Just throwing my two-cents' worth in here.

I drive - and love - an old Corolla, which still gets 35 mpg highway on its original engine and tranny after almost 290 miles. It doesn't have those fancy computers and stuff, and I'm not a fan of most of that stuff (except for the airbags and GPS).   I like manual mirrors, door locks, windows, etc., and mechanical brakes, etc.

Should something foul happen to my old Toyota, I'd want to buy another from that company because my mechanic, who works only on Toyotas and Lexuses, is that rare find of a mechanic who is both very competent and very ethical and customer-oriented. (If you're in Portland, OR, here's a plug: Integrity Auto, in PDX. And, no, I'm not on commission. LOL).

Thing is, though, I don't know that today's Toyotas are as high quality as the older ones were -- any more than today's Macs are of the quality of the older ones. (Last summer, for the first time in over a decade and after using several new models, I had a Mac hard drive go belly up. I think lots of manufacturers are now farming out their production and quality control to Pacific-rim sweatshops and the quality of their products is suffering.)

For now, I put at least $1,000 a year into preventive maintenance on my old Toyota, partly because I trust the older Toyotas and partly because I don't consider some of the high-tech modifications on newer cars a real improvement.