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> No matter if the car is a taxi or a personal car, it will be discarded after the same number of miles. Is this actually true? My personal anecdata would sugg

> No matter if the car is a taxi or a personal car, it will be discarded after the same number of miles. Is this actually true? My personal anecdata would suggest that most passenger vehicles are not driven nearly the number of miles that a taxi or commercial vehicle are driven. A quick google suggests passenger vehicles are typically salvaged at 100-150k miles whereas an average taxi might do 500k or more before retirement.

nradov 5y ago
You're way off. Average passenger vehicles in the US are scrapped closer to 200K miles. Of course there's a lot of variation by state because vehicles driven in winter on salted roads rust out much faster.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  That number has been increasing every year, so the OP may simply be remembering an earlier number. We didn't use to keep cars around for so long but they have gotten more reliable (and rust-proofing has made big advances). It will soon be 250K.
  - qeternity 5y ago
    The latest comprehensive figure I could find was a 2006 NHTSA report which found the average passenger vehicle was scrapped at 152,137 miles. It may have gone up, but I haven't found a more recently number.
    - rsj_hn 5y ago
      2006 was a while ago, so that sounds about right. Here's an article from 2012: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/automobiles/as-cars-are-kept-longer-200000-is-new-100000.html?_r=2&ref=business&pagewanted=all& https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/automobiles/as-cars-are-k... Here's an article from 2018: "a typical passenger car should last 200,000 or more miles" https://www.aarp.org/auto/trends-lifestyle/info-2018/how-long-do-cars-last.html https://www.aarp.org/auto/trends-lifestyle/info-2018/how-lon...
sudosysgen 5y ago
The average car in the US seems to be 12 : https://www.wsj.com/articles/average-u-s-vehicle-age-hits-record-12-years-11623680640 https://www.wsj.com/articles/average-u-s-vehicle-age-hits-re... And the average yearly mileage in the US is around 13.5k, yielding an average mileage of 173k miles. It is incredibly unlikely that the average car is salvaged at 100-150k miles. 200k+ miles is more like it. This number will also increase as vehicles produced recently have much higher durability, while the 16 year old tail-end is dragging down personal cars. I can't find a great source, but it seems for example USF only expects 85k miles out of a car, for example: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.usf.edu/administrative-services/documents/asbc-resources-field-equipment-replacement.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjyjdvMr9z1AhVFZN8KHQWiBi84ChAWegQIARAC&usg=AOvVaw1-zOpkJ1xtmLeW3f3uXjwr https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.usf.edu/administrat... Taxis are an exception with around 210k average mileage, but that's because they are individually owned. Rental cars seem to be retired at around 60k miles : https://www.wsj.com/articles/rental-cars-with-higher-mileage-populate-lots-1377731770 https://www.wsj.com/articles/rental-cars-with-higher-mileage... It doesn't make sense commercially to operate a vehicle long after its warranty ends. You risk losing revenue when the car breaks down, and you can expect upwards of 1000$/year in repairs and increased insurance costs as an extra. It makes more sense to sell the car shortly after the warranty ends, recoup 50% of the costs, and buy a new one.
- kipchak 5y ago
  Rentals are somewhat of an odd model, at least pre covid. By buying less popular models/excess capacity they buy at slightly above build cost, and the manufacture or dealers buy the cars from the rental company at it's depreciated value. https://www.autorentalnews.com/155877/car-rental-qa-what-are-the-terms-of-a-repurchase-program https://www.autorentalnews.com/155877/car-rental-qa-what-are...
- qeternity 5y ago
  As I wrote below, a 2006 NHTSA report found the average passenger vehicle was scrapped after 152,137 miles. Of course, that's 15 years old. The taxi number seems pretty low. Do you have a source for that?
  - 5y ago
landemva 5y ago
Taxis definitely are built for a different use profile and they go more miles. Ford taxi version of Crown Vic had an hours meter.

nradov 5y ago

You're way off. Average passenger vehicles in the US are scrapped closer to 200K miles. Of course there's a lot of variation by state because vehicles driven in winter on salted roads rust out much faster.

rsj_hn 5y ago
That number has been increasing every year, so the OP may simply be remembering an earlier number. We didn't use to keep cars around for so long but they have gotten more reliable (and rust-proofing has made big advances). It will soon be 250K.
- qeternity 5y ago
  The latest comprehensive figure I could find was a 2006 NHTSA report which found the average passenger vehicle was scrapped at 152,137 miles. It may have gone up, but I haven't found a more recently number.
  - rsj_hn 5y ago
    2006 was a while ago, so that sounds about right. Here's an article from 2012: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/automobiles/as-cars-are-kept-longer-200000-is-new-100000.html?_r=2&ref=business&pagewanted=all& https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/automobiles/as-cars-are-k... Here's an article from 2018: "a typical passenger car should last 200,000 or more miles" https://www.aarp.org/auto/trends-lifestyle/info-2018/how-long-do-cars-last.html https://www.aarp.org/auto/trends-lifestyle/info-2018/how-lon...

sudosysgen 5y ago

The average car in the US seems to be 12 : https://www.wsj.com/articles/average-u-s-vehicle-age-hits-record-12-years-11623680640 https://www.wsj.com/articles/average-u-s-vehicle-age-hits-re... And the average yearly mileage in the US is around 13.5k, yielding an average mileage of 173k miles. It is incredibly unlikely that the average car is salvaged at 100-150k miles. 200k+ miles is more like it. This number will also increase as vehicles produced recently have much higher durability, while the 16 year old tail-end is dragging down personal cars. I can't find a great source, but it seems for example USF only expects 85k miles out of a car, for example: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.usf.edu/administrative-services/documents/asbc-resources-field-equipment-replacement.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjyjdvMr9z1AhVFZN8KHQWiBi84ChAWegQIARAC&usg=AOvVaw1-zOpkJ1xtmLeW3f3uXjwr https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.usf.edu/administrat... Taxis are an exception with around 210k average mileage, but that's because they are individually owned. Rental cars seem to be retired at around 60k miles : https://www.wsj.com/articles/rental-cars-with-higher-mileage-populate-lots-1377731770 https://www.wsj.com/articles/rental-cars-with-higher-mileage... It doesn't make sense commercially to operate a vehicle long after its warranty ends. You risk losing revenue when the car breaks down, and you can expect upwards of 1000$/year in repairs and increased insurance costs as an extra. It makes more sense to sell the car shortly after the warranty ends, recoup 50% of the costs, and buy a new one.

kipchak 5y ago
Rentals are somewhat of an odd model, at least pre covid. By buying less popular models/excess capacity they buy at slightly above build cost, and the manufacture or dealers buy the cars from the rental company at it's depreciated value. https://www.autorentalnews.com/155877/car-rental-qa-what-are-the-terms-of-a-repurchase-program https://www.autorentalnews.com/155877/car-rental-qa-what-are...
qeternity 5y ago
As I wrote below, a 2006 NHTSA report found the average passenger vehicle was scrapped after 152,137 miles. Of course, that's 15 years old. The taxi number seems pretty low. Do you have a source for that?
- 5y ago

landemva 5y ago

Taxis definitely are built for a different use profile and they go more miles. Ford taxi version of Crown Vic had an hours meter.