Americans are Hanging on to Their Cars Longer

Posted Friday, July 31st 2015 @ 6am  by iHeartMedia’s Dale Forbis

American consumers are buying new cars in record numbers, but we’re apparently still driving the old ones until they fall apart. The trick is, they don’t fall apart as much.

KTRH Car Pro Jerry Reynolds says the reason is simple.

“Cars are just better today than they have been,” the KTRH Car Pro says. “This is a trend we have been seeing in the industry for over a decade and I think the results of that are just showing up right now.”

The average car speeding down American highways is 11 and a half years old. That’s sets a record.

“We’ll probably knock that number down,” he says. “That’s a record at 11 and a half years. I suspect that number will go down.”

The numbers mean the people buying new cars are also hanging on to the old ones. Unlike the 1970s, some of those cars are just getting broken in when the odometer passes 100,000 miles.

Americans are Hanging on to Their Cars Longer