We made a serious mistake several years ago and bought a 3 yr old car with a hefty loan. I hated making those loan payments! When we finally paid it off we sworn never to buy another vehicle with a stupid loan - cash only!
So that vehicle is 12yrs old now and still running strong at 160,000 miles. We've done the usual maintenance - oil changes, tires, brakes, headlight bulbs, a/c charging, batteries. Last year was the first time we ever had trouble with it - silly car blew an ignition coil while on a trip. So it now has a new coil( or 2?) and spark plugs. I love this car and plan to drive it until there's more kids than back seat can hold.
Now for the bragging part - bought a beater truck for $2000. It was to get DH back and forth for a commute that required a second vehicle. We expected it to last only a couple years, just long enough for what he needed it for. Well we've had it 7 years now and that truck just refuses to die! The mileage is crazy high, the a/c works when it wants to, the heat died last year, it's a rust bucket and it's 20 years old! We've put as little money as possible into the truck as we keep expecting it to die, just enough to keep it safe and reliable.
But DH loves having a vehicle where it doesn't matter if some jerk in the parking lot dings it with a shopping cart. We've used this truck to haul so many random things, I honestly don't know how people make it without a truck to cart stuff around! It's hauled a lot of stuff we found for free on Craigslist, and also the used couches, chairs, bookcases, etc that we've bought cheap. If we'd had to pay to rent a truck we wouldn't have snagged a lot of freebies, or snatched up good deals like our $75 couch.
When it dies we plan to replace it with a truck about the same age, just a better make.