I bought in late July of 2014 for 2500 dollars with 165000 miles. The car runs smooth, but as the car gets older, it burns oil.
I bought an ultragauge to track my gas mileage and also kept track at the pump.
When the car was in Florida, I was driving about 20% highway miles and 80% non-highway mile. My MPG was around 28.5 and I burned through a quart of oil about every 800 miles.
We moved the car to the Denver area for the summer. I was driving about 90% highway miles and 10% non-highway. I averaged about 32 MPG, but the car burned oil every 600 miles.
It turns out that the car burns more oil during longer trips on the highway. I am assuming that it's because the engine is warmer.
We put about 20,000 miles on the car during the first 14 months. It has been a reliable workhorse for us with many road trips under it's belt including a cross-country trip from Florida to Colorado.
The only repair has been a new starter that I changed myself for 137 dollars.
It's going to stay in Colorado during the summer and will be our summer car.
Yes, the oil does cost money. It's 17.99 for a 5 quart of Penzoil high milage at Walmart. However, the cost of the oil is very low considering that I bought the car for 2500 and it's a great car. Very smooth and plenty of room and cargo space.
After purchasing the car, many people on this forum predicted disaster, which did not happen.
It's not about proving anyone wrong. However, it's about providing encouragement to anyone else who is considering a similar car purchase.
The burning of oil is what turns people off and makes the price lower which I think is very MMM. I will try to provide an update after the end of each summer.