When to throw in the towel (slim Audi content)

[Mike Arman]

>
>>Based on personal experience it comes down to when the repair cash 
>>flow gets to be greater than paying for a new car loan and the 
>>driving pleasure has degenerated to that of a toyota corolla or 
>>whatever other econo box you like. This is a very subjective 
>>judgment. I think what pushes you over the edge is the 
>>unpredictability of the repairs. The break downs
>>always occur at the worst moments. Like hard starting when trying to 
>>make that fast getaway after the bank heist. (Forced to do the bank 
>>heist because of the car repair bills)
>
>    My car, around the IT department here at work, has become a joke; 
>one person flat out told me, when I mentioned something about my 
>mother's Volvo, that it(the Volvo) was a "REAL car."  Despite the 
>fact that it will dust all their cars, I keep getting jokes and 
>comments.  Not like it isn't deserved:
>


Part one: When do you give up on car X? Generally, when you're just plain
sick and tired of it. It isn't entirely a logical decision, and the
rationalization is usually that I'm spending $nnn a month anyway, I might
as well have a new (or newer) car.

So you go out and buy car Y, and a few years later, the cycle repeats.

Problem is that cars are NOT built to last, and that's the reason they
depreciate! Most cars get rode hard and put away wet, get generally beat up
and abused on a constant basis, and consequently, they fall apart and break
a lot. If you take decent care of your car, that time will be postponed,
but it seems impossible to keep any particular car running forever, unless
you're talking insane amounts of money.

You can always say "but the engine still runs fine" or "there's
no/slight/only a little/some rust" or whatever, but generally either a
major repair or a simultaneous swarm of lesser repairs puts you over the
edge. That's why there are so many mid 80s type 44 cars with bad automatic
transmissions in junkyards. Take the normal maintenance, which is
significant, and add a sudden grand for a tranny, and old Betsy's gonna
visit the crusher, on a one way trip.

Part two: Everyone mocks the car they don't own. You'll never hear how bad
someone's car is until AFTER they sell it, and buy a different make. Even
if your car always runs, if it isn't the same make as their car, it is by
definition a POS.

A long time ago (and probably on a planet far, far away), I had the
misfortune to be involved with a REALLY toxic young woman (not lady). I was
driving the energizer Aires, an admitted POS, but it ALWAYS ran. She flat
refused to ride in it, and insisted that we take her white 91 Mustang
ragtop (this was in 93). In six months, the Mustang ate two engines, a
tranny, two ECUs, and basically stranded her five times. She was furious
that my POS ran, and I came to rescue her in it, while her car, a REAL car,
was sitting puked at the side of the road. This was, incidentally, all my
fault even though I never drove the Mustang, and I finally decided that the
relationship was as rocky as her car, and called it off.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman