any idea how much you guys have spent over the lifetime of the car to maintain it those miles? i wonder if the costs adds up...
This is a more difficult game than some people will admit. We hear all the great stories about buying a 1990 honda and it going 300K. No one talks about the one that engine blew at 110K. Ive owned a lot of used cars with high miles. I am pretty sure that it was cheaper than buying new but fixing my own stuff and luck has a lot to do with that. A $3000 car can turn into a $500 in seconds.
I really wonder if over 40 years one person bought 3 brand new cheap cars and someone else only bought cars under $5000, who would spend less. Then do the same thing with 10000 people. One person can get real lucky.
It's not lucky. It's buying the right brand/model with the right options from the right person in the right condition and then doing the right maintenance at the right time and when repairs are required, doing them the right way. Simple right?
It's also about how you drive the car. Drive it hard and you should expect it to fail sooner and require more frequent more costly repairs.
I've owned nothing but high mileage cars and have had great "luck".
The last 4 are great examples.
1989 F-150. It had a 5 digit odometer so I don't know exact mileage but based on age and maintenance records of the prior owner I am guessing 245K. Still running great when I sold it.
1999 Ford Escort. Traded it with ~205K miles on it. The only problem I had were when DW slid off the road on some ice and I needed to replace the control arm.
2006 Honda Ridgeline. Currently has ~184k miles on it and runs great. On it's second set of tires and I finally had to replace the rear brake pads a second time recently. It's need some repairs but averaged out over the life of our ownership it's a very small amount per year.
2006 Kia Spectra. ~187K miles on it. We traded the Escort plus some cash to get this car. It has needed nothing but oil changes since we've owned it. It'll need tires before winter hits.
I think the real key is being able to DIY your repairs. I just had to replace the strut mount on the Honda. That's a job that would cost a lot more at a shop than the $25 I paid for the parts.