Good advice column on keeping your car as long as possible.

[StevieC]

When I drove my 86 dodge caravan I used to remove the thermostat in the summer time because they had an affinity for cracking heads thanks to their heater core sized radiator. It was carb setup anyway and burned so much oil that I wasn't worried about sludging.

 

[Sierra977]

Gotcha'

Smiles from Texas

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted by atikovi
It's funny how some people religiously maintain their car expecting it to go 300,000 miles and beyond, which is great, but completely ignore the likelihood that it will be totaled well before that, statistically speaking. Or just rust out.


That's like saying "why should I bother eating nutritional food when it's likely I could die in a car accident before I'm 100 years old"

 

[StevieC]

I have had 1 car totaled in almost 2 Million Kilometers (1.2 Million miles) behind the wheel and it was because someone ran a red light and T-Boned me. I spend my day on the road in some of the worst traffic conditions, road rage drivers around me, and in some of the worst weather imaginable and have never totaled a vehicle before either my fault or someone else's fault until my Journey which I guess I was due for statistically.

I have been involved in a couple of fender benders as well, again not my fault, someone else running into me. These were minor though and not enough to write off a vehicle or anything.

But considering these 3 accidents in almost 1.2 million miles, I think that's a pretty good average.