The longer we keep that car, the more money we have, correct?

The longer we keep that car, the more money we have, correct?

How long do you drive your car before you trade it in for a new car? Perhaps it’s after the car loan ends? Maybe between 7-9 years? My ex Japanese boss used to marvel at me when he saw my speedometer showed 6 figures. He says, that’s unlikely to happen in Japan. Of course, it’s also because in Japan, he stayed in a city which is 200km away from Tokyo and took the bullet train to work, thus, he does not drive to work daily. Yes, he travels close to 450km daily just to go to work in Tokyo from his city! Daily! 🙂

Coming back, 7-9 years typically I think. I read somewhere that the average years for Malaysian car ownership is over 10 years. For Thailand, there was this survey in 2017 – 2018 showing that the car owners would change their car after seven years. Source: bangkokpost.com

When times are not as rosy, decisions change

This has changed. “According to the 2024 Customer Experience Report, which collected data from more than 2,500 Thai respondents who purchased cars between November 2020 and December 2022, 70% said they would consider buying a new car once their current car reaches a certain age, particularly after nine years of ownership.” Source: bangkokpost.com

Reasons stated is because they felt that it’s better not to spend too much money in a slowing economy. Perhaps uncertainty plays a part in this decision. The article also said that perhaps the reason is also because the cars were in better shape due to less wear and tear during the Covid-19 periods. This may also be true but following may be a typical calculation for not buying a new car and continue driving the old one and perhaps paying for the typical replacement of parts due to wear and tear.

Huge savings by the way even versus typical maintenance for wear and tear

RM960 is a lot of money per month yeah. Per year it’s RM11,520. Frankly, how many of us actually spends RM11,520 on maintenance and replacement of car parts EVERY YEAR? Haha. I meant a typical car yeah, please do not talk about some special cars where replacement of every part is always in the thousands yeah.

I assume the typical replacement and maintenance due to wear and tear to be RM3,000 every year, okay? That’s a savings of RM8,520 every year. If we stretch this to an extra 5 years, it will be RM42,600 or enough downpayment for a RM400,000 home! Financially true and those who are able to do this would be considered financially savvy too.

Comparison should be objective yeah

Please do not start talking about fuel efficiency like my good friend just two weeks ago. She said, “If I buy Proton X50 over Perodua Ativa, it will consume more fuel.” I laughed and replied, “You are comparing a fuel consumption of a 1.0 car with a 1.5 liter car?” and I added, “Then why not compare the Perodua Ativa to Perodua Axia instead… Axia will save more petrol lah. She laughed and said but Asia is smaller. I laughed and said, that’s why when we compare, use similar type of cars or engine size lah.

As for the choices, buy one we love yeah. We will drive it for the next 7-9 years. Do not choose model because it saves more petrol. So, how long would you keep your current car for? I do intend to change my wife’s car next year since it has reached double digits for the first time this year. Haha.

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