My goal was to get 200k out of our 98. We are at 201k now, and I can tell after 170k, ALOT OF ISSUES start popping up including tranny replacement which makes me second guess sometimes why I kept it and fixed absolutely everything that has went wrong over the past 3 years. Sure the original engine runs good with no leaks and minimal oil consumption... the now 3rd tranny in it shifts good (2nd one only lasted 24k miles)... but everything wears out including suspension, radiator, door locks, axles, vtech gaskets, catalytic converter / exhaust, emissions parts, paint, wheel bearings, engine mounts, internal distributor orings, power steering pump, timing belt,.. etc.. The paint on my 98 is starting to fail.. so after spending all this time and money fixing it mechanically (doing much of the work myself).. I guess I need to think about painting it.. as the sunk cost mindset kicks in.. right now I am at about $3k over the past 3 years / 30k miles and anticipate minimal repairs for the next 25k+ miles.. But in all honesty, it is hard to find a good car these days for under $5k.. or even 10k. With cars, you never get your money back (unless it is a rare investment type car), but you have to do the math and do what is logical. So I spent on average of $1k a year in repairs over the past 3 years on a $1,500 car.. whoop de doo.. This year and next I anticipate hardly anything except a paint job if I decide to do so. Find any car that costs $1k a year in total ownership costs and you will understand why I stuck to keeping this old car. The technology and "improvements" like nitrogen filled tires, TPMS, extra computers, and specialized tool requirements on the newer cars sure is a deterrent too.
Just keep in mind if after 250k if you are still on the original engine, and your tranny is miraculously still original there are tons of other parts that will wear out before then, and leaks will definately start showing up long before then. Once you get to a certain threshold, things will start popping up left and right. If you are resourceful, patient, and can do most of the work yourself the parts are cheap.. but do you have the time and tools to work on all the things that will need attention? Might want to have a backup car just in case. We have 4 cars, so it is not an issue for us.