Here'* a good article for those that are still wanting to learn how. There are a few things I do differently, because I'm capable of doing them, but in general, this covers the discussion of how to best save money, long term, by keeping a car longer.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com....aspx?page=all

I do have this article consolidated into a cleaned-up word document on my computer for any who would like it emailed to them. Just send me a PM.

Thanks for the link MIke, I particularly like this quote " I figured that owning cars for 10 years instead of five could save the typical person a quarter-million dollars over a lifetime." at this rate, we're all going to be Millionaires.

But only if we live for 4 lifetimes.

I dont understand the logic of some people who buy a new car every 3-5 years, irregardless if the car is still capable of serving their needs.

After our family bought a used Cadillac for significantly less than a new one, we will never buy new again. For the price of a new Taurus you can get a few year old Cadillac that is a much nicer ride.

I found it was really hard to keep track of maintenance on all the cars we had (mine, wifes, kids), even keeping invoices in individual folders was not a good solution. What I found worked best is I made an Excel spreadsheet for each car. Each speadsheet had five colums named: DATE, MILEAGE, WORK PERFORMED, PERFORMED BY, and COST. I named each spreadsheet by the year and name of the car (99 Pontiac). It makes it very simple to tell what service you had done, when it was done, who did it, and what it cost.

The two cars I've had before this one have been heavily used, with spotty maintenance records. Now with 38,500 miles on a 99 LeSabre, the chance exists to start organizing the maintenance records. And I have a long way to go to 250k.

less than 33k to go

only 38k miles to go!! woohoo!

i keep a notepad in my console, and i write the date and mileage of any repair or maintenance, and i also write the mileage every time i fill up, so can track my MPGs. the notepad was less than $1, and works perfectly for what i need it for. i learned this habit from my mom who does the same thing

Pfffffbtbtbtbtbtbbtttt!!!!! 250k is nothing. I had a Dodge Shadow 3.0 V6 5 speed with 250k miles on it when I sold it to Gonneville, AND it had the ORIGINAL clutch, along with everything besides the muffler and some small parts.

From a older post of mine -