# Fully owned car- Run it till high mileage and milk it, or trade in and upgrade before high mileage?



## mangoman808 (Aug 20, 2016)

I drive a (non hybrid) 2012 Camry SE w/35,000 miles on it. It gets 25mpg City, 35mpg highway. Paid off in full- This was my personal car before I started driving with rideshare.

With Toyota Camrys being reliable and long lasting (I maintain it well, oil changes and tire rotations every 6000 miles and will continue), and also seeming to retain its value well even after high mileage, I'm thinking I'll just drive this car until it gets to 150k + and then trade it in for whatever it's worth and put that amount towards a newer Camry Hybrid, or some other reliable Hybrid (like a Honda Accord). According to KBB Camrys hold their value really well through mileage, so I feel like a 90k trade in worth $8000 , and a 150K trade in at $5800 isn't much of a difference. In that 60k miles I could drive on it, I easily could make just as much money as a newer car .

I don't think a Camry will have significant issues between 35k (right now), and 150k.

Would you trade it in now and get a hybrid? Would you drive it till 100k and trade it in then? Would you run it till it's dead (150k-250k)?


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

mangoman808 said:


> I drive a (non hybrid) 2012 Camry SE w/35,000 miles on it. It gets 25mpg City, 35mpg highway. Paid off in full- This was my personal car before I started driving with rideshare.
> 
> With Toyota Camrys being reliable and long lasting (I maintain it well, oil changes and tire rotations every 6000 miles and will continue), and also seeming to retain its value well even after high mileage, I'm thinking I'll just drive this car until it gets to 150k + and then trade it in for whatever it's worth and put that amount towards a newer Camry Hybrid, or some other reliable Hybrid (like a Honda Accord). According to KBB Camrys hold their value really well through mileage, so I feel like a 90k trade in worth $8000 , and a 150K trade in at $5800 isn't much of a difference. In that 60k miles I could drive on it, I easily could make just as much money as a newer car .
> 
> ...


I would be inclined to run it till it drops. The most valuable years of the car are behind you so you won't be losing much value for each mile you drive. Getting a new car for rideshare is a bad idea unless it's a 2K junker, you never know when they will change the rules and screw you.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

mangoman808 said:


> I drive a (non hybrid) 2012 Camry SE w/35,000 miles on it. It gets 25mpg City, 35mpg highway. Paid off in full- This was my personal car before I started driving with rideshare.
> 
> With Toyota Camrys being reliable and long lasting (I maintain it well, oil changes and tire rotations every 6000 miles and will continue), and also seeming to retain its value well even after high mileage, I'm thinking I'll just drive this car until it gets to 150k + and then trade it in for whatever it's worth and put that amount towards a newer Camry Hybrid, or some other reliable Hybrid (like a Honda Accord). According to KBB Camrys hold their value really well through mileage, so I feel like a 90k trade in worth $8000 , and a 150K trade in at $5800 isn't much of a difference. In that 60k miles I could drive on it, I easily could make just as much money as a newer car .
> 
> ...


Run it until it gets ragged. Price of gas is low for now. Take advantage of your situation.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

tohunt4me said:


> Run it until it gets ragged. Price of gas is low for now. Take advantage of your situation.


You should be able to get 0% finance if you shop in the right season in the future.


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Camry? Drive it to 250,000 rotate at 5000 synthetic oil and filter changes at 10,000


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## jeep45238 (Oct 6, 2016)

Drive it into the ground. It's always a cheaper option to maintain until it's not feasible to do anymore than keep rotating to newer vehicles with higher insurance rates, more expensive parts/labor for maintenance, and probably have to take a loan out on with interest paid.

I did some math back in 2003 on the cost of buying a (then new) 1967 mustang and maintaining it for 30 years, vs. buying a new car every 10 years in cash. It's amazing how much cheaper it was to maintain the older vehicle in the long run, even if the fuel economy isn't that great.

When it isn't feasible to maintain, then sell it off and move on. I did this recently with my daily beater, a '96 Saturn SL2. They dont' make the cars or engines/transmissions any more, and the trans was starting to act funky (even after a new valve body). Don't worry much about pads/rotors and whatnot, those are cheap and easy to make - it's not feasible to keep an unsupported vehicle - but if the manufacturer is still around, I'd keep it.


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## EcoboostMKS (Nov 6, 2015)

150k miles is nothing on a camry. You could double that if you really wanted to.


