I’m a mechanic so I’ve never seen the point of paying a 5 digit price tag. I buy them with 150k and run them until 250k or more. My 01 F150 4x4 still runs and drives nice and tight and it’s approaching 290k. I have a knack myself which is finding well maintained vehicles cheap. Some people sell them real cheap so there’s no chance of someone suing them claiming they got sold a lemon. Got the F150 for $2k and it’s very clean. Got an auto history report and he had bought it from his dad when it was a few years old and had 4,500 miles on it. I’m guessing he didn’t have the credit to buy new so his dad helped him out this way. Clean inside and the driver’s seat isn’t even worn through yet.
Around here it seems no self-respecting mechanic drives other than a Toyota or Honda, with a good 200k on it.
That's what I used to do for my long commute cars. The sweetest was a 1988 Crown Vic. Bought it at 107k. SMOOTH ride, 5L V8 that got 30MPG. It was still running great (original injectors and spark plugs!) at 257k when I sold it.
For the family we buy new and make them last.