Reply #50: Treatment begets Longevity

[DustyJoe]

I have found that how you treat a vehicle makes the biggest difference in how long it lasts.
Ex: I bought my wife a 76 Ford LTD in the 70's that she drove for 13 years and the only thing I ever spent money on was Ignition modules and 1 master cylinder replacement. That my friends is longevity. I drove a 1979 El Camino for 19 years, I live rurally and put over 100k on it, put in a rebuilt engine for 1200.00 10 years in and put another 100k on it and still sold it for over 2000.00 when I finally parted with it in 2004 for a 4wd Silverado.
Now my wife and I both drive Chevy Monte Carlos, my wife has had hers for 8 years and I bought a used one since hers was such a great car. Both have v6's, both get 30mpg and have only put money into brakes just for hers at 75k miles.
then
on the other hand, bought my youngest a 80 chevy citation in high school, I thought this was a real workhorse and it took real punishment till it died. She let her boyfriend use it constantly ran it low on oil and tranny fluid till it burned out way before its time.

So in 35 years I have not had an american car I ever had a major complaint about and I will continue to buy american and wish more people would do the same.

But thats my experience.