Drivers Love Their (Not-So) New Cars (Again)

Posted 3/2/2009
By Jon E. Vance

A couple years ago, with easy credit and the economy strong, drivers bought and loved their new cars. That new car is now the old car, and customers are choosing to keep them, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper recently reported, "Today, the scarcity of attractive terms for financing and leasing means that many people are keeping the cars they have. As a result, car dealerships are quiet while service shops buzz."

A look at the numbers confirms these facts. The average odometer reading of a two-year or older car coming in for service has increased steadily since 1995.

In 2008, the average odometer reading topped 100,000 miles for the second year in a row. The trend continued in January 2009, with average mileage on serviced cars leaping to 102,980 miles.

No. 1 among the top 10 high-mileage vehicles on the road today is the 1992 Honda Accord. All of the "top 10" are rolling with more than 150,000 miles.

ASA shops can examine mileage statistics using ShopMeter, ASA's newest member benefit, available through ASA's Web site, www.ASAshop.org.

An odometer selector has been added to the ShopMeter analysis engine that filters results by vehicle YMM mileage tiers.

Find out what high-mileage cars are being repaired across the nation. Then see the high-mileage cars in your local area.

And be prepared to service these older cars that have become your customers' "new cars" again.

Stat Corner is written by Jon E. Vance, PMP, project manager with Mitchell 1. Mitchell 1 is a longtime associate member of ASA as well as a sponsored benefit provider.