How to give spouse confidence in (not so) high mileage vehicle?

[red_pill]

So, spouse thinks our 2011 Santa Fe with 130,000 km is or will soon become unreliable.  I don't think I've put more than $500 of non-routine maintenance in the thing for the entire we've owned it (bought it used at 15,000km).  I actually like having a bit of an older vehicle it since I don't worry if it gets dinged in a parking lot, the insurance is cheaper, and it does everything I need it to do.  It's basic with no bells and whistles, and I really like that. 

We have never been high mileage vehicle drivers, we usually get rid of them when they hit this age, so this is uncharted territory for us.  I'm fine with it and actually want to see how long I can keep it for.  And our other vehicle is lower mileage (40,000 km) but smaller - but it's totally fine for everything except maybe a big camping trip (which is a rare occurrence anyway). 

So - how can I increase her confidence in a higher mileage vehicle?  How do I ease her into the world of higher mileage vehicles?  Take it to a garage for a big once over?  Is there a list of common failures or reliability for this year / make of vehicle?   

[Frankies Girl]

You don't have to convince her. Let her drive the lower mileage vehicle as her primary, and any long distance driving is in that one as well. Otherwise you drive the high mileage one for errands/commuting and whatever and continue to do basic maintenance.

If it breaks down eventually or starts having lots and lots of annoying issues and is too expensive to fix, then you get a newer one. Otherwise, what have you lost?

It's very, very VERY unlikely that something horrible is going to happen. It might be annoying but as long as you do regular, scheduled maintenance cars mostly just start having things stop working and you just weigh whether it's a deal breaker or not.

[secondcor521]

I'm driving a 27-year-old Lexus with over 300,000 km on the odometer.  My son's BMW is also about that range.  Neither of us are even thinking about getting newer cars at this point, and we regularly drive them halfway across the country without any concerns about reliability.  We do keep up regular maintenance, and the brands are generally viewed positively.

One thing that may help is that cars are designed and engineered such that they very very very rarely just simply stop working.  The only thing I can think of in that vein is if the timing belt or timing chain breaks.  In the case of your car, it has a timing chain and an interference engine, which means engine damage if it ever breaks.  So you might want to stay on top of that particular maintenance item.

Other than that, cars are generally made such that breakdowns happen gradually rather than suddenly.  So an older car might start leaking oil, or the brakes might feel a bit mushy, or the steering is a little loose, or the car takes a couple of tries to get started, or the air conditioning is no longer 100% ice cold freezing.  These gradual failures are such that you'll usually be able to notice them and at least get the car to the nearest service station, or, vastly more likely, get it fixed at your regular mechanic sometime in the next several weeks.

Some things on less critical parts of the car can fail suddenly.  If a window regulator goes out, then all of a sudden you can't roll the window up or down, but the car is drive-able.

Also, nowadays, with cell phones, even if you were stuck on the side of the road (which again, is extremely unlikely to happen) you can almost always call a tow truck with your cell phone and they'll get your car to the nearest shop.

(I agree with Frankies Girl's advice also.)

[Ecky]

There is a lot of discussion lately whether 300,000 miles (480k km) is the "new" 200,000 miles (320k km). Or, in other words, decades ago before part tolerances were as tight, 320k km was around when a car started to get "old", but modern vehicles often run virtually trouble free to nearly 500k km.

Between the three Hondas in my driveway, I have around 1.2 million km on them, and I would not hesitate to drive coast to coast in any of them, without even peaking under the hood at the oil or coolant. 130k km is hardly broken in for many vehicles.

That said, most of what takes a vehicle off the road is automatic transmission failure, and when it happens can vary tremendously even among the same model and year of vehicle. Hyundai's transmissions have a relatively good reputation. My experience is that they don't go out suddenly, you can typically feel the transmission start to misbehave days or even weeks before it fails, but that isn't always the case.

[Kris]

Giver her the lower mileage car to drive. You take the higher mileage one. Simple.

[KBecks]

Have you had the timing belt done?

It does sound like you want to drive the higher mileage vehicle more than her.

When I start to tire of an older car, I made some small upgrades, like I put a bluetooth thingy in it so I could play music from my phone.  I also had it detailed and cleaned so it was nicer.

So maybe a mechanic check up, and maybe some creature comforts would make the old care more appealing.

Also, take care of the tires and all the wear items, of course.

