In February 2000 I bought a 1999T BMW 528i Auto with 29,000 miles for £25,000. It has now done 141,000 miles and is still a pleasure to drive. The only obvious problem is the LED matrix on the dashboard is failing, but I can live with that unless it becomes an MoT issue. I have had it serviced regularly at a BMW dealership and it hasn't cost a huge amount in non-routine maintenance. Having read your comments a few times that cars are built to last around seven years I wonder whether I am on borrowed time? What can I expect to go wrong?

I currently drive about 8000 miles a year divided equally between short local trips and fortnightly motorway drives of about 260 miles. My wife and I are in our early seventies and who knows how long we will be fit to drive? I don't want to lay out a large amount of cash on a new car if I only get a couple of years out of it. On the other hand I enjoy driving so would not want to downsize on comfort and power unless my current car has serious problems.