The following items on the car player have a limited life span and are likely to fail eventually:

- Hard disks.

- Hard disk cable.

- Solder joints related to the hard disk and IDE connector (because the cable moves as the disk tray moves).

- VFD display.

The last item is the only one you need to worry about, because dropping the player on a hard surface may crack the VFD glass, and although replacements are still currently available, there may come a time many years in the future where the replacements are more rare. Having said that: I've had my mk2 player since... what... 2001? ... and I've dropped it several times. Haven't cracked the VFD yet.

Your concern about repairs getting harder is unfounded. There are enough enthusiasts for this product that I imagine repairs are going to be available for quite a long time.

Most of the other parts on the player will only fail completely if the player is seriously damaged or dropped really hard.