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May 2014 | Vol. 3 / No. 9

PRICES AND SPENDING

Americans’ aging autos

By Ryan Pfirrmann-Powell

From 2008 to 2012, the average age of U.S. households’ vehicles increased as owners held on to their cars,

trucks, and vans longer. The trend in aging autos coincides with declines in average household income in 2008;

however, subsequent recovery in households’ incomes and a return to previous levels of expenditures on

vehicles in 2012 do not appear to have reversed the pattern of aging. (See chart 1.) Analysis of data from the

Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey suggests that households continued to own the same

number of vehicles over the last 10 years, but are owning their vehicles longer.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

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CHART 1

The average age of households’ cars, vans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and trucks increased from 10.1 years

in 2007 to just over 11.3 years in 2012. Chart 2 shows that the share of newer vehicles (those manufactured

less than 5 years earlier than the year shown) dropped by nearly 33 percent from 2007 to 2012 while the share

of vehicles 11–20 years old grew by 25 percent over the same timeframe.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

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CHART 2

The average age of cars, vans, SUVs, and trucks reported in the survey all increased at similar rates from 2001

to 2012, even as the share of trucks and vans increased from 36.2 percent to 47.3 percent.

For households that reported disposing of a vehicle during 2012, the average age of the vehicles sold was 15

years, the average vehicle donated or given away was 14 years old, and the average vehicle traded in (toward

the value of a new car) was 9 years old. Roughly one-third of all vehicles in the survey were paid for in part with

the trade-in of a vehicle. For owned vehicles paid for with a trade-in credit, the credit accounted for 32 percent of

the net purchase price of the new vehicle.

Higher income households tended to own more vehicles (2.4 vehicles for the highest income quintile, compared

with 1.4 vehicles for the lowest quintile). For all income groups, the ratio of vehicles to household members age

16 and older remained constant at just over 1:1 from 2001 to 2012. Household members living in single-family

detached dwellings owned the most vehicles (2.1), while occupants of high-rise apartments or dormitories

owned the fewest (1.1). Rates of vehicle ownership remained constant for households, with the exception of

multifamily residences, such as duplexes and garden-style and high-rise apartments, for which the number of

vehicles per household declined 6 percent since 2001.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

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The cost of owning vehicles longer

The average annual maintenance cost per vehicle climbed from $514 in 2011 to $5371 in 2012, not including

average car insurance expenditures of $593 per vehicle and auto repair service policies averaging $7 per

vehicle. It is worth noting that insurance and repair service policy expenditures are highest for households with

newer cars, and higher expenditures on these items are likely associated with lower out-of-pocket expenditures

for other vehicle repairs reported in the survey.

In 2012, households owning vehicles less than 5 years old—not surprisingly—reported the lowest maintenance

and repair costs per vehicle. Households with vehicles averaging 6–15 years of age paid $151 more per vehicle

per year, on average, for maintenance and repair than did households with newer vehicles. Interestingly,

average maintenance and repair expenditures per vehicle dropped 16 percent as the average age of the vehicle

increased to 16-20 years and then dropped by another 5 percent as the vehicle’s age went beyond 20 years,

before rising slightly as the age of the vehicle reached 26 years or older.

Table 1 shows that declining expenditures on routine maintenance, such as oil changes, tire repair or

replacement, body work, brakework, front-end alignment, and vehicle cleaning, are associated with older

vehicles. Motor tuneups, electrical system repairs, exhaust system repairs, engine cooling system repairs, and

related fluid costs peak for vehicles in the 11- to 15-year age range and remain higher for vehicles older than 15

years. Of all expenditures, those for vehicle parts, equipment, and accessories increase most as vehicles age.

Also, higher expenditures for motor repair and replacement are observed in vehicles 26 years and older. The

higher expenditures associated with vehicles in that age range appear to be heavily influenced by owners of

classic cars.

TABLE 1

Selected maintenance

and repair expenses

All

Average age of household vehicle(s)

New–5 years 6–10 years 11–15 years

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Average annual

maintenance/repair

expenditure

$546 ... $437 ... $588 ... $576 ... Tires—purchased,

replaced, installed/

repair tires and

other repair work

$132.46 16 $127.73 11 $164.24 17 $124.88 16

Lube, oil change,

and oil filters 54.11 41 63.75 41 65.54 47 50.32 40

Motor repair,

replacement 48.02 3 13.68 1 39.89 3 56.54 4

Brake work,

including

adjustments

40.82 6 25.48 3 48.75 7 44.81 7

Motor tuneup 37.18 5 30.33 4 37.81 6 42.25 6

Average expenditure and frequency reported for various types of maintenance and repair, by average

age of vehicle(s), 2012

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

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See footnotes at end of table.

Selected maintenance

and repair expenses

All

Average age of household vehicle(s)

New–5 years 6–10 years 11–15 years

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency

(in percent)

Parts, equipment,

and accessories 29.98 10 15.32 5 24.12 9 32.19 12

Vehicle airconditioning repair/

electrical system

repair

28.92 4 3.59 1 32.08 4 35.49 5

Repair to steering

or front end/frontend alignment,

wheel balance, and

rotation

28.84 5 19.86 5 32.95 6 28.80 5

Clutch,

transmission repair 21.35 1 8.66 0 21.70 1 27.08 1

Bodywork and

painting 18.53 1 29.04 1 18.17 1 16.45 1

Repair to engine

cooling system 12.83 2 3.78 1 8.99 1 21.43 3

Exhaust system

repair 8.34 1 1.62 0 6.71 1 12.49 1

Auto repair service

policy 7.23 0 18.41 1 9.12 1 4.09 0

Vehicle products

and cleaning

services

6.99 7 10.85 8 8.72 8 5.64 6

Shock absorber,

replacement 4.51 0 0.62 0 4.73 0 6.45 1

Coolant, brake

fluid, transmission

fluid, and other

additives

3.11 6 1.10 2 1.93 4 3.80 7

Vehicle audio and

video equipment 2.50 0 2.75 0 2.54 0 3.25 1

Miscellaneous auto

repair, servicing/

gas tank repair,

replacement (from

Diary Survey)

