I'm never buying a VW ever, bloody ever again...

[Neil]

Ive never owned a car with a 1 litre 3 cyl lump...

And any car can suffer a mishap leading to further issues, Im just commenting on my experience. I always look after cars servicing - wise.

I have been lucky with my german cars, more so than with the fords and the volvos. And jap cars leave me cold, so simply arent an option.

And TBH I wouldnt do 200k in a car... I tend to move them on before the 60k mark...

Then you're not comparing apples, with apples, then. Look at LGF's OP the Mondy he bought had already done 250k+ miles on it, when he bought it.

60k miles is nothing - most modern cars should be able to easily take that (bad luck notwithstanding).

When I bought my current car, it had 80k miles on the clock, and is now around 250k. Ideally I'd like at least another 100k miles out of it.

If 60k is your ceiling, then it doesn't really matter, apart from luck. Reliable, robust cars, though, should be able to take at least 200k, without seeming tired.

And sure, cars like that, may leave you cold - but the general idea is that they don't leave you out in the cold.