I read recently that most common reason that people get rid of a car is they determine the cost of its upkeep gets excessive. Makes sense. I guess. However, when you think about it and all things being equal, what repair or number of repairs would need to be done that that ethos actually makes sense? "My car needed a new water pump, tires and the AC wouldn't blow cold so instead of spending the $1,200 (or so) to fix it, I dropped forty-grand on a new car." Heh? To me it sounds like, "I just couldn't stand to be seen driving that ten-year-old clunker anymore and I used it needed several repairs as an excuse to splurge on something new".
Most people I know are in awe that I've held onto my 2002 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo as long as I have. The smarter of them say, "I wish I'd have done the same with a car or two of mine."
Reminds me when I was working for CarMax in Dallas and a couple traded in their Saturn Vue with a busted transmission for a Volkswagen Jetta. It made sense for them, and for CarMax, to do so but the problem was they were about halfway through a sixty-month payment booklet, and "we" started them over with a fresh wad of sixty-monthly installments. The reason it made sense for them was because we were able to match their Vue's monthly payment on the Jetta. Bonus, for them, the Jetta's transmission didn't need to be repaired but financially it made zero sense. The husband even looked at me with puppy dog, "help me" eyes. The wife was all about getting rid of that Vue. What would I have done? I'd have spent the $2,500 or so on a transmission for the Vue but I was in the business of getting people into CarMax cars, not persuade them to do what made better dollar and literal cents.
I bought "The Dale" in September of 2010 for $11,500. It had only 14,500 miles on it at the time. I also paid cash for it because no lender would give me that much money at a halfway decent interest rate for a car that old at the time.
Do people actually think about how long they're going to hold onto a vehicle when they first purchase one as part of a long-term financial plan? I highly doubt it. When I bought my 2002 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the fall of 2010, I can't imagine that I believed I'd have it going on twelve years. Although, having paid cash for a car that was in showroom if not museum floor condition with only 15,000 miles on it, I knew I'd have it for a longer time than usual. And at the rate it's going, despite more than 250,000 miles on its digital ticker, it's going to have many more on it before it's all said and done. Damn, at this rate, it may outlive me.
A key to vehicle longevity is keeping up on repairs. And finding a way to do that as inexpensively as possible. If you're unable to do them yourself, find someone who has a side business who can.
It's had its fair share of maladies over the years and several of them would have been ghastly expensive to do had I not done them myself. Or have the good fortune to have a neighborhood mechanic, who may take all the time in the world to get stuff done, but is dirt cheap compared to what chain service centers would charge. Don't even think about taking your vehicle to a dealership for service. Let's not go there.
Chain repair shops like Firestone, Goodyear and others can be pricy. Not as much as dealerships but they are expensive.
The most recent problem with "The Dale" was that the VATS, or "vehicle ant-theft system" finally gave out after years of giving me intermittent trouble. On occasion it wouldn't start, but I'd wait ten minutes and the anti-theft system would reset and the car would turn over. It'd happen once a year or so, then two, three times a year. Then once a month, once a week then two or three times a day. It left me stranded for a couple of hours recently before it finally turned over and I got home. Then, nothing. The good old boy wouldn't start for hours. Something had to get done.
Helps if you actually like the car you've decided to hold onto. I still enjoy my "Dale" and the attention it gets, while I certainly don't live for it, is quite pleasant. Fans of Dale Earnhardt are somewhat aghast when I tell them I'm not a NASCAR fan.
Usually, I'd find some YouTube DIY (do-it-yourself) video to help me deal with a problem but this one seemed dire, more complex. I found some hillbilly hack videos where people bypassed the VATS system, but I either didn't feel confident in the person doing the video or in my ability to do whatever they were doing. And if I did manage to hack around the system in my car, who knows if it would stay fixed and not leave me stranded somewhere.
The Dale has been to 19 different states in the 12 years and counting I've had "him". "He" was built in November 2001 at GM Oshawa outside Toronto, Ontario.
I managed to get it to my mechanic who replaced the anti-theft system for $369. Might seem like a stiff tariff, but it's about half of what a monthly car payment would be these days. And it's a one off. I'm not making monthly payments. I guesstimate the repair at a chain service center to be closer to a thousand-dollars which would push the envelope on "good-money after bad" on a twenty-two-year-old car with a quarter million miles on it. And while it has been a relatively tough year for my "3 car", I dropped $300 earlier this year on a new catalytic converter so it could pass Ohio emissions, I'm still way ahead of the game. Way, way ahead especially considering what a good used car would run in these inflationary, almost post-Covid times.
Like most people, at first, I winced seeing how the miles were piling up. Now they're a badge of honor.
All in, over the past twelve years or one-hundred-forty-four months, I estimate the money saved on not replacing "The Dale" between $75,000 and $100,000. Money that, if you know my wife and I, has been plowed into investments. Factor in what we haven't spent on a new or newer car for her, and, at the risk of bragging, I hope you understand what I'm getting at. And folks wonder how we were able to pay for our son's college educations on our modest combined incomes.
Speed camera photo nailing me for 66 in a 50 on I-680 outside Youngstown, Ohio back in 2016. I think $125 a fair price to pay for it although I think they could have splurged on color.
Would I like a new car? I guess. Then again, there's not a lot out there these days that interests me and the thought of dropping even twenty-grand on something doesn't sit well with me. Bonus, I really like this car. I like how it handles, how comfortable it is, how actually practical it is with its huge trunk and fold down rear seat. And I love the styling in lieu of it being a "Dale Earnhardt". Fans of the man are fairly appalled when I tell them that I have not a clue about NASCAR. Or Mr. Earnhardt. It's got some rust issues and at times it does, frankly, look long in the tooth but it's mine. All mine and it's paid for itself time and time again.
Jax, a rescue, came home in "The Dale" in 2013.
Some are amazed I still have this car after all this time, and they wonder how I've been able to accomplish this feat. I just tell them, "I don't fix $300 problems with a thirty-, forty- or fifty-thousand-dollar solution".
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