My first car. This poor beast was 200,000 miles when I got it. I drove this car for years before it started having several problems: namely, the radiator was leaking, the brake pads all needed replacing, the tires were worn down, the electric for a tail light panel was out, and the battery was discharging all the time (I got super speedy with a jump pack).
KBB on this car at this point was probably $3k. (It's now $1.5k). My family told me to scrap it and get another car. But I had faith this car would keep truckin' on (pun intended). I replaced the electric myself, bought tires out of a junk yard, and found the battery draw with the help of my uncle. Sadly, I couldn't do some work myself- the battery still needed replaced, the radiator fixed, and the brake pads fixed. I was able to get this all done, I forget exactly how much. There might have even been some other work too. $700 maybe? It wasn't bad compared to the $2,200 initial estimate I got, but still not good for a car that my dad described as "the only way it could be rougher is if it was bigger".
In a twist of irony, my parents then bought me a truck as a college graduation present. So this old car got loaned to family friends for a year who were in a rough financial spot. And then borrowed by an aunt. Now my parents snow-bird, and it's used as a back-up car when they're in town.
Now for the great part. Two of my brothers have much newer cars, 10 years newer at least than Old Car. Same model. Both their cars, AND my mom's truck, are having major issues right now. In and out of the shop all the time. Costing thousands over the years. And guess what rig everyone wants to borrow now? That's right, Old Car. Now at 275k miles, Old Car is still humming along. No major repairs since the money I put in 5 years ago. Heck, people haven't even changed the poor beast's oil on schedule. But it just keeps humming along. Not bad for a rig everyone said I should scrap!
Lo and behold, my parents bought the same year, same model car for their house where they snowbird.