[pseudo0]

That works if you have the skills, tools, and willingness to do a lot of work yourself. For most people, a major repair on a 10+ year old car (engine, transmission, etc) means sinking more money into a car than its blue book value.

[zevon]

This may be true under certain conditions but there are many cars around that are much older than 10 years and have never needed major surgery along the lines of an engine replacement. It's not unreasonable to expect a car and its engine to run for the 25 years or more mentioned by the person you were replying to. Maintenance and routine repairs can be had for reasonable prices if you find yourself a good, fair mechanic and drive a car that's not too rare and has an OK spare part situation.