Giving up

[Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>]

Howard Warren wrote:

>I'm not complaining about the quality of this car:
how many 160k automatics (of any make) are running
without significant rebuilds?  But there is also a
point where "reality" sets in.  When do we stop
pouring money into a
car? ...What about y'all?  When do you give up on a
car?

Well, I give up on a car when it's either past
repairing or simply worn out its welcome. My all-time
favorite car was an Austin Mini station wagon
("estate" in its homeland) that had gotten to the
must-restore stage, so I sold it to someone who could
and would do that. Same thing with my
recently-departed '60 Falcon. But if I can afford to
keep a car running, and if I really WANT to keep it -
as is the case with our current Milano - then I see no
reason not to. 

Worrying about spending $3000 on a car that's worth
only that much is silly - how many things do we buy
and use, then sell for exactly the money we've put
into them? I look at it this way: so far we've gotten
at least $5000 worth of enjoyable use out of "Rico,"
which is about what he's cost us so far, and while
he's got the usual Milano maladies we know what those
are, and expect to spend what it takes to correct them
as and when we need to. It's still cheaper than going
out and buying a new car, and a lot more fun.

Will Owen
Nashville, TN
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