Old Car

I like new cars. Old vehicles cost money in nasty little piles.

Our primary car is a delightful Toyota Prius. It is 9 years old, which for me is one year short of retirement time.

Today, it just happens to be service day for oil and filters and such, and getting the summer tires put back on. It also has two lug studs on one of the wheels that need actual repair work. There goes a fistful of cash.

It turns out that the brakes need work, and our summer tires are worn out, and on and on. The total reached $1900.

The good news is that when we drive away it will be on a repaired and serviced car with great brakes and tires on an otherwise old car. What will go next?

It isn't even really about the cost of the work, although I'm not nuts about it. My concern is the reliability. We do big-drive holidays, and having a breakdown in the middle of can't-get-parts-land can be a nightmare.

For me, next year should be new Prius time.

My wife has a different mindset.

It is a fact that even while paying increasing repair costs on an old car, it is a less expensive option than buying a new one. She would prefer to keep our present car until it has to go to the bone yard.

How to reconcile these two opposing views? It's actually quite simple.

We have a second car of a type unsuitable for long-range travel. When our Prius hits 10 years of age next year, this car will only be half as old. It will still be an attractive trade-in that can be applied on a new Prius.

That would give us two of them; one new and reliable, and the other to keep until it goes to the wrecker.