[carolinatrophy]

It's a tough question to answer, because there are so many variables, but I bought mine last year with 209,000 miles on it, and it now has about 230,000 (hard) miles on it, and the car still has good compression and leakdowns, doesn't smoke, and runs quick and smooth.

It leaks oil, and it has all sorts of little niggly problems, but the fundamental health of the engine is fine, and it runs and drives wonderfully.

If the car has been taken care of and not abused, the engines really do last a long, long, long time. Besides, good used engines with under 125k miles can be found from time to time under $4k. Heck, rebuilt long blocks can be bought for under $6k. So if you can get the car for somewhere in the threes, then you have a big cushion, money-wise, to replace the engine without getting in too deep.