I've sort of inherited my wife's '97 - V6, 2WD, manual trans. She's owned it 16 years and it's been very dependable. It took a major hail beating (softball sized hail) but runs great, interior in good shape. It doesn't get a lot of miles on it the last few years, but I'm a photographer and it's a great gear hauler. I'm going to purchase it for my business so further expenses will be a write-off at least.
We're at about 198K; last few years has been a new steering rack, rear suspension, tires, complete AC rebuild ($900 but we're in Texas, man) and maintenance. Full timing belt/water pump service at 111k at the dealer. Clutch & radiator maybe 6 years ago. Odds and ends like window motors, belts, hoses, sensors, heater hoses. I don't mind dropping a few hundred a year into it since a car payment would be much more expensive. We put maybe a couple thousand miles a year on it, mostly local errands and photo shoots.
But what to watch out for? I assume a heater core rotting out would not be worth fixing (pull the dash, right??). It hasn't had a legit tuneup in a decade (plugs, etc) but runs great. Any maintenance things to focus on? I do like the car, and living in a town where "my car is my identity", driving the old thing feels pretty cool, and having a car I can toss 6 bags of concrete in without being fussy is nice, too. I'm fully aware that at any moment something could fail that's just not worth fixing and I'll probably get a Transit Connect at that point. But wouldn't mind a few more years out of this one, been a great vehicle.
I'm actually thinking of getting it painted, but will probably talk myself out of that... any thoughts?