Again. you can only do so much, especially if we're talking about buying a new vehicle today and driving that into the ground. Sure, you can keep things maintained. But even if you're the world's most skilled driver, you can't control other people.

Just this last year we lost a 15 year old Corolla. We had been planning to drive it into the dirt. Driving down a side street, maybe 30 mph. Some person doesn't look both ways properly and pulls out right in front of us from a parking lot. No time to stop. Insurance declared it a total loss. Not worth fixing. Would cost more to repair than the thing is worth.