FWIW.  My 1996 Hyundai Accent is at 193,050 miles and going strong.  My wife
says that she intends to prevent me from catching up to her machine a 1993
Subaru Impreza with 213,200 miles.  The Accent owes me nothing considering I
paid $7.5K for it when brand new in 1996.  At a consistent 40 - 43 mpg on
the highway the machine long ago delivered its value.

Jozef
Vermont

OK. Look. Yeah: it's a real pain to have to read peoples' bad use of
English on the Internet and try to figure out what they mean. Misuse of
apostrophes is galling to me too, since I attempt to write clearly and
have acquired a reputation for effective writing.

I feel that before a person posts, that person should learn how to write
English. It's not that hard. However, I'll allow that for some folks,
it's harder than for others.

However, and note this well: it's _also_ a pain to have to read
excessive verbiage auto-tagged onto the beginnings and ends of posts,
as, "...-0500, twfsa staggered into the Black Sun and said:" Out of
kindness, I'll refrain from calling this blather what it is... This is
worse, you know, than "Do you Yahoo?" since, after all, this is
essentially a joke between you and yourself: you have control over it.
It's just excessive blather to others. I really don't give a flying f---
about your private in-jokes.

Give me a break: please put yourself into the shoes of others and stop
this, especially before you pick at other posters' scabs for their bad
netequette.

Your points about cars, however, are well-taken.

"Supporting evidence?" Is the OP on trial?

Valid (I can pass judgment, too).

I'll add:
I bought a 2000 Sonata with 107k on the clock. It's in excellent shape
for its age; obviously driven mostly on the freeway. The underside steel
looks like new. However, contrast this with a car driven 100,000 miles
through New York City potholes and slush. Cars will, of course, wear
very differently in different climates, different terrain, and different
driving conditions. It's complicated.

Back in Connecticut during the 60s, I saw people having their Borgwards
and Peugeots rebuilt at 200,000 miles. Undoubtedly Volvos, too (the
first two were built like German and French Volvos, respectively). Some
cars are really built to last. I'm not sure that the jury's in about
Hyundai yet -- from reading over the Consumer Reports charts, I get the
sense that Hyundai hasn't fallen into a groove yet. Those charts are, in
my opinion, built on rickety information. Nonetheless, with a grain of
salt, one can spot trends with them.

Richard

Matt G
Do you have any friends that you can carry on a conversation with, without
correcting there use of the English ????.

My guess is no....... Maybe you and Richard Steinfeld can get together, and
instance message each other and correct each others grammar.

In the future if you see a post of mine ignore it please.

Tom

My 97 Tiburon has just passed the 250,000 mile mark and is still running
strong. It uses about a quart of oil every 1000 miles, but I don't
consider that excessive for a car with this many miles on it. I bought
the car new so I know what has been repaired over the years. During its'
in-warranty period, the throttle position sensor was out of spec which
caused a couple visits to the dealer. Also, the clutch master cylinder
went out at about 45,000 miles and was replaced by the dealer. The first
"major" repair (that I had to pay for) was replacing the alternator at
170,000 miles. The only other major repair I had to contend with was a
failed clutch throw-out bearing at 230,000 miles. As amazing as it
sounds, when I dropped the transmission and removed the clutch there was
virtually no wear to the disk or pressure plate, but I replaced it all
anyway. I have never before owned a car that is as reliable as my
Tiburon. I have a spare engine sitting in my garage (a 2000cc from a '99
Elantra with 43,000 miles on it) in anticipation of the day when this
power plant finally does give up, but at this point, it doesn't seem
like that will be any time soon.