Quote Originally Posted by cstone View Post
2003 Toyota Sequoia 165,000 miles
2008 Toyota Yaris 120,000 miles
2006 Ford F250 5.4L gas engine 260,000 miles

The Sequoia and F250 combined cost me less than $10k and with regular maintenance and avoiding someone hitting them, I expect they will last me another 5 or more years. The Yaris is the only manual transmission in group and I bought it new as a commuter car. My daughter learned to drive the stick and it is now her car. I will eventually sign it over to her. It is a fun car to drive and should last another 10 years.

I used to work on cars. I never made the transition into electronic cars and eventually lost my ability/interest in fixing cars, although I do my own fluid changes. Some maintenance is easy, and some things are hard. Like most things, I often decide to exchange money for time. The mechanic I normally use is much faster than I could ever be when it comes to most things. I tell myself that I could be faster if I had a lift and $40k in tools, but I am kidding myself. He would still be faster than me: 1. Because he is more competent in this area. 2. He enjoys it more than I do.

I keep reading that by 2030, more than half of the passenger cars on the road will be electric/hybrid. I can't say that I believe this but I can't say that it won't happen either. Since I probably only have another 25 years of regular driving left in my life (after 80, I will probably limit myself to milk runs or leisure cruising) my next vehicle(s) will probably be my last vehicles.
And just like that, within the span of four months, I only have one of the three vehicles listed above.

My daughter got the Yaris when we left Colorado and the F250 was stolen from the work parking lot while I was on my last work trip. It was recovered two days after I left the state and then promptly totaled by my insurance company. I got a bit more than I paid for it, so no complaints, but I never thought I would be this young and down to only one car. I am currently looking at used Prius (Prii?) now that I am back to regular driving in the east coast megolopolis. Of course I don't really need a second car yet as we still haven't found a house, so not having some place to park one vehicle makes it much easier not parking a second vehicle.

Life can be quite unpredictable sometimes. I probably should buy a Tesla and then all will be revealed to me.