To add to @The Toecutter's comments about the "known quantity", unless you'll be replacing the car with a brand-spankin' new car, then you're going to need to learn the new beast and remediate as needed. I bought both my 2001 Accord and my 2006 TL when they were both 11 years old (and coincidentally both had 114,000 miles on the clock). It took almost four years of work to finally sort out the Accord, I managed to get the TL sorted after about 27 months, and ain't neither was cheap.

Long story short, if you think the old girl still has life left in her and the rust isn't too bad, I say, "Fix'er, keep'er, and drive'er 'till she drops."

 

Exactly. I bought my wife's 00 accord back in November 2013, and it needed tires and brakes, followed 4 months later by a water pump (and did timing belts too), then an EGR valve, along with plenum cleaning (EGR passage), then an idle valve, blower resistor replaced, followed later by brake and fuel lines. A tune up was performed (cap rotor, plugs and wires, along with an air filter), and then a couple of road trips were taken, another set of cheap tires. All of that done in the first 15K miles we've had it. She's put over 30K miles since we bought it though. Over this past winter I had to replace the cat to tail pipe bolts due to rust (all that was left were nubs). It's been a good car though, and it gets some oil added between changes.
That car was easier than the 99 Accord, due to it needing more work done on it. It was a real mess, and needed more work and money thrown at it. But a couple of years later, it's been a good car. I think I've tossed 1500 to 2K at it.

 

I wish my Accord had been that inexpensive; I think I sunk upwards of $7,000 into it during the 80,000+ miles I drove it. As you noted, brake and fuel lines (and fuel tank) due to corrosion, numerous sensors, the EVAP system, brakes and calipers at all four corners, exhaust parts; you name it, if it was a normal (or even not so normal) maintenance item, that car needed it. Then there was the day I got the bright idea to put a set of new headlight housings on the car (the old ones had hazed badly and I found a new set for cheap money). Not long after I got into the project I knew something wasn't terribly kosher behind the front bumper and above the wheel enclosures. Yeah, about that, the car had been in an accident and had been "beer-can and baling wired" back together. From the outside you couldn't tell, underneath it was a mess; that little job of replacing the headlights cost me $1,500.

The TL hasn't been cheap either, but mostly due to my decision to PM a bunch of parts when I did the clutch; you know, all new OEM engine and transmission mounts, new rear main seal, new clutch slave cylinder (to get rid of the Clutch Delay Valve), new axles, new stabilizer bar end links and bushings. That said, I'm pretty sure the TL is good for another 100,000 miles with minimal maintenance (you know, stuff like a timing belt and new front seals).

Long story short, buying a used car, even one which had been as well maintained as my TL, can get expensive and take a while to sort out.

 

Exactly. Add in living in a "salt state", and even new parts start rusting. My 99 Accord I got super cheap (350 cash), but it needed quite a bit, like a lower pulley due the crank bolt coming loose on the PO and jumping time 4 teeth. Got new timing belts and a tune up at that time, since it wasn't making any expensive noises after I fixed it. The fuel tank rusted thru the seam in a couple of spots, the entire exhaust was rusted out/thru, and needed a cat (was clogged) that had been welded on. The brake lines rusted thru, hub bearings were toast, rotors and pads shot, along with lower ball joints and complete upper control arms and tie rod ends, along with front sway bar end links and bushings. I replaced the front down pipe, so I could replace the cat converter with a bolt on one (Magnaflow), and the entire rear exhaust pipe (also a Magnaflow), as I didn't want to have to crawl under it in the rain/snow in the winter to fix something. Yes, the parts I replaced read like a damn grocery list. I still have a clutch job in my future, but for now it's still working at 237K miles, so I'll nurse it as long as I can. So for now I'll just keep driving it, and fix it as I go.

 

Three-hundred-thousand, here you come!

 

I'm trying, but this "lock down" or "stay home" or "shelter in place" has me putting even less miles than I normally put on it by a bunch. As it is, I have to put the battery charger on the Corolla want to be (Geo Prizm) to keep it charged so it'll start if we need it.
I think my wife's Accord is at 239K or maybe 240K, as I haven't checked it recently.

 

Yeah, same boat; I was on pace for 175,000 to 180,000 on the TL by the end of this year; now I'm wondering if I'll even hit 170,000.

Side comment; my insurance company just alerted me due to COVID-19 and the fewer number of miles folks are driving, they are returning 15% of our premiums for March and April. How'bout that?

Second side comment; we returned from our road-trip down south on 14-March, and I filled the tank on the TL just a few miles from home. It is now over a month later and I have yet to burn through even half that tank.

 

I haven't heard anything like that from my insurance company, but I'd certainly take it (we have some of the highest rates in the country due to "no Fault").
So are you now keeping track of how many weeks per gallon you're getting? I think I'm over 3 weeks myself. I just filled up 2 weeks ago @1.54 a gallon, and this week it's right at 1.38-1.39 on average.

 

Geez, no-fault, yeah, I was living in Troy when Michigan implemented the whole no-fault thing six months after I got my first driver's license. I remember the outcry at the time about how horrible it was going to be for rates; I cannot believe nearly 50 years and hundreds of millions of extra insurance payments later, Michigan is still sticking to that stupid policy from 1973.

LOL, a new metric, "weeks per gallon"; if the current usage pattern keeps up for my TL, I'm guessing it will be something like four or five days per gallon.

 

Yup, we still have it. I was hoping it would go away, and maybe, just maybe we'd see some real rate reduction of of rates. iI doubt that will happen any time soon. It's also why I own and drive older model cars (cheaper to insure). It doesn't hurt that I have no problem with fixing older cars, as they're a lot easier to work on than some of the newer stuff. Most of the time it's simple stuff, but on occasion, I do have to break out the hot wrench to get things to come apart due to rust.