Until I learn a better way I will continue to buy new and keep until
it is too far gone to justify repairs.
We bought Chris's Corolla new in 1990, last year drove it to a
reclamation place and they gave us a couple hundred for it. It had
just under 200k but every gasket in the thing was leaking, I presume
from the Phoenix heat and low humidity. All gasket replacements were
estimated at over 2k.
I expect the 2002 Highlander to go well over 2000k.
I broke new own rule of only buying new to get a commute car for when
I was recently commuting three miles each way to a job. It's a 1999
Tacoma plain vanilla with 135,000 miles. I gave 5k for it and expect
it to last another 100k miles. It just made the trip from Phoenix to
Heartwood without a hiccup and averaged over 27 mpg at maximum posted
speeds, mostly 75.
James' method of buying old vans and such may well cost less over the
decades. I like enjoying the features of a new car and then having
perfect maintenance performed and knowing its history as we age
together. Each new vehicle starts out in better shape than me but I
have so far outlasted all of them.