Driveshaft

There are some advantages to driving a beat-up, hail-damaged old car like mine. Registration and insurance practically cost nothing. I have no anxiety about tight parking spaces or grocery store cart dings. I like how the thing drives and it fits me well like an old, ratty tennis shoe. However, the car is long out of warranty, and although I have taken good care of the mechanicals, various parts of the car are starting to show their age. And, like most American cars, various (overpriced -- in an age when you can get an iPod for $79, can a turn signal circuit board really cost $99?) electronic parts aren't holding together well either. As a side note, I don't use my car that heavily. I depend on it to get to and from work every day and around town, with the very rare drive into Kansas City (or even more rare) or Omaha, but I do not put many miles on the thing, perhaps about 6,000 a year (the US average is over 10,000).

Everybody I have talked to told me I should get rid of the old car and buy a new one. A new car would be nice, I mean, who would not enjoy the security and tactile enjoyment of a new vehicle. There is also an emotional logic that argues in favor of putting money into a new car rather then down a rathole with an older one (although keep in mind, a new car is not an "investment" either -- it depreciates by several thousand dollars the second you drive it off the lot).

Still, although I am not a gearhead or car enthusiast, new is new. The problem is that when you remove emotion and look at logic, it is usually significantly cheaper to keep driving the older car. When you look at the cost of a new car ($20,000 or more, paid over say four years), plus interest, increased insurance and taxes, it basically comes out to just under $600 per month. That much money can cover a lot of repairs! Of course, if it were costing near $600 per month to keep my old car on the road, I might as well get a new car for the other advantages that would bring, and becuase at nearly equal amounts, the inconvenience of having the old car in the shop frequently would outweigh any slim savings.

Through the Spock-like weighing of several factors (emotions, features, safety, inconvenience, financial security, etc.), we (well, Dave noodled out the higher math) calculated that a new car only makes sense if the monthly repair cost for the old one exceeds 60% of the price of a new one, which comes out to about $360 per month. Since, even with the repairs I need to do to my car now, I am not yet close to that figure, we've decided to keep my current car.

Of course, these calculations could change "down the road" (pun intended). If my old car becomes significantly less reliable, or a major system fails completely and very expensively (i.e. the engine or transmission) then the logic pointing me towards a new car would shift. However, for now, it clearly appears to be the best choice to keep driving my beater.