New vehicle or not? When do you decide to call it quits and junk your vehicle?

[sandhills]

He could get his own TV show!  :D  You could name it "A bus load and counting"  ;) Sorry Okra just havin' fun, my brother had a '91 Astro (I think) and it had a tremendous amount of miles and still ran better and got better mileage than anything I've ever owned so don't give up on her till you have to.

[tyb525]

Those old Tacoma's were just about bulletproof. An older friend of mine had one for about 15 years and almost looked and ran like new.

If you do drive older vehicles, it is nice to have a second vehicle, even if just a little car, to get you by till you can fix it in case something unexpected happens (like the control arm breaking on my '85 dodge)

[Okrafarmer]

I think the best policy is to have older vehicles, and have one or two more than you need. I need to work up to that condition myself. Ideally you keep one up on blocks, off the insurance, and get it down and on the insurance if the need arises.

Once I fill up the bus thingy, I'll start having grandchildren, and my kids will each have to get their own car.

[sprucebunny]

In the Northeast, we usually give up on a vehicle when they are so rusty they won't pass inspection.They don't allow tape anymore : My '97 Toyota 4runner made 265,000 but the trans clutches were starting to slip and the parts to repair the rust were expensive. I have another 4runner and a couple of old pickups. I always tell the Ford parts guy that it's a good thing I have a Toyota so I can get there to buy parts  :D
The 4runner gets 20 mpg so the RAV4 was a 50% improvement. At $4/gal, it will actually pay for its self in 90,000 miles compared to the 4runner.

Poor Piston would be in financial shock going from an Escape to a full size pickup 

[ely]

i own and maintain 3 vehicles for myself at present time, newest is a 98 suburban 3/4 ton 4wd. evryday is the 1/2 ton ford 96 model. the most recent is an 81 gmc 1ton flatbed.

im not real big on looks but i have to be mechanically satisfied with anything i drive. ;D

worst thing here in okla, is if your vehicle is two years or more out of date on the tag it costs 200 bucks worth of penaltys to get back on the road. i hate that.

[Okrafarmer]

I am so glad we don't have inspections in SC. And of course, we don't have salt, either, or at least, if we do, it's only once or twice a year, and gets washed right off with the rain and doesn't just stay there for long periods of time.

Now, you can still get in trouble with the police for having a light out, or whatever, but they very rarely stop you for that, unless they think it is a very real hazard. Usually, if you are stopped in a personal vehicle for a mechanical infraction, it's almost always a warning. No inspections. And the laws about mechanical conditions are far more lax than they are up north. They really don't care if you have rust, or if your parking brake works. They just don't want you to have any lights not working, a majorly broken windshield, or something like that which can be a real traffic hazard.

The DOT cops, on the other hand, are major fascists.

What other states do not require inspections?

[sawguy21]

We have a smog test every two years, it is being phased out in 2014 as it is a waste of time and money but no regular safety checks on non commercial vehicles. However, if a vehicle gets pulled over and the officer sees something he doesn't like he will call the commercial inspector in for a thorough going over.
Commercial vehicles get the third degree, the inspectors go on a blitz frequently which makes for good press.

[Piston]

In the Northeast, we usually give up on a vehicle when they are so rusty they won't pass inspection.They don't allow tape anymore :

Sprucebunny,
I was actually pretty surprised when I took my grandfather's Ford Explorer to get a sticker, and they failed it!  They said there was too much rust under the door jam so they couldn't pass it. 
My dad ended up finding another Explorer to buy him with 180k on it but no rust.  So my grandfather took that Explorer, and my uncle took the rusty one (he lives in MA.)  He didn't have any problem getting an inspection sticker. 
I really couldn't believe that MA was a lot more lax than NH with they're inspections.  My dad always jokes around and gives me greif now saying "you know, when you move to NH your gonna have to get all new cars" blah blah blah.... I don't listen.  :D

Poor Piston would be in financial shock going from an Escape to a full size pickup 

Your right about sticker shock   
4 of the guys I work with just bought brand new trucks within the last year.  One guy GMC, two guys Fords, and one guy Dodge, all deisel.  The cheapest one was 42k and the most expensive was a decked out GMC Denali deisel to tow a 6k pound camper.  (Yes, 6k, not 16k) He paid 62k for his truck.  Although I give him credit, he's the only one that paid cash and didn't get a loan. 

They give me greif for driving my Escape.  Even if I were to buy a new truck, it wouldn't be NEW! 
Personally, if I get the itch to spend the money, I'd rather put it into something more useful or fun.  Maybe a new motorcycle or newer/bigger tractor.   ;) 

[DanG]

Florida used to have a vehicle inspection program, but it went away suddenly over 30 years ago.  Then Governor, Bob Graham, took his motor home to be inspected and they flunked it.  The next week, there was no more inspection. 8) 8) :D :D

[sprucebunny]

Piston, I bet they are jealous of your gas bill, as well as you not having the payments.
And I'm with you on used vehicles. I recomend buying them in the South  ;)
I got my RAV4 in Virginia. It was in Calif. 8 years.
Got my 99 4runner from Texas via KC MO.

Our annual inspection includes a computer fault check, brakes, lights etc. The rust standards have gotten strict. Guess they don't want the tourists tearing their fancy clothes on our cars  :D

It would be fine with me if the state used less salt.

