What is it you want?

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I give my vehicles the best of care (short OCIs and other periodic maintenance items more frequently than required). In return I expect reliability above all else. This is especially true of my wife's car. A woman stranded alone on the road due to mechanical break down is unacceptable in today's pathetic world. If a vehicles reliability becomes questionable at any time it will be gone in very short order. High mileage vehicles become less reliable since more and more components are subject to failure. I might run the vehicles I drive to near 100K before they are replaced. My wife's car will be replaced every 5-6 years or 50K miles to insure maximum reliability.
 
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Originally Posted By: tig1
Is that miles or KMs? Anyway, you have low expectations for vehicles.


Miles. And you are correct; I have an extremely low boredom threshold.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
7 or 8 years seems to be all I can get out of a daily driver up here before the rust sets in. The Focus got multiple waxes a year, oil spray underneath and still turned into pile of dust before it was 7 years old.

I really like my Subaru. It's getting Krown sprayed this year. And getting frequent waxes as well.

I'm hoping for 150K out of it. I really like this one, so if the clutch starts giving me problems at 75K like on the Focus, I'll actually spend the money to get it fixed.



The recommended annual resprays of Krown rustproofing are what's keeping my aging fleet (4 vehicles, 7-23 years old) rust-free. Keep your Subaru regularly resprayed, and it'll easily go 150K miles, even in Michigan. It really changes the economics of car ownership, IMHO.
 
Simplicity. That means it has to be old. Probably not much after 1990, preferably earlier.

Long ago on a website far far away there was a big argument about American trucks v. Toyotas and someone uploaded a spec sheet of the new (then) Tundra and...er...something else even more American, maybe an F150.

Both of them had lots of electromechanical things that I'd never heard of. I don't want that, even if they aren't broken.

I suspect one of the reasons you lot get bored with vehicles is you have new ones. I've had new company cars and they were boring and probably stayed that way until they got old and became a pain in the arse, and then died.

Bit like people really.
 
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Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Highest mileage I've had on a car is 160,000 and I was pretty sick of it by then.
I'm happy if I get 8 years at 20kmiles a year without any major engine or tranny repairs and the vehicle still has some trade in value...as long as it is fun to drive and carries the things I need to carry.


My wife kept her 2004 X3 until almost 200k; she would probably still have if the Clubman hadn't come along last spring. I kept my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 for 8 years and 168k miles. It was running fine but I was ready to go back to RWD. I would have flipped it sooner but I spent quite a while deciding on the replacement.
 
I used to trade vehicles every 3-4 years but my mindset has changed with our current ones. Her vehicle is the "family mover" that goes on vacations, etc. So hers will probably get replaced every 5-6 years or so. Mine I plan to keep as long as they are looking and running good. I hope to get 10 years out of the truck I just picked up. The Sonata is my daily driver and hope to get the same. The plan in the next 5 years is to build a second garage and get some kind of a toy, like a mustang or challenger.
 
Never the same way twice. Haven't had enough to detect a real pattern.

In college I owned a vehicle for less than six months. I needed a beater for the summer, and when I was done it was sold. My goal was 6 months, 6,000 miles, $600 for all costs. Hit that goal.

My last car I planned on 250k without high cost, with the goal of 300k/10yr total ownership, in a vehicle that I really wanted. Like clockwork, at 250k it needed a bunch of work, but then I got 314k & 11 years out of it--exactly as planned.

Current car, shoot me but I have really low expectations. I'd like to make it last this year and then I think it will have done its job--I plan to run until it's cost effective to replace (or I win lotto!). I didn't buy it to be sporty, fun, cheapest to run, didn't have any real expectations other than to get below a certain level of frustrations (not in the shop all the, easy for me to repair but hopefully not often), cheap purchase, cheap running cost. Easy ingress/egress, no sentimental attachment in case it gets wrecked or something better comes along. Unfortunately it's not quite as cheap as I'd like: $1,500 purchase, $1,900 repairs/maintenance/upgrades, and only 31kmiles thus far. Would be nice to get depreciation+repairs below 10c/m, usually I allot 10c/m just for depreciation and I am starting to think I'm spending too much on depreciation.

Up here, everything rots away. Rock chips and road salt. Ten years is a good lifespan if it's driven heavily, after that it probably doesn't make sense, as everything is heavily worn & who knows what you will break when fixing something.
 
This depends on where you are in the buying hierarchy. Some people buy new cars and keep them a bit beyond the end of warranty. Others buy cars with a few years on them and keep them until the car isn't reliable to get them to work. Others buy them on the cheap and either put a lot of work in them or drive them until the wheels fall off. I think most of us here are in the middle category.
 
I'm a utility kind of guy. As long as my truck has utility... I'll continue to drive it.

I drive about 26K per year and I'd ideally like to keep it until I retire. That is 15-17 years so that would be 430,000 - 500,000 miles. I seriously doubt I'll get that far. In my experience life changes, your needs change and at some point, the vehicle is no longer reliable enough to trust. I've never been in a wreck but I suppose my luck may run out on that at some point.

