Always lasted >100K miles. (Except the Yugo.)
Nice handle, "Steve McGarret". You know there's a bronze bust of Jack Lord at a local shopping mall?
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/06/18/showbuzz/
Next to big houses & bigger mortgages, I think new cars are one of life's most significant obstacles to ER. Our lifetime car purchases are under $40K and we would have been significantly delayed by buying new.
1981: 1981 Mazda GLC hatchback. Drove it into the ground until 1993. Blissfully ignorant, the last new car I'll ever buy. Cost $6200 (full retail!), sold for $600.
1982: 1980 Plymouth Champ hatchback. Drove it into the ground until I learned about timing belt replacement firsthand. Also drove it for three years without a choke (not so hard in Hawaii) despite multiple junkyard scavenging trips. Cost $3000, sold for $600.
1990: 1986(?) Yugo during a temporary assignment. Paid $995, fixed a loose clutch with a pair of pliers, sold it five months later for... $995. Voted World's Worst Car but I just smile nostalgically.
1993: 1990 Honda Civic hatchback. Ran forever but in 2002 every engine & climate-control peripheral died one at a time in a rolling six-month disaster. A/C system controlled by the engine control unit, which was the last straw when the ECU started to die. Bought a used ECU from a Honda hobbyist and got rid of the car. Cost $6700, poured $3000 into repairs, gave up & sold for $2500 in 2002, still see it around the island.
1993 (tough year): 1990 Suzuki Swift 4DSD. Our last car without A/C. Bought it out of a backyard where it had sat for two years, so the exhaust & fuel systems were always a little rusty. Otherwise no problems, ran great, lots of pickup. Bought for $4800, sold for $1295 in 2001 as I downsized for retirement.
1999: 1994 Ford Taurus station wagon. Incredibly crappy interior but an engine that will not die. Also holds a longboard inside instead of on the roof. Test platform for oil-change system on th's car, although we also have the special hidden compartments that absorb spilled oil and drip it on the garage floor for months after the oil change. Cruise control software must be running Windows 3.1. Bought for $8100, my kid is thrilled that I'll give her this two-ton automatic-transmission behemoth for free... in 2009.
2002: 1997 Nissan Altima. Our first "adult" car, most likely to give me a ticket if I don't keep an eye on the speedometer (Hawaii is still mostly 55 mph). At $7000 it's the most luxurious car we've EVER owned. I'd buy another Nissan anytime.
Buying used is not as hard as it's made out to be if you have the time. It's great to shop while you still have transportation so that you're not in a hurry. Our best purchases have been through the classified ads from finicky private owners who raced to the dealer at the first hiccup of trouble. They're the most likely to upgrade during the car's 3-5 year depreciation sweet spot.
We've never taken a used car in for a mechanic's check. Although a friendly mechanic (professional or shade-tree) is a great source of advice, if you're wondering about a mechanic's inspection then there's probably a better buy somewhere else. Really mechanically sound cars have owners with great maintenance records.
Consumer Reports' Used Car Guide and Edmunds/Kelly are the best research tools. Although technology has made all of this a little easier, CarFax was indispensable for avoiding bad sellers and for maximizing the resale price of our cars.