While car enthusiasts fantasize about a dream classic car they wish was in their garage, most people aren’t driving older vehicles by choice. Drivers are holding on to their cars longer than ever, likely because the average price of a new car is rising far faster than the average American’s wages.
What’s the oldest car you’re still driving? More precisely, we want to know about the oldest cars that you’re driving more than once per week. Seasonal daily drivers are allowed to be mentioned. Are you still wheeling around in a blobby late 1990s Ford Taurus? Are you obsessed with the machines of the Malaise era? Did you get your first car in college and never move on? We want to know it all!
Trust me, you’re not alone. It’s a nationwide phenomenon. According to the USDOT, the average age of a car on the road in 2024 was 12.6 years old, up from 11.4 years old in 2014 and 9.8 years old in 2004. That’s not a trend you would expect to see when population growth steadily increases the customer base for cars.
In the perfect world for the automotive industry, the figure would be only one year old, with everyone buying a new vehicle every single model year. However, this is not financially sustainable for individuals and not environmentally sustainable for human society. While the country’s aging vehicle fleet is a worrying symptom of the economy, it’s an impressive feat of vehicle durability.