This is as good a time as any to start saving. You will need it eventually anyway. I take most of my cars to the end of life and that typically happens between 200K and 300K miles. Most of them give quite a bit of warning, with an assortment of failures that start accelerating. I call it "crumbling." Typically from the first closely spaced failures to the point I give up trying to keep up is 2-3 years. My 20 year old 300ZX (also from a bad home) needed repairs literally every week before I threw my hands up and it had under 170K miles. As JetDoc says, a single expensive failure can force your hand as well... but that can happen at almost any age. On average I say aloha to my cars over a $300 repair.

Chevy engines of that era were remarkably forgiving of oil abuse (except for collapsed lifters) so you may do well. I do not recommend flushing the engine.

"the fact it is an old car" doesn't mean that it is ready for the scrap yard. There are thousands of "old cars" still out there running and driving every day. The rest depends on how much you are willing to put into the car to keep it running and driving. At some point in the future, you'll need to replace something REALLY expensive, like an engine or transmission, and at that point, you can decide if you want to spend the money to keep the car or junk it.

You should start saving. At some point the car you have will need considerable repair. At that time you will need to decide if the car is worth the repair bill or is it better to get another car. Either way you will need a large amount of money. If you start saving now you may be prepared for either.

Hi unlike our cars here built to do an average of 100k miles as a life of the engine as they are built with more precision. your american cars with it's wider engineering tolerances do seem to go on a lot further so 250k miles would be a lot likely a better time to consider a change.

I have a 95 Chevy Monte Carlo, and soon it will be reaching 200,000 miles right now it's a little past 195,000 miles. I bought it last year in August from a guy who didn't take good care of it at all. He told me he hasn't driven it in a year but prior he was using it while he was a pizza delivery driver. It was in bad need of an oil change when I got, the power steering hose needed to be replaced and a few other things he regret to mention when I purchased it. ANYWAY I have restored it as much as I could afford with getting a new water pump, thermostat, serpentine belt, I got it tuned up, of course replaced the hose and I get routine oil changes. Right now I'm not having any problems with it but I want to know how much longer do I have with this car after it reaches 200,000 miles?

Keep in mind the other guys abuse to it and the fact it is an old car.