A lot of sage advice here!

Your tolerance for a lifetime of tinkering is the determining factor. Most of us can handle the occasional "major repair", but what drives most people to rid themselves of older vehicles is the multitude of tiny things that, while they don't cripple the vehicle, are ever present reminders of the fact that you have an old car.

And yeah, there are three MBs in my sig for that very reason. If one of them suddenly fails, I can hop in one of the others until I feel the urge to attack the problem(s) on the ailing vehicle.

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car