Quote:
Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
The Magliozzi brothers wrote a column about this phenomenon. Their analysis was that a car has a pretty consistent annualized repair cost over its lifespan, but consumers don't budget for it. The annualized amount obviously varies from model to model, but it's relatively consistent. So this idea that gradually a car ages to a point where its repair cost will ever-increase until it exceeds the "I should get rid of this piece of shit" factor is a myth --- it only seems that way because a car doesn't require much in the way of repairs during its first two years, and you're still happy with it notwithstanding the repairs for a few years after that, but after you fall out of love with it, you resent each new repair and it seems like you're throwing money down a rathole and it will only get worse.
If true, this means you shouldn't get rid of a car because you expect its annual maintenance costs will increase over time; you should get rid of a car because (1) you're faced with a single catastrophic event that kills the car or requires repairs that approach the cost of obtaining a replacement; or (2) you're honest about the fact that you're getting rid of it because you don't love it any more.
Granted, they're auto mechanics who get paid when cars break down, but they seem like straight shooters. Besides, it's just a variation of sunk cost theory.
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What you say makes sense only if you can envision owning a car for four or five years or more. If you see owning a car for three years, everything is ducky for two years and then things fall apart and the center does not hold. Stung by this anarchy loosed in your garage, you get yourself a new car. If this is your context, you've been reading too much Achebe/Didion/Yeats/etc., but leasing makes sense.
Since I think cars are meant to be kept for several years -- or, in my case, nineteen years -- this outlook strikes me as weird. To me, getting yourself a new car every few years smacks of Imelda Marcos' shoe-buying habits, and I retain the right to be judgmental about this. Perhaps if I were an elderly woman living in an igloo, I might feel differently, but that does not seem to be in the cards for me.
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