This Pacer covered 300,000 miles with a single owner. Almost none of what kept it alive was expensive. Nine habits, in the order they matter.
Oil stops being a lubricant long before it runs low. Old oil turns to sludge that starves bearings, and it is the single cheapest part of the car to replace.
Antifreeze contains corrosion inhibitors that deplete with age. Once they do, the coolant turns mildly acidic and quietly eats the water pump, radiator and head gasket.
Most timing belts are due between 60,000 and 100,000 miles. In an interference engine, a snapped belt lets pistons hit open valves and wrecks the cylinder head.
Automatic transmission fluid is a hydraulic fluid that cooks with heat and mileage. A fluid change costs a fraction of a rebuild, which is the usual alternative.
Front and rear tires wear at different rates, so rotating them evens it out. Underinflation shreds the shoulders and quietly costs you fuel on every trip.
Brake fluid absorbs water from the air. That lowers its boiling point, softens the pedal under hard use and corrodes calipers and lines from the inside out.
Plenty of high-mileage cars are scrapped with a healthy engine and a rotten shell. Winter road salt does it, and washing the underbody is the whole defence.
Cold oil is thick and slow to reach the top of the engine, so wear is highest in the first minutes. Drive gently until it warms rather than idling on the drive.
A weeping hose, a chipped panel, a faint knock: each one is cheap today and structural later. Keep the receipts, and the next owner pays for them too.
None of this is mechanical skill. It is fluids changed on time, salt washed off and small faults caught early, repeated for years until the odometer looks unusual.