Quote:
Originally Posted by Peanut
200,000km to me is the cut-off point. I've seen two cars (of friends) in my life get to 300,000km - a subaru and a honda. They both were reeeeeally rusted out by the end of it. And the owner's were doing the bulk of the repair/maintenance work on their own.
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It is all about how you look after the car... I have a '99 Grand Am GT (which granted arent great cars). It has 270,000 kms and no rust. I wash my cars during every weather change during winter.
Other than regular wearing parts, I've only replaced two wheel bearings/hubs, rear brakes calipers and rotors, and the front struts. I also fixed the faulty intake manifold gaskets (every grand am was sold with them) myself so that it would be done right. All told, in 270,000kms and 10 years, I've paid about $3500 for failed parts and installation. I think that is decent for the time span.
The car is worth only a few thousand now, so I wont be selling it. But that is OK because it looks good, runs well, and drives good and doesnt have any parts about to fail.
As for the OP's original question, I hear you ... I hate rust. But, just because a vehicle has higher mileage doesnt automatically mean it is junk. By all means, if you have the money to replace it with something nicer then do so. But know that you are spending for the luxury of a nicer vehicle and not spending for the nessecity of transportation because you already have that need met.