But seriously, what does make a car last?
I've owned or leased an impressive list of cars. I've owned every kind of car there is (SUVs, Minivans, Hatchbacks, Sports Cars, FWD, RWD, etc.). In fact the only type of car I haven't owned is an AWD vehicle. The highest mileage car I've driven/owned is a 1987 Honda Accord and a 2004 BMW M3 coupe. Both cars I bought new, the Honda racked up 120k before I traded her in and the M3 racked up 78k miles before I sold it. All my other cars were sold on or shortly after 50k miles was registered on the odometer. Looking back I'd have to say it's the versatility and utility of the vehicle that's made both the Accord and the M3 last as long as they did in my stable. The Accord was the perfect car as a high school student going to college - It was cheap to maintain, easy on gas, reliable, fun to drive and decent enough to take dates on. The M3, well what can I say? It was nearly the perfect car; amazing handling, more then decent acceleration, reasonably easy on gas for the amount of performance, room for 4 adults, enough trunk space for luggage/stroller/groceries, etc. It's only fault was the lack of a spare tire and expensive maintenance cost after BMW's maintenance program ended.
A high school classmate of mine recently sold his Acura MDX..... the thing had nearly 300k miles! When asked why he kept it so long, he simply said, "it was the perfect car for me". And indeed it was the perfect car - AWD (he loved to ski), reliable (according to him, the thing never let him down and in fact it never had a transmission replace/rebuilt, never had the engine replace/rebuilt), 3 row seating (for those times when his parents are in town), sufficient trunk space, a hitch for the bicycle rack, decent handling, etc. So I guess I haven't found my perfect car yet or have I? We'll just have to see how long my current ride lasts but I have to say, the relatively minor complaints I have about my current ride should be "abatable" with some aftermarket goodies.
