Americans Drive Less, Keep Cars Longer

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Travel on U.S. roads fell to its lowest level since 2003, while Americans hold on to their cars longer than ever, two Detroit newspapers report to the horror of their carbuilding readers.

Last year, U.S. drivers logged 35.7 billion fewer miles over 2010 — down 1.2 percent — to 2.963 trillion miles. That’s the fewest number of miles since 2003, when Americans drove 2.890 trillion miles, the Federal Highway Administration told the Detroit News.

What’s keeping people off the streets? Says the DetN:

“Stubbornly, high gas prices and an economic slowdown since 2008 have convinced some Americans not to drive as much.

At the same time, people are holding on to their cars longer than ever. The research firm R.L. Polk told the Detroit Free Press that new vehicle owners kept their an average of 71.4 months, or nearly six years, the longest in the eight years Polk has done the survey, and nearly two years longer than the average life of ownership in 2003.

The average age of a vehicle on U.S. roads reached a record 10.8 years.

Looking for reasons, the Freep heard a familiar tune:

“Consumer spending remains conservative in a still-weak job market with relatively high unemployment rates. Many buyers have longer-term financing options to secure more affordable payments. In addition, vehicles produced in recent years have been more durable and reliable than their predecessors.


Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Highdesertcat Highdesertcat on Feb 21, 2012

    Keeping them longer? How about 23 years and 19 years, respectively, for the two vehicles a buddy of mine keeps around and in daily use. He also has a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee but he keeps the old jalopies running in tip-top condition for one simple reason: "He's got so much money tied up in them to keep them running he can't afford to get rid of them." There's truth in that old saying that you can keep any car running forever if you just replace the broken or worn-out parts in them.

  • Ciddyguy Ciddyguy on Feb 22, 2012

    I'm one who's had to replace their aging vehicle very recently, but I went used, more than a couple of years old, a 9 year old vehicle, a Mazda Protege5 of all things because that was what I could afford and get a loan for (no choice due to tight finances). That's due to a very old, very high mileage Ford Ranger truck decided to die slow death in the last year, and began to accelerate that fact this fall by leaking oil prodigiously and recently showed other issues great enough to jettison it for something newer, with less miles and more economical too, though the Mazda isn't as economical as I'd like but still considerably better than the 20 YO truck I drove for nearly 6 years and racked it up to almost 237K miles all told. Sadly it was NOT by choice, but because I got backed into a corner sooner than planned.

  • FordTempoEnthusiast FordTempoEnthusiast on Feb 22, 2012

    In other news, Amtrak ridership broke record levels last year.

  • 84Cressida 84Cressida on Feb 23, 2012

    Our fleet, all bought new except the oldest one: 1994 Toyota Hilux -pristine with only 51,000 miles. 1998 Toyota Avalon - 138,000 miles. 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD 54,000 miles 2006 BMW 330i 95,000 miles 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid 66,000 miles We tend to keep cars a long time in our family. Other than the BMW that my mom drives, I doubt anything will be getting replaced anytime soon. The BMW is starting to show its true colors and is developing nagging quirks that will get more expensive to fix as time goes on, and my mom wants to get a new car, so maybe in the next year or two that might happen. My dad has no interest in replacing his Camry anytime soon which has been trouble free for close to 6 years. As much as I detest the turd, my dad's Silverado isn't going anywhere anytime soon. With such low utilization and low miles, it makes zero sense to replace it. Maybe in another 5 years, unless it starts crapping more. The '94 Hilux, which is mine, will be around for a loooooong time :) The Avalon has pretty much been reduced to a beater for my brother. Mechanically it is top notch, but it was recently hit in a parking lot.

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