One Million miles... Wow. The best I've seen so far with me own eyes is a Great Wall Pick Up Truck with 700k km on it. First engine. Taxi driver. Instead of replacing that car, he overhauled another one and now his wife and son are in the business, too.
I rarely get new things. Maybe kitchen appliances. But those are mainly for work. And when it's really time for a new phone or laptop, I look for something as durable as the last. I rather spend a good amount once after research than going through the same process several times for not being thorough the first.
The buy once cry once ethos is the best I think. Buying twice (cheaper product and then a better quality one) makes no sense and usually costs more.
Exactly. When I started out, I didn't have the money to buy the good stuff (pans, containers, blenders), so I got the cheaper stuff and made the most of it. But as soon as I could, I bought the better quality. And some things just work forever. I have a fridge that I bought in combination with a washing machine for 150$ between the two. Both still work. Can't read anything on the washing machine anymore after 10 years, but that doesn't really matter - I know the function by heart now.
I tend towards better quality whether it's electrical tape from the hardware store or a vehicle. Yep, costs more but does the job as intended. Mostly.
Although, having said that, vehicles are becoming more and more shit. Even the "better quality" ones.
Yes, I noticed that. A friend of mine has a farm, and a harvester for that. It's around 40 years old, but every blacksmith can make most of the replacement parts easily. He hates and loves it, as it does break down regularly, but the new ones would be even worse as they break down, too, and then it takes weeks to get a specialist and even more for the specialized parts that can't be copied because the internal code recognizes un-authorized replacement parts. Because if quality, you know. They really just want to make sure that you have the best experience, and that means only their own expensive parts. If not, your vehicle could blow up. And we wouldn't want that, would we?