Average US car now a record-setting 11.4 years old

Cars are becoming less and less of a disposable item, according to a report from The Detroit Free Press. The average age of the 247 million cars and trucks in the US fleet is now up to 11.4 years, an increase of two full years since 2007 and 0.2 years since 2012. The newspaper spoke with Mark Seng, vice president of industry research firm Polk, who cited consumers' desire to avoid monthly payments and the ever-improving quality of mainstream cars and trucks as reasons for the increased age. The first item is fairly obvious – no one really likes to carry a monthly car payment. The second point, though, is perhaps less obvious.

Autoblog , Average US car now a record-setting 11.4 years old, Average US car now a record-setting 11.4 years old