11th Nov 2016, 16:08
I bought a used Pontiac Bonneville from an elderly fanatic. Oil changed every 4 months even with low mileage, weekly drive thru car washes, really overmaintained. If I based every used car after that it would be the biggest disappointment. Buying new and from the start knowing its complete history is the only way to validate concerns.
11th Nov 2016, 12:25
Following your logic, all the cars I currently have should have been worse off than the Ford. The Passat has gone nearly 400k, the Merc is at 250k, the Celica is at 280k. They're all older as well.
What it comes down to here is how well a car holds up through the years and miles, which the Ford didn't, but all the other cars I currently have did.
And no, the car wasn't by the ocean, it was near the mountains a little north of Lillehammer, Norway.
Driven in every pothole? Negative, the car was driven by a family, to/from work/school, not some 18 year old wannabe rally driver.
I've bought cars both older and newer than this one, with much higher mileage. I know what it takes to keep an old car running... the Ford wasn't worth it though.
To make this real simple: a mid-late 80s W124 holds up really well, even today. The 2001 Ford however, does not hold up! You can blame me, you can blame mechanics, you can blame previous owners, but what it comes down to is the quality of the car, it's simply inferior to most other cars I've had.