiness

I can guarantee you that the average age of cars is higher unless the numbers get skewed by VW and co. registering huge numbers of cars just to unload stock at certain times. A look into any average town or city will show more older cars in better shape.

Edit: Despite the above the average age is only slightly higher:

[kevins]

aversge of ours is 35.8, swayed a little by our modern car (15 years old).