[sandhills]

Luckily Okra they don't have the inspections here in Nebraska either, otherwise I'd probably be riding a horse or in jail (not sure which  ;D).  DOT can be a little aggressive, but usually you have to give them reason too, only time I've been pulled in was with our little straight truck, thankfully I wasn't in the old semi, I think I'd just hand them the keys and walk away  ;).

[thecfarm]

Piston,are those the same guys that go home to thier apartment or their 250X250 foot house lot.   :  I would much rather own 2 tractors,sawmill,nice home and 170 acres than a 40k truck. I hear the same thing at work.
We use to have a 6 month inspection here. Went to once a year maybe 10 years ago. Just the wipers,glass,horn,rust,any pivots points under the vehicle,all lights. Some places really try hard to find something wrong,others are decent about it. I've had some not even jack the front end up.

[Clam77]

Iowa used to have some kind of inspection - went away 30yrs ago though.  Not sure why they even bothered with a midwest farming state.

Virgina DOES have inspecions - or atleast they used to 10 yrs ago.  When I drove my old 84 Jeep Grand Wagoneer out there when I was in the Navy, the Navy didn't require inspections to get base stickers.  Then all of a sudden a couple years later when I needed new base stickers, they started requiring it.

That Jeep wouldn't pass one of their inspections so, in an effort to conform, I ended up parting with a $100 bill to the inspector for the sticker.   :D   :D

On the OP's note - my work and run-around vehicle that's a 91 Honda Civic has about 270K on it and runs perfect with the usual maintenance.  Also used to have an 02 Dodge 1500 that was bought new that ended up amassing about 170K on it.. before a winter storm and a concrete road culvert took it's toll on it.   :D

[WDH]

Vehicle inspections were done away with many years ago in Georgia, Like DanG related in Florida.  Doesn't seem to have made any difference whatsoever.

[Okrafarmer]

It's also true that the roads are rougher up north, and it's a lot easier for something to go wrong, both in terms of structural failure, or climactic conditions. People complain about the roads down here, and I just grin-- remembering the birds-eye pot holes in Maine. . . and the sections where they just couldn't keep asphalt, and the road was gravel mud-- to the point you just had to build up your speed enough before you hit it, that hopefully momentum would carry you through to the other side (and you also hoped you didn't hit somebody else's car that got lost in there, and you couldn't see it poking up above the top of the mud).  : Could tear a rear axle off that way. . .  don't ask me how I know.  :-\

[Piston]

I would much rather own 2 tractors,sawmill,nice home and 170 acres than a 40k truck.

I'm with you Cfarm!
There is only 1 out of those 4 guys mentioned that actually uses his truck.  He has large 5th wheel camper that he tows with it. 

My uncle is famous for keeping cars running that most people would bring to the junk yard.  Usually my dad will find him a car with high mileage that someone just wants to get rid of, he'll buy it, and run the thing for years.  Of course, he has to fix some things on the cars, but he hasn't paid more than $1500 for a car for as long as I remember, in fact, $1500 is the tops he's paid.  We joke around a lot with him saying that when a car hits 200k on the odometer, it's just broken in  :D
He has never had a car payment, and could care less what he drives, as long as its dependable.  I'm starting to get that way with my view on my own vehicles.  Although, we do have the nice Jetta TDI for the wife to drive, but for my own vehicle, I'm starting to care less and less.  :D

[muddstopper]

Boy, this thread just seems to be right on when it come to my vehicles. I have a 95 chevy dually I wore the diesel engine out in a few years back. That used to be my primary work truck for my business. I always overloaded it and it never moved unless it was loaded, except to go get loaded. Truck to light for the work it was being asked to perform. The diesel engine finally let go and I replaced i with a smallblock 400 which lasted about 250 miles. I finally gaveup and bought a new f450 diesel ford flatbed. I have kept the old chevy setting back behind the garage for a few years now, always figureing to fix it one day. I even went so far as to purchase a 366 truck motor to put in it. When I shut down my business, I sold the f450 and traded some of the equipment for another old truck, a 98 dodge with the 318 gas engine. Meant to be used mostly for a trash hualing truck. Last wk the engine in it decided to let go. Motor sounds like a bunch of pigymes inside a barrel with hammers beating on the side. Well, I drugg out the old 366 engine and put on the stand to see if it wold even run, which it seems to do very well. Then I got to figureing out what both trucks would bring if I sold them for scrap or parted them out. So, Now I have the 366 hanging on the engine hoist and I am searching craigslist to see whats available in my price range, and sitting here undecided as whether to scrap what I have and start all over, or just fix what I already have. Knowing even when I get the old chevy running again, I will still just have a old beatup truck not worth much more than scrap value. The truck wont be a daily driver or even depended on for any serious work, but boy do I feel lost without a pickup setting in the driveway.

[Okrafarmer]

What somebody else (ie, Kelly Blue Book, etc) thinks my vehicle is worth is irrelevant to me. I only care what it is worth to me. What my vehicle is worth has little to do with why I buy it or why I sell it. Usually ones sold by me go to someone who has another one for parts. What matters to me is, how much I can afford to pay for it, and what it can do for me.