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

LAuberX said:


> Camry? Drive it to 250,000 rotate at 5000 synthetic oil and filter changes at 10,000


I was just going to say. A camry will last forever. Not having a car note is huge. Take advantage of that.


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## Adieu (Feb 21, 2016)

NO

Its currently worth ~$12k private party, sell it NOW

Then BUY a car with 6 digits on the odometer for Uber.

Sell it now get a 3rd row Explorer or van or something for $3k or something that qualifies for Select & XL @ ~$8-10k

Make sure to get leather and goodies, they don't affect price AT ALL on cars with high mileage


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## Disgruntled (Nov 10, 2016)

Mango, you got good advice already but I have a question for you: What would you be doing about your car right now if Uber (or any rideshare) was not in the picture whatsoever? You should factor that in. If you would just keep it and drive it anyway then just keep it because we net so little it's probably not worth getting another car for Uber, especially a high mileage used one. Even though you want another Toyota, it's somebody else's high mileage car and you're going to pay more than it's worth (because every other potential driver and HS kid is looking for one too) and you're going to have to put some money in it for something.

Oh and I wouldn't trade it in later if you do drive the miles up that high. Dealers already crappy offers drop significantly once that odometer rolls 100k. You'll do much better selling it privately. The worse the economy gets, the more relative value you'll have at that future price point.


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

mangoman808 said:


> I drive a (non hybrid) 2012 Camry SE w/35,000 miles on it. It gets 25mpg City, 35mpg highway. Paid off in full- This was my personal car before I started driving with rideshare.
> 
> With Toyota Camrys being reliable and long lasting (I maintain it well, oil changes and tire rotations every 6000 miles and will continue), and also seeming to retain its value well even after high mileage, I'm thinking I'll just drive this car until it gets to 150k + and then trade it in for whatever it's worth and put that amount towards a newer Camry Hybrid, or some other reliable Hybrid (like a Honda Accord). According to KBB Camrys hold their value really well through mileage, so I feel like a 90k trade in worth $8000 , and a 150K trade in at $5800 isn't much of a difference. In that 60k miles I could drive on it, I easily could make just as much money as a newer car .
> 
> ...


The can company i drive for pushes those to over 400,000 miles just fine.
The only concern i would have is maybe rust issues? I don't know how bad Seattle is about corrosion but if not keep pushing it. The Toyota's run like a dream as long as you can keep putting it back together RIGHT. Don't skimp on maintenance.

You might want to red0 the interior after 150-200,000 miles or so.

The fact it's a non hybrid will give you substantial decrease in maintenance (the batteries are crazy expensive unless you can recondition them yourself, ALA Frankenstein 3 almost good old batteries into 2 good batteries.

Running it until it's dead might take 300,000 or 400,000.


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## DrivingZiggy (Jun 4, 2016)

Instead of buying a new car, how 'bout if you just take that payment of $500 or whatever it would cost for a new car, put it in the bank and let it accumulate toward the purchase of a new car whenever the current car totally gives out?


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## Melissa Pagan (Nov 19, 2016)

Same question!


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## Karen Stein (Nov 5, 2016)

I've know several folks who got amazing mileage out of their cars. One was a 'circuit preacher' in Illinois, og managed to get 500K out of a Chevy station wagon in the early 70's!

The 'secret' for all of these folks was regular oil changes with quality oil, and replacing worn items (like shocks) with top quality replacement parts.

By contrast, I've seen vehicles run completely into the ground in 80K.

That's why I like buying 'new.' All cars look shiny on the sales lot - you really have no way to tell what abuse it suffered at the hands of the previous owner. I've also seen vehicles 'mined' by used car dealers; good matching tires replaced by mismatched worn tires, jacks and spares disappearing, 5-year batteries replaced by dead batteries, gas tanks drained, etc. 

My car priorities are FIRST: reliability. Next, fuel economy. That car is my livelihood.


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## Adieu (Feb 21, 2016)

Priority 1: premium vehicle classes and 
/or eligibility for bonuses like Lyft PDB (*anything* to increase income per paid mile)


Priority 2: cost of operation per mile


Yes kids a Ford Excursion CAN be cheaper to run than a prius... and if it gets more pay per mile, Excursion 1 Prius 0

PS an excursion is likely a bad choice, just used as an example of a lumbering humongous guzzler


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