Julie P. wrote:
> A professional mechanic once posted in another forum that if your car is
> well maintained by a competent mechanic who maintains his education, it
> should NEVER break down without warning, leaving you stranded.
>

> Is this statement true?

If you're willing to spend the big $$$ to keep your car in like new
condition, I'd say it's very close to true.

the reality is the cost would be basically the same as buying a new car
every three years, because you'd be pretty much overhauling it about
every three years.

Oh, and even then... I've had a couple of batteries "just go" on me and
others - they got you to work in the morning, and they were just dead
after work. What about running over a nail? It's not a breakdown, but
you're still stranded if you don't have a spare.

Overall though, if you keep on top of the maintenance and either do it
yourself or have a good relationship with your mechanic (and he's a good
one) then the odds of you being stranded are pretty slim. But it will
be expensive, because you'll be replacing a lot of parts that are "wore"
but not "wore out" and sometimes there's a long time between "wore" and
"wore out." My buddy replaces his battery every three years, I don't.
When the car starts to crank a bit slower and the battery is getting
old, then I replace it. I've had 4 year old batteries and 8 year old
batteries. Stuff like tires -> once you get a crack in the sidewall, is
the tire junk? On my Trans Am it would be. On the Beretta it's not.

Ray