The average age of U.S. cars continues to rise, breaking record after record. It’s now 11.6 years, according to IHS Automotive.

In Love with Their Ride

2016 saw a 2.4 percent increase in the number of cars registered in the U.S. More than 6.2 million valid registrations are now in service, making the total number of cars on the road 264 million.

Length of Ownership Grows Too

Because these higher-quality cars are lasting longer, there’s no need to trade them in for a newer model. Consumers are keeping their cars for longer than ever — 79.3 months, on average, at the end of 2015. That’s another record, an increase in 1.5 months from the prior year.

Why Keep Driving Your Car?

A longer average vehicle life span is good news for car owners.

From a financial standpoint, the longer you can drive your car, the better. It’s easy to get distracted by the shiny bells and whistles featured on newer models, but make sure you count the cost of trading in your old vehicle.

You have to pay taxes. You have to worry about depreciation. You have to pay all the fees that go along with registering a car. You have to pay higher auto insurance rates. Depending on the car you choose, you’ll probably have a major car payment, or you’ll have to part with quite a bit of hard-earned cash.

Invest a bit into keeping up your older, just-as-dependable car, and you’ll save thousands.

Maintenance Goes a Long Way, Literally

If you are in it for the long haul and plan on driving your car as long as it will run, make sure you focus on maintenance. Get regular oil changes. Replace worn parts with quality, original engine manufacturer parts. Address minor problems before they escalate into bigger issues that affect many different systems in the engine.

What Can Western Auto Wrecking Do for You?

As the average age of U.S. cars goes up, Western Auto Wrecking can help drive that average even higher. With a wide range of affordable replacement parts, you don’t have to pay top dollar at a dealership for the parts you need for your car repairs. Instead, come shop our inventory and find the parts that will keep your car on the road for as long as possible. Visit us or call today!