60.11 6 — — — — — —

Average expenditure and frequency reported for various types of maintenance and repair, by average

age of vehicle(s), 2012
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

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Note: 23,026 consumer units with one or more vehicles = 100 percent. Dashes indicate expenditures measured only in the Consumer Expenditure Diary

Survey. The age of vehicles is not observed in the Diary data, so the average expenditure is assumed to be uniformly distributed across the average

vehicle age. Zero indicates less than 0.5 percent.

 Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Households headed by individuals under the age of 25 and individuals over the age of 65 had the highest

average vehicle age (just over 11 years old) and reported spending similar amounts on vehicle maintenance

and repair ($480 per vehicle, by those under age 25 and $499 per vehicle, by those over age 65). Households

headed by individuals 55–64 years old reported spending the most of all households on vehicle maintenance

and repair ($607 per vehicle) and had an average vehicle age of just under 11 years old.

Selected maintenance and repair

expenses

Average age of household vehicle(s)

16–20 years 21–25 years 26 or more years

Expenditure

Level

Frequency (in

percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency (in

percent)

Expenditure

Level

Frequency (in

percent)

Average annual maintenance/

repair expenditure $483 ... $457 ... $502 ... Tires—purchased, replaced,

installed/repair tires and other

repair work

$96.03 2 $78.80 14 $61.86 15

Lube, oil change, and oil filters 36.21 31 30.16 28 25.36 24

Motor repair, replacement 69.41 4 58.16 4 81.83 5

Brake work, including

adjustments 29.58 6 30.66 6 17.02 6

Motor tuneup 32.69 5 33.57 5 23.72 4

Parts, equipment, and

accessories 34.07 13 29.93 14 132.27 16

Vehicle air-conditioning repair/

electrical system repair 30.50 5 18.95 4 18.80 5

Repair to steering or front end/

front-end alignment, wheel

balance, and rotation

28.11 5 22.61 4 22.43 3

Clutch, transmission repair 16.13 1 31.10 3 10.52 1

Bodywork and painting 14.87 1 22.80 1 16.11 2

Repair to engine cooling system 10.31 2 14.01 2 11.80 3

Exhaust system repair 10.43 1 4.45 1 4.90 1

Auto repair service policy 1.94 0 4.06 0 2.94 0

Vehicle products and cleaning

services 3.87 5 3.42 4 4.14 5

Shock absorber, replacement 1.96 0 7.97 1 1.37 0

Coolant, brake fluid, transmission

fluid, and other additives 5.48 10 5.45 11 4.45 10

Vehicle audio and video

equipment 1.10 0 0.57 0 2.14 1

Miscellaneous auto repair,

servicing/gas tank repair,

replacement (from Diary Survey) — — — — — —

Average expenditure and frequency reported for various types of maintenance and repair, by average

age of vehicle(s), 2012 (continued)
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

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Although vehicle maintenance and repair expenditures as a percentage of income before taxes increased

slightly, from 1.4 percent in 2007 to 1.6 percent in 2012, household members looking to reduce expenses found

that the cost of maintaining an aging vehicle pales in comparison to the cost of purchasing a newer vehicle.

Among households that purchased vehicles in 2012, the net purchase price after discount, trade-in, or rebate

equaled 34 percent of the family’s annual income before taxes for new vehicles and 16 percent for used

vehicles. These percentages are down slightly from 37 percent for new vehicles in 2004 and little changed for

used vehicles that same year. Note, however, that the percentage for used vehicles peaked at 20 percent in

2008, driven largely by lower middle income households spending 34 percent of their average income before

taxes for the purchase of used vehicles.

Consumer Expenditure Survey data suggest that, constrained by declining incomes starting at the end of 2008,

many households delayed purchasing a new vehicle or purchased an older vehicle to reduce expenses. Given

that income, expenditures in general, and expenditures on vehicles returned to prerecession levels in 2012, it

remains to be seen if households will return to their old habits of buying newer vehicles, reversing the trend

toward keeping cars longer described in this article.

This Beyond the Numbers summary was prepared by Ryan Pfirrmann-Powell, economist in the Office of Prices and Living

Conditions, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Email: pfirrmann-powell.ryan@bls.gov, telephone: (202) 691-7954.

Information in this article will be made available upon request to individuals with sensory impairments. Voice phone: (202)

691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 1-800-877-8339. This article is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission

RELATED

ARTICLES

More BLS articles related to the consumer spending or the automobile industry are available online at the following links:

“Americans' aging autos,” The Editor's Desk

“Labor costs in the auto industry,” The Editor's Desk

“Automobiles,” Spotlight on Statistics

NOTES

i This estimate includes $59.99 for miscellaneous auto repair and servicing and $1.34 for gas tank repair or replacement; data on

both types of maintenance are collected exclusively in the Consumer Expenditure Diary Survey. These expenditures are uniformly

distributed in the analysis of average maintenance and repairs by average vehicle age because data on the age of vehicles are

collected only in the Interview Survey.

SUGGESTED

CITATION

Ryan Pfirrmann-Powell, “Americans’ aging autos,” Beyond the Numbers: Prices and Spending, vol. 3, no. 9 (U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, May 2014), https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-3/americans-aging-autos.htm