What car would you like to keep and "run into the ground"?

[white_goodman]

I'm usually a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to cars and like to have a car that looks immaculate and where everything works, even if it is an older car but having owned one of these for 6 weeks between selling my old car privately and my new car arriving, I now think I "get" shed motoring a bit more:



Mine was a C250TD with 218k and considerably rustier than this. Bought for 700 pounds with 12 months MOT. It never missed a beat in 6 weeks though and only used two tanks of diesel. I actually really enjoyed driving it and part of me wished that I had kept it and tried to run it to 300k with minimal maintenance (just oil changes, brake pads and tyres and the like).

I guess given freer rein and a slightly higher budget, I still like the utility of an estate but may have gone for a newer-style C220CDI or C270CDI:



but I'm genuinely not sure if it would have lasted as long without failing expensively or possibly a W210 E320CDi Estate if I could keep the terminal rust at bay?



A Volvo 850 T5/R Estate might possibly be a better choice but too nice to "run into the ground"?



Maybe a newer-style V70 T5/D5 then?



What would you choose?