Whether you are thinking about buying a car and trying to decide if the cost of a new car is worthwhile or are wondering how much money you should put into repairing your older vehicle, learning the average lifespan of a vehicle can help you with your decision. Of course, averages are not always accurate, and you may find that your car lives much longer or much shorter than the average, but an average can help you make an educated choice.

The Official Average According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, vehicles tend to last just over 13 years. Mileage also plays a role in how long a car, truck, or van will last, and the average final mileage for a vehicle is 145,000 miles. Half of all of the vehicles on the road today are 8 years old or older, with a third of them being at least 10 years old.

Thoughts for Buying Cars If you are in the market for another vehicle, the decision about buying new or used is sometimes difficult. Of course, your budget may dictate that you shop for a used car, and used cars depreciate much less quickly than new ones, but you will probably get a longer lifespan out of a new vehicle. New vehicles come with warranties, which make maintenance and repair early in the vehicle’s life convenient. Also, you will not be buying someone else’s “problem” when you buy a new car. If there is a mechanical problem or recall on the car, it will probably be covered in the warranty.

Buying a used car does mean you can end up buying someone else’s problem. On the other hand, if the used car is less than 8 years old, you have a pretty good indication that it will last a while, based on national averages. You will also be able to afford more “extras” in a used car than in a new car for the same amount of money, provided you have enough for a new car to begin with.

Dealing with an Existing Vehicle If you have an older car that is in need of some serious

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Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday called its 10.7 percent drop in U.S. June sales “steady progress,” after a year of sharp declines across the industry.

The monthly decline was Ford’s smallest since July of last year, a sign that U.S. auto sales may be recovering from the worst slump in 27 years.

The Dearborn, Mich., automaker says it sold 154,873 cars and light trucks last month, ending a 10-month string of sales drops of more than 20 percent compared with the same month the previous year.

“We’re making steady progress,” Jim Farley, the company’s group vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “We remain grounded, however, given challenging industry and economic conditions.”

The surprisingly low decline came after a string of months in which Ford and other automakers reported year-over-year drops of more than 40 percent. Ford’s sales were down 24 percent in May and off 37 percent for the first five months of the year.

But the company, which was the first to report June sales on Wednesday, has seen its market share grow while rivals Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Corp. struggle with financial problems.

In anticipation of increased traffic at dealers and higher sales later in the year, Ford announced Monday that it would boost its third-quarter production by 25,000 vehicles.

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To help, here are 10 tips you can use to squeeze the most mileage out of every penny spent at the pump. Some involve proper maintenance of your vehicle, but most require a change in behavior. All will help ease the burden on your wallet.

Stop Driving Like a Maniac

Limit Use of the Brake Pedal

Observe Posted Speed Limits

Use Cruise Control Whenever Possible

Avoid Excessive Idling

Turn the AC Down

Pulse and Glide

Plan Trips Ahead of Time

Get Rid of What You Don’t Need

Drive smart

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Way back in the early days of mainstream hybrid adoption (about 2004 or 2005), there was some concern among green types that even though the Prius was starting to take off in popularity, competing companies would adopt hybrid engines not as a way of boosting fuel efficiency, but to make for a more powerful driving experience.
The Honda Accord hybrid was a case in point: with a bigger engine and mediocre miles-per-gallon rating, it represented a kind of worst-case scenario for applications of green vehicle technology. Although Honda cut the high-performance hybrid Accord in June 2007 — a “critical error” for which Honda “took one on the chin” — green is still coming to sports cars.

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The Congressional Budget Office estimates the “cash for clunkers” legislation that passed the House this week could generate sales of 625,000 new vehicles. There are more optimistic estimates of a million sales.

Really? With national unemployment at 9.4%? Until that goes down, and with it the level of workplace insecurity, I suspect most folks will be more concerned with keeping the “clunker” running, especially if it’s paid for.

I get the legislation. Ideally, it’s a “twofer”: getting older, less efficient and more polluting vehicles off the road and stimulating sales, in which we, as now part owners of GM and Chrysler, should all have an interest. The legislation is backed, not surprisingly, by not only the Detroit automakers, but also by the UAW, the National Automobile Dealers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.

But there’s no free lunch. The price tag on the House-passed bill is pegged at $4 billion — and that’s on top of the billions already propping up Detroit’s bankrupt pair and a number of industry suppliers. Plus, the legislation doesn’t specify that your new vehicle has to come from a U.S. company or even an American factory.

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