Or, buy a newer used car that she likes. :)

[rothwem]

You don't have to convince her. Let her drive the lower mileage vehicle as her primary, and any long distance driving is in that one as well. Otherwise you drive the high mileage one for errands/commuting and whatever and continue to do basic maintenance.

I'm in a very similar situation to the OP, and I'm not sure if his wife is like mine, but as soon as there's major maintenance that has to be done to the car, its "unreliable" and she starts pushing for it to be gone.  I finally gave up and we picked up a CPO car with a super long warranty to make her feel secure.  I hate this route since its a Honda and I'm wasting my money, but its better than my wife telling me we need to trade-in a 50k mile car because it'll break down "ANY SECOND NOW".

[norajean]

In this situation it is often best to capitulate and move on.  Best situation the car runs fine another several years but the complaining continues. Worst situation the car breaks and you never hear the end of it.

[secondcor521]

You don't have to convince her. Let her drive the lower mileage vehicle as her primary, and any long distance driving is in that one as well. Otherwise you drive the high mileage one for errands/commuting and whatever and continue to do basic maintenance.

I'm in a very similar situation to the OP, and I'm not sure if his wife is like mine, but as soon as there's major maintenance that has to be done to the car, its "unreliable" and she starts pushing for it to be gone.  I finally gave up and we picked up a CPO car with a super long warranty to make her feel secure.  I hate this route since its a Honda and I'm wasting my money, but its better than my wife telling me we need to trade-in a 50k mile car because it'll break down "ANY SECOND NOW".

It's cheaper than a divorce ;-)

[red_pill]

 Helpful comments.   A few points:

- this model has a timing chain, not a belt and there is no replacement required according to the manual.  The service calendar doesn't require anything major that I can see.  Is there anything else I need to look at?

- spoke with some friends who also drive high mileage vehicles and they confirmed what I'm hearing here - that the car is not a death trap and that it has many years left in it. Luckily wife was with me and heard it to.  It was literally the exact thing as what I was saying, but since it came from friends it was listened to. Lol

- so, we will keep it with the wife having a big "I told you so" in reserve if I'm wrong.  Lol at the comments assuming some sort of marital strife over a car discussion.

- turns out the reluctance over high km vehicles is because 20 years ago her transmission  blew on the highway and she was stranded.  This was pre cell phone and in the poor days where renting a car for a few days was a big issue.  Funny how a single experience can influence decades of behaviour.

- gotta get new tires so will bite that bullet this week.  And need to get a paint pen to fix a few chips that have a bit of rust and will buff out some scratches.  The interior is immaculate because I always keep it that way.

[TheFrenchCat]

- gotta get new tires so will bite that bullet this week.  And need to get a paint pen to fix a few chips that have a bit of rust and will buff out some scratches.  The interior is immaculate because I always keep it that way.

I've seen it recommended to use clr cleaner on a q-tip to clear away the rust on small spots before you paint.  Nice job on the interior, I have so much trouble with that.

[secondcor521]

- this model has a timing chain, not a belt and there is no replacement required according to the manual.  The service calendar doesn't require anything major that I can see.  Is there anything else I need to look at?

I googled your model and saw that it had a timing chain and an interference engine; I thought I saw a recommendation to replace it every 60 to 90km, but maybe I'm misremembering that.

In any case, find your owner's manual, find the service interval recommendations, and follow them.  That's all you need to do IMHO.

- so, we will keep it with the wife having a big "I told you so" in reserve if I'm wrong.  Lol at the comments assuming some sort of marital strife over a car discussion.

If you're referring to my second post in this thread, I'm not assuming anything.  I'm just pointing out that compromise on a car is cheaper than a divorce, which is factually true and was aimed at helping the other poster gain perspective.  Maybe too brusque of a comment, but worth it to me to ruffle a feather or two here or there on the off chance it helps prevent a divorce.  Having been through one, they suck.

Now, back to your original programming.

[Goldielocks]

I now drive high mileage cars.   My suggestion to you-- ask her if there is anything about the handling of the cars that gives her concern...

I find that once I don't think a car is trustworthy while driving, it is a short time until I get rid of it.   BUT, some of these things are fixable:

Loose steering or car pulls to one side a bit.
Vibration when the car goes over 65 mph.
Soft brakes and / or soft shocks that make me worried about the feel of the braking.  Asking yourself "will it stop" is not a good place to be.
Weird muffler rattle or other noise that I had thought was a serious thing (and wasn't)

These start off as hardly noticeable, but begin to erode trust in the car.