I'd strongly recommend you continuing to make a "car payment" to yourself.
you won't get used to income you might not have in the future
you will have a nest egg for repairs that are likely to be needed on a beater
if you do this for long enough, you'll start to get enough returns to pay for your next car in cash and can get a more modern one (if you have kids, at some point you'll start to prioritize safety features)
Couple usual small things like suspension, struts, tires, brakes, etc. and some rust repair (salty Ontario roads), but nothing major.
The key thing is finding a vehicle with only one or two owners, wasn’t used for Uber/delivery, had all the required maintenance, and was generally well cared for. Most cars will easily hit 500K km barring any major design defects these days.