1994 Acura Legend Coupe...123,000 miles and plan on another 100,000 easily (hope no tranny problems).....engine is a masterpiece in that thing.
You might be a redneck if you’re still driving the car you were conceived in.
By the time a car gets that old and has that many miles on it the risk of an unexpected breakdown (usually coming at the worst possible time) goes up, no matter how well maintained it is. It’s just not worth it to us. When things start going south on a car, it’s time to sell!
I bought a brand-new 2006 Civic coupe right after they came out with the body style. The car had fit and finish problems and a ton of rattles. In addition, the steering and front suspension made strange noises. I ended up getting rid of it in disgust. I thought it was a great design, but built poorly. The problems were probably mostly due to it being from an early batch of a new model of car, but I was surprised to see that type of poor quality coming from Honda. I guess that every company has its share of lemons.
I inherited my Mom’s 91 Olds Cierra. It has required one repair, an overdrive sensor switch. 30 MPG on the highway, and I’m not a slow driver. My newest vehicle is a 99 Chevy pickup, and my oldest is a 78 Chevy pickup. The old one still suns good, but the rust is eating it up. When I buy a new vehicle, I’ll pay cash for it and keep it as long as it lasts.
I have a 2000 Toyota Tundra 4x4 with 90,000 miles on it. It’s got rock dings, scratches all over it, the clearcoat on the roof is blistering, and it’s more comfortable than an old pair of sneakers. Hasn’t cost me a dime in anything but gas, oil, tires, and a battery. I’ll drive it until it croaks. It still rides like a Lexus sedan.
inherited (sort of) a 2000 chevy cav coupe, only has 49,000 miles on it and as it is my first car I will drive it till it rusts out ahd the shocks break through into the drivers compartment.
Fellow FredHead, I have 247,000 miles and growing by 500 a week. I paid 2200 for it at 205,000 and have spent less than 400 including oil changes. (trying to find wood)
We have a 1995 Ford Windstar, 240,000+ on it, bought it used three years ago with 105,000. May be on it’s last legs, but it still gets my family around. It ain’t dead yet!
You can probably save a lot of money by never eating out, clipping coupons, waiting for the movie to come out on DVD, and living in the worst part of town too.
But there is no fun in that.
It may be great advise, but only for those who need to follow it for pure budgetary reasons.
I bought my 2002 Silverado 3500 4x4 dually in 2004 for $31,000.
Its fully loaded with the 8.1 496 cubic inch gas motor ( I happen to be a diesel mechanic but prefer a gasser)and I have more emotional attachment to this truck than to the opposite sex, I too live in Alaska and its a constant battle trying to protect it from the elements. I won’t trade in and I may possibly buy another only when there has been a big enough technological advancement in areas to make it markedly worth the investment.
I was literally sick to my stomach this early morning when I backed out of my repair shop where I service equipment right into one of our diesel trucks severely damaging my rear bumper, just last week I replaced the rear tailgate and heavily modified it with a new paint job, new emblems (racing) and sequential LED light strips. It wasn’t damaged but it cost me almost $400 in new parts and in about an hour I am going to replace everything, I cannot be seen driving a damaged truck, not this one.
We still are able to pull our trailer and the BSA troop trailer on trips. While the Mom mobile isn't as peppy as it was when it was new, it still has enough power to pass other vehicles on a grade when pulling a trailer.
I got a 1999 Saturn. I stopped giving the recommended maintenance around 40,000 miles and just gave it regular oil changes about every 5,000 miles.
Had the water pump replaced about 170,000 miles, on it’s third set of tires and just last week had to give it a tune up costing $200 to replace a bunch of little plugs and filters to get it running smooth.
Oh, its got 205,000 miles.
I guess I got my money’s worth.
My 1978 Mercedes Benz 450 SEL set me back $300 a few years ago. After a tuneup it ran great and became my daily driver.
I wasn’t happy with the gas mileage, though, so I’m installing a user programmable fuel injection system* into it, right now. I plan to drive the car for the rest of my life (or until they take my license away).
Other cars I’ve owned that had more than 200kmi on the odometer when I sold them:
‘81 VW Scirocco - 220kmi
‘86 Ford Escort GT - 330kmi
‘91 Subaru Loyale - 230kmi
‘93 Ford Escort GT - 250kmi
Got almost 200K on my 94 Sentra. Keep the fluids changed and those little 4bangers can do a good job for ya. Still gets about 26 city.
Blazer S10 has about 150K. Don’t drive it much, but when ya gotta haul something, ya gotta haul it. Also live in a pretty hilly region and even though snow/ice is an infrequent factor here, it does happen, and a 4WD is indispensible.
‘66 Impala has 97K original. Only gets about 14mpg but that sweetheart is FUN TO DRIVE! And she shur is purty...!!
Two of my three rigs will still start after the EMP pulse burns out most ignitions! (or solar flares, take your pick!)
Total investment in vehicles: about 26K over the years
if I did that, I’d be sending my mechanic’s kids to college.
I am blessed to make a very good living and we have three cars......but all are ‘older’: a ‘93 Suburban with almost 200K miles, a 2000 Saturn with about 125K miles, and a ‘97 Acura with a like amount on it, too.
What do they all have in common? They all run just great........and they’re all paid for.
I went through the stage in life where we were swapping out cars on a regular basis. No more. I realized just how much I hate having a car payment. :)