Iāve been looking for a second car with an automatic transmission for a while now. Itās not a good market as iām sure you all know. Everything thatās priced near what I want to pay either has a ton of miles or is ancient, or both.
At what age do you start not trusting a vehicle just because of the effects of aging such as drying seals, aging bushings, and so forth?
Late to this thread but my experience is time is the enemy, not necessarily mileage.
All the rubber seals, o-rings, gaskets, etc. will fail and leak eventually. At some point keeping a car on the road becomes a rolling restoration project or a labor of love.
Now, the guy who got 1MM miles on his Tundra doing hotshot work? He didn't put those miles on over 20 years so he beat the limited lifespan of the rubber parts that degrade.
Another problem with the vehicle after 20 years or so is parts availability, particularly things that are OEM only and there is no aftermarket substitute (worn weatherstripping, trim components, some body parts, model specific actuators, electronics, etc.). Eventually you are shopping at the junkyard for used parts.
People in the rust belt hit this time sooner as the cars disintegrate before they are worn out.
If it something that is collectible or you are just emotionally attached you can keep it going forever provided you put in enough time and effort to source the parts that fail. But for a daily driver? I cut bait at 15-20 years or a few hundred thousand miles.
Bad news is I am not sure the newer cars are built any better or more reliable, in fact they may be worse but at least the components are new.