Either way, I just maintain it per the recommended methods. I change the oil near the OLM limit and follow all the other recommended intervals. When I get near retirement if it gives up the ghost I'll probably get a 1-ton & a full sized bed and baby that one until I die.
 
Originally Posted By: khittner
Originally Posted By: Miller88
7 or 8 years seems to be all I can get out of a daily driver up here before the rust sets in. The Focus got multiple waxes a year, oil spray underneath and still turned into pile of dust before it was 7 years old.

I really like my Subaru. It's getting Krown sprayed this year. And getting frequent waxes as well.

I'm hoping for 150K out of it. I really like this one, so if the clutch starts giving me problems at 75K like on the Focus, I'll actually spend the money to get it fixed.



The recommended annual resprays of Krown rustproofing are what's keeping my aging fleet (4 vehicles, 7-23 years old) rust-free. Keep your Subaru regularly resprayed, and it'll easily go 150K miles, even in Michigan. It really changes the economics of car ownership, IMHO.


I DIY'd the Focus, I think that was my mistake. The Subaru got a ton of Fluidfilm for it's first winter but it's getting krown ASAP. The F-350 was never washed / oiled or anything and it shows. My Cherokee never got driven much in the winter and oiled every year and it's not terrible for it's age and mileage (213000 miles)
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
Is that miles or KMs? Anyway, you have low expectations for vehicles.


Seeing vehicles with 300k here is pretty rare. Most rust out fairly quickly or are totaled by idiots texting on cell phones.
 
Anything north 250K given my miles/year is gravy to me. After 15+ years in the rust belt, vehicles tend to be trashed even if you take precautions.
 
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Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: tig1
Is that miles or KMs? Anyway, you have low expectations for vehicles.


Seeing vehicles with 300k here is pretty rare. Most rust out fairly quickly or are totaled by idiots texting on cell phones.


Isn't that the truth! Took me what seemed like forever to find the truck with engine/package combo in this year range that hadn't started rusting in the usual places with all the salt they use around here.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: khittner

The recommended annual resprays of Krown rustproofing are what's keeping my aging fleet (4 vehicles, 7-23 years old) rust-free. Keep your Subaru regularly resprayed, and it'll easily go 150K miles, even in Michigan. It really changes the economics of car ownership, IMHO.


I DIY'd the Focus, I think that was my mistake. The Subaru got a ton of Fluidfilm for it's first winter but it's getting krown ASAP. The F-350 was never washed / oiled or anything and it shows. My Cherokee never got driven much in the winter and oiled every year and it's not terrible for it's age and mileage (213000 miles)


I think it's the long wand spraying into the quarter panels, and inside the rockers, doors, and tailgates, that's pretty tough to replicate on a DIY rust-proofing effort, even with a lift. Jake Overgaau's crew at Krown Sarnia has done a nice job for mine; they drip for a couple of weeks afterward, and the cars are often still smoking oil off the exhaust when I get back to the Blue Water bridge. "What was your business during this short trip in Canada, sir?" "I was just getting the car's rustproofing resprayed--that's the smell you're getting." "Okay, sir--have a good day . . . (cough, cough)" One time, they sent me aside for one of their random drug sniffs by their German Shepard; I don't know what Fido really thought, but he didn't waste much time sniffing around my truck that day.
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I have had a LOT of cars over the nearly 60 years I have been driving. But I never kept many of them more than a couple years, due to getting bored with them. I also never drove a lot of miles. I think the most miles I ever put on a car was the 64 Chevy Chevelle 6 cyl. stick that I drove 60 k over 3 years. Then for a quite a few years I had a dealers license and just drove something off the lot. Except for the Chevelle, all the cars I drove had nearly or even over 100K when I bought them, and I would drive them a year or two, and decide I wanted something else. Would probably put on 10 or 15 K in that time. In 96 I bought a 95 Grand Am, drove it till 2005, tried for a new PT Cruiser, and put 35K on it and traded it for a 2005 Mustang with 90K on it , drove it till 2014, and traded for a new 2014 Ford Fusion, which now has 25K , and now I am getting the itch to get something different. SO to answer the OP's query, I don't expect a lot of miles out of my cars, because I plan to not have them long enough to need major work.
 
I truly believe any engine from the mid 90s up until today with routine maintenance should last 200,000 miles. With that being said -- my Ram has 92,000 miles & is driven less then 4000 miles a year. Rust has really came on it the last 4 years due to all the salt & brime used in my area. My Acura just turned 112,000 miles & still looks great. I plan on driving both to the ground if no safety issues prevail first. My fiance gets a new car every 3-4 years so there is always a new or newer car in the stable. I know my truck is old but its sooo convenient having a truck for various reasons & to buy a used 4wd newer model truck with under 100,000 is not in my budget. My Ram runs like a top & I would love to pass it on to my son one day. I have 2 brand new OEM replacement doors for it in the garage & waiting for spring.
 
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285,000 on a 1993 Ford Ranger (5.0)
277,000 on a 1995 K3500 (7.4)
I fully expect my 2008 F150 to exceed 300,000 without issues.
 
Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
I "want" my Jeep to last forever. It's at 181k right now. I hope it goes 300k. Some do.


Those pesky valve seats
 
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