12:50 pm, January 28, 2026
More than one in ten car buyers are now keeping their vehicles for more than a decade amid rising running costs.
That is according to a new survey which found that 11% of British drivers keep their car for ten years or more.
The data also revealed that a further 21% of drivers keep their car for six to nine years, while 40% replace them every three to five years.
Almost a third (30%) of respondents to the recent poll cited rising insurance, tax and other running costs as the main reason for hanging on to their cars for longer, while 39% complained that new cars are too expensive
Interestingly, 41% of drivers said that keeping their current cars running was ‘getting the most out of the vehicle’.
The poll was carried out by insurance provider Tempcover, which surveyed 1,001 UK drivers in October of last year.
Reacting to the findings, Claire Wills-McKissick, expert at Tempcover, said: ‘Many drivers are choosing to keep their cars for longer than planned, often as a way to manage rising costs.
‘Holding onto a car can make financial sense, helping households manage expenses, but it comes with trade-offs.
‘Older vehicles often require more maintenance, can incur higher repair costs, and may carry safety risks – all factors drivers should consider when deciding whether to replace their car.’
The latest findings are likely to make it harder for retailers to retain customers, as they are going longer than ever before between car purchases.
Speaking at Car Dealer Podcast Live in 2024, Vines boss Sean Kelly admitted that the industry already has a retention problem.
He said: ‘What we [at Vines] have seen, and this is probably hopefully relevant to everyone else, whatever vehicles they’re selling, is we do a bad job as an industry of retention full stop and used cars especially so.
‘It’s almost like we assume and believe that with every used car we sell, that customer is only going to come back to us if they see that we have a right car for them. The post-sale contact plan is normally a bit c**p.’
