ex-quattro PETE

Right, but I'd like to see a more detailed breakdown. I'd expect luxury car ownership to be shorther than average. After all, these luxury vehicles are owned by affluent folks who can easily afford to jump in a new car every few years. Also, many of these upscale vehicles are leased, and we know that an average lease is nowhere near 10 or 11 years long.

The question is, who wants to dump significant money into a 10 year old Audi to replace its broken transmission in order to keep it on the road? Most people would probably want to put that money toward a new vehicle instead.

Redd

Ah, Pete, you must be on de-caf.(G) Here I was so careful to say the age OF THE CAR, not the duration of the ownership. I had my last one over 28 years and selling it was something I will regret forever after. But for most cars, I think there are three or more owners in their "lives".

The typical new car owner used to be 2-3 years, same as the typical lease. The dealers are pushing two year leases "the same as when you'd get a new smartphone" these days.

Those of us who favor a certain old shirt, old shoes, don't have to look at the old dashboard in the night because our fingers KNOW where the heater and radio have always been...(G)...

Of course some folks prefer to change cars, spouses, clothing, and homes more often and I say more power to them.

ex-quattro PETE

Redd, point taken.

Where I was going with this is that you don't see too many older Audis (or other German makes) on the road, compared to Japanese or American makes, at least around here, and that's because they can be very costly to keep running. Is it because they're less reliable in general? Is it because they require knowledgeable (= pricy) mechanics to fix? Is it because they were subject to just "bare minimum" maintenance during their life, based on long mfg maintenance intervals and lifetime fluids? Maybe a combination of factors...

Redd

Audi for many years sold only a tiny portion of the US market, so even if they all were still on the road, there wouldn't be many to see. Then again, until very recently they were panned as becoming unreliable old used cars as well.

I'm sure that Audi-US has the information, which anyone can buy from public sources, that say how many Audis are registered and still on the road, and from what years. They might not want to share that, although I'd get a good laugh if they said the standard reply: "You should ask your dealer." ROFL.