I think most people who have 'bad luck' with cars tend not to maintain them very well. I think that this is probably even reflected in car reliability statisti

I think most people who have 'bad luck' with cars tend not to maintain them very well. I think that this is probably even reflected in car reliability statistics; there are models of cars (e.g. Ford Crown Victorias) which have very good reliability records when in vehicle fleets, where they receive regular preventative maintenance, but much more mixed results when in private ownership, where my sense is that they tend to be owned by people with a more relaxed attitude towards good PM. I have always been surprised that car manufacturers haven't done a better job of rolling regular maintenance expenses into the initial cost of a car (and thus, into the financing arrangements that support most new-car purchases), because doing so would appear to be something of a win-win: a more reliable car for the consumer and also a more reliable-seeming car for the manufacturer to tout. But I think the mandated separation of auto manufacturers from retailers and servicers in the US tends to conspire against this.