Well, today was a sad day for me because I have to say goodbye to my battlewagon, an old 1996 Toyota Camry that I bought a few years ago thinking that "...it'll do until I find something better". Man, that car has been just the best thing on the road. Because I live nearly an hour from work, it had its work cut out for it. I used to drive it up and down the east coast of the South island, so it's covered a huge amount of ground. In the last year it's done just over 100,000 ks alone; it's got 210,000 k on it now, and it never missed a beat. When I used to drive back to the town where my wife and I own a house, not the same as the one we live in, we'd load that huge boot up with ladder, tools, paint tins, and whatever else was needed to continue the restoration of our old house. It would also be used in lieu of a trailer for carting gardening waste to the recycle yard. A real work horse.
The biggest issue I have had with it is replacing tyres (tires); nothing else. I changed the cam belt a few weeks ago and I kept a close eye on maintenance issues. I'd say it cost us less than a grand in parts over the last few years, that's not including warrant of fitnesses etc, just bits; tyres, light bulbs, windscreen wipers etc. And now I have to write it off; I slid down a bank in driving wind and rain on the way home from work one night at around 2:30 am - a lapse of concentration on my part.
Goodbye old battlewagon; you were the best... sniff.