Gongol.com Archives: October 2024
October 19, 2024
There was a time when a car that reached 100,000 miles was a thing to be celebrated. But at least for some manufacturers, 400,000 miles might be the new 100,000. And that's something pretty remarkable. ■ The average American driver averages about 13,500 miles a year. So 100,000 miles represents seven and a half years of average driving, but 400,000 miles equates to more than a quarter-century. And while it's doubtful that most people who have high-mileage cars are also low-mileage individual drivers, the point remains: Getting a lot of service out of the same car means a lot of time driving the same model. ■ Cars and trucks on American roads are now almost teenaged, on average. While we're likely to be turning over many of our consumer goods much more frequently than that -- smartphones and televisions, especially -- we're sticking with our cars longer than we're sticking with our homes. ■ Automakers would like more consumer churn, because sales volume is what drives revenues and, ultimately, earnings. But considering the enormous resource demands that go with automaking, long-lasting, reliable vehicles represent an under-appreciated victory for green thinking.
