1998 5.4 XLT bought in 2012 with 237,000 with no known history, currently sitting about 300,000. New transmission @ about 250,000, motor, all cooling system, front brakes, all new fluids, bearings etc, at about 280,000 for a 10K mile road trip, All new rear brakes @ about 295,000. Currently need to replace DS window switch, multi function switch and re-do the lights in the gauge cluster. Overall, I consider maintenance and repairs to be my "payment", I feel like overall it has been a pretty low-cost machine! Yeah gas mileage sucks at around 14mpg combined but payments on a new one would probably be over 1,200 a month and that buys a LOT of gas! Plus it only gets driven on weekends mostly so buying a new replacement just doesn't "math out" as my dad would say!
Edited to add new fuel pump at the same time as engine for preventative maintenance due to a highway robbery incident on a previous road-trip where a 1999 Ranger fuel pump replacement cost me $800! When I did the engine I basically told my very trusted mechanic "I've got $9K, if you find something remotely close to being wrong, make it right!"