Age Of Average Car On The Road Rises To 11.6 Years

The average age of light vehicles in the U.S. has risen once again as consumers continue to hold onto vehicles.

IHS Markit said today that the average age of light vehicles is now 11.6 years, based on a snapshot of vehicles in operation on Jan. 1, 2016, the most recent analysis. That’s up from 11.5 years the previous year.

Registrations for light vehicles in operation in the U.S. hit a record 264 million, an increase of more than 6.2 million, or 2.4 percent.

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MDarringer - 11/22/2016 9:53:16 AM

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It will be interesting to see what happens when these older cars get into wrecks given that airbags deteriorate and in many cases would cost more to replace than the car would be worth.

TomM - 11/22/2016 5:59:08 PM

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Actually - the "cost more than the car is worth" is the reason why cars are on the road longer.Big- expensive repairs are getting less common everyday. Example- transmission failure is about 1/5th of what it was 20 years ago - and as most would expect - car manufacturers show that electrical repairs are the most common warranty types - not mechanical failure. So people can cars longer before that one final too expensive repair comes to call.

MDarringer - 11/22/2016 6:09:56 PM

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@TomM what worries me is NOT the mechanical systems (i.e. engine/transmission) but the safety systems.