Old Cars, Old Friends

Someone asked this question on Quora:

"They say a Ferrari or Lamborghini, if properly maintained, can be driven for 100,000 miles, and be in good driving condition?"

I suppose they're asking if it's true that if you buy a very expensive car, can you really drive it for 100,000 miles and have it still be in good condition.

The car I own now is a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I bought in 1998. Now, in 2021, it is 26 years old and I've driven it for 23 of those years. It still looks good inside and out. It runs well. It doesn't burn oil. The carpet and upholstery are like new. The paint is good. No complaints. It has over 100,000 miles. I change the oil and filter about every three years. I've never changed the spark plugs. I changed the engine air filter once, at 78,000 miles. I've never changed the transmission fluid, nor added to it. 

The only major problems occurred in the year after I bought the Jeep. I had to repair the automatic transmission ($1500). I had to repair the 4WD transfer case ($1800). I had to replace the air conditioner's evaporator coil ($0 - warranty repair). 

I recently drove to another city, three hours away, then drove around in that city, then visited a friend a further 45 minutes away. So, 7½ hours round trip, plus another two hours of driving around town. The Jeep made the trip uneventful.

Before the Jeep, I owned a 1988 Subaru that I purchased new. It was well-built and seldom needed a visit to a garage. I put 150,000 miles on it before I sold it. The only major problem was the car's computer (Subaru mechanics called it a "brain box"). It had a bad component that caused the Check Engine light to stay on. The dealer quoted me $750 to replace it. I bought a new brain box at an auto junk yard for $80 and installed it myself under the dashboard in about five minutes using only a screwdriver. It worked like new.

You don't have to buy a Ferrari or Lamborghini to get a car that will run reliably for over 100,000 miles. It helps if you know how to do some simple repair jobs yourself. By simple I mean, replace a light bulb. Install an air filter. Replace the Idle Air Control motor (if cleaning the pintle doesn't fix the problem).

But go ahead and buy that Ferrari. Then pay a factory technician to come out to your house and replace a light bulb that can only be replaced with a special factory tool that only Ferrari has. It won't impress me because I know who owns Ferrari. Do you know what automaker owns Ferrari? It's Volkswagon. Now I'm not putting down Volkswagon. They make a good, reliable car. I've heard. It's just that the Volkswagon name doesn't have the same je ne sais quoi as Ferrari. 

I'll stick with my old Jeep for a while longer. We all wear out: cars and drivers, both. I won't dump an old friend just because she's got a few miles on her. You know?