Yeah the last two times I bought a car I just bought new with the plan to ride it out until it started becoming unreliable. Well, the first one I totaled instead so it didn't totally work out, but the second one is paid off and still running great, plus I know it has been maintained to a reasonable standard.
I've done that with my wife's last two cars but in both cases we ended up spending a lot before we replaced them. This time we will swap them out a little earlier.
