'....Aside from buying a house, purchasing a car is the most expensive transaction that most consumers will make over the course of a lifetime.....'

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I can think of some common transaction that are often more expensive than the typical car purchase.

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1. Purchasing freedom from the necessity to earn income later in life......paying for retirement. My guess is that most people pay more towards retirement than on their most expensive car, even those who only pay into social security.

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2. Purchasing the chance to watch someone make the very same mistakes you have in spite of your best efforts to warn/explain.....Raising a child. This transaction definitely costs more than a car. Sometimes the expense for raising a child eventually ends up including a car (or two).

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3. Cost to choose the pre-violence, criminal-court-avoidance program, rather than hoping to use a crime of passion defense..... Getting a divorce. Half of everything is often more than the whole car cost new.

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With at least one of those three usually in second place, it is a safe bet that, for most people, purchasing a car is not the most expensive transaction of a lifetime after buying a house.

If people don't look at cars as fashion statements, but rather a way to get from point A to point B, they are pretty cheap.

I typically spend less than $3000 on a vehicle, and drive them for 5-6 years before getting rid of them. The junk yard pays me $400 when I'm finished with them.

I also save the planet by not washing them.

With most of he engine wear occurring at start-up, what about a engine pre-oiling/lubing system?
Sorry! I designed a pre oil pump system and attempted to market same. I was told by many people in the industry that the average driver will not wait for the required 10 to 12 seconds to start their car.

Sounds like a good idea.

Maybe if you tie it into either the opening of the driver's side door, or the use of the key fob to unlock the car.

Although, it's possible that synthetic oil has rendered it moot.

I have ran a number of vehicles to over 250,000 miles where at that point the whole vehicle was just falling apart to the degree of not being worth fixing any longer but the engines were just fine. I typically do my oil changes every 2000 miles instead of the usual 3000+.

I also rarely ever let them sit and idle to warm up in the winter either plus I run the hard and I buy the cheapest oil I can find too!

My brother on the other had never changes oil and he rarely has any of his vehicles make it much over 150,000 miles before the engines go out.

With the modern oils prelube in not really an issue. They are formulated to leave a good film behind so that when the engine starts there is still more than enough lubrication left behind to do the job for the few seconds it takes for the oil pump to reprime everything.

That's a good point. The drive train is often not the weak link concerning longevity.

I have vehicles with well over 200K miles and I have some with less than 30K that are 10 years old. The biggest problem I have with them is lack of use. Just sitting around they rust, and deteriorate. Good maintenance is a must but storing vehicles that get used little can be difficult for the average person.

There's a little lesson there isn't there about the origin of the Universe. "Just sitting around they rust, and deteriorate."

If things, cars in this case, rust and deteriorate from lack of use, why would things get astromically better, from "big bang or whatever", over hundreds of millions of years to what is now visible?

It doesn't follow common sense to me either.

Maybe because the laws of physics are still at "work".

'.....If things, cars in this case, rust and deteriorate from lack of use, why would things get astromically better, from "big bang or whatever", over hundreds of millions of years to what is now visible?

It doesn't follow common sense to me either.....'

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It isn't that baffling when you realize the conflict is not something amiss in the physical world, but instead an illusion of conflict by arbitrarily assigning values of 'good/better' and 'bad/worse' to ill-defined vagaries.

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Perhaps if the subject of the argument does not align so easily with your upbringing it will be easier to see the logical fallacy: here is an 'argument' made in a similar style:

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God is love; Love is blind; ergo God's Book of Names is only published in braille and audio cassette.

Every once-in-a-while, someone discovers a brand new car that had been stored away in a barn. One such car was a model T, brand new, never driven in perfect original condition. That is one of the best ways to make a car last a long time. Anything can be made to last as long as good maintenance is observed.

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/12/18/once-buried-alive-1954-corvette-now-heads-to-auction/

One of the most degrading things I have observed over the years with vehicles and machinery is if they are left in full time exposure to direct sunlight and rain for extended periods,they not only visually degrade in value but seals fail and components corrode,so correct placement away from the elements at all times when possible has saved me much money in repairs over the years. Farmer----jack of all trades but master of none.