A SPECIAL REPORT: CARS

HOLDING OUT: As the economy continues to sputter along on three cylinders, car dealers say Orange County residents are hanging onto their cars longer than ever, and piling up a lot of miles. . . . “The average trade-in here is 6 or 7 years old and has 60,000 miles on it,” says Barry Wasserman, general manager of Beach Oldsmobile-Mazda in Huntington Beach. That’s just about twice the age and twice the mileage of just three years ago, before the recession hit.