My favourite car story is a 91 civic that I saw for 1000 that needed a muffler and I bargained down to $500 and got a muffler for $150 and installed it myself.

It burned 1 l of oil ever 1000kms, and had a dead battery caused by a the light on buzzer not working. Replaced the battery.

Had tons of rust and a floppy headlight. Drove it through the worst snow storm ever and into a 20 foot ditch. Drove it across state twice and sold it 1 year later for $300 more than I paid for it.

I know how to buy good used cars. 95% of people don't. That's why I get them cheap.

When I sell my used cars when I 'm done with them, I qualify the buyer. I'm usually straight up with them and tell them that if they don't know how to change a tire, they shouldn't buy a car more then 10 years old.

A 17 year old kid with a car driving across state will drive that car at 70mph, effectively flogging a tired motor, engine and chassis to it's absolute limit.

Just because an old car can achieve 70mph, doesn't mean that it should be driven at that speed.

I have a 25 year old car. I drive it at 55-60mph. That's about it. At that speed, I'm using 1/8th to 1/4 of the throttle. When I drive it at 65-70mph, I'm using at least 1/2 throttle. People don't realize that 1/2 throttle is pushing the engine pretty hard. Don't believe me. At a green light, give it 1/2 throttle. Your car is going to be zooming fast.

And with the hate on used cars in this sub, I consider this sub to be a 'how to buy expensive stuff for cheap' sub. Not really a how to fix/maintain a car sub. You and I are talking about things that most people in this sub don't know a thing about.

Cars are only frugal if you know how to fix them, and most people in this sub aren't into that. They're only into 'how can I get a decent car for cheap and tell me only in simple absolute terms.'

The short answer is "it really depends on a lot of different factors'

The long answer is something that, people here aren't really interested in listening or learning.