10 years) I had never before owned an automobile past its sixth
anniversay, nor one that didn't require major surgery somewhere along
the line.


You should try a Crown Victoria next time. I have a 93' that was 'gently'
used by the Iowa State Patrol for 3 years and 90,000 miles, and seven years
later has 164,000 miles with nary a hickup to the core drivetrain. Very
minor rust. The cabbies run these things to 300,000 miles, rebuild, then
run another 300,000 miles. They have truly outstanding engineering and
should get more respect.

Of course, the best part is that I've got a cop motor, cop shocks, cop
tires, and it's easy to drive in the dark while wearing sunglasses :-)

-Aviv