But my car is NICER!

[draftermatt]

My truck is 12 years old and has 162,000 miles on it. It squeeks, the paint is fading, but goddamn it, it gets me where I'm going and it's paid off.

I get looks sometimes too, and I don't get it. I'd rather have a nice house (which I do) than a nice car. My wife has a nice truck (only 4 years old) that is also paid off. I'm happy not making a payment right now. (Actually I've been looking at even older trucks to replace mine).

That woman was just rude and an idiot. Your money spends just as well as hers. And if she was really concerned about image why in the world did she take her car to Sears? Why isn't she taking it to the Cadillac dealership?

[Reyneth]

That woman was just rude and an idiot. Your money spends just as well as hers. And if she was really concerned about image why in the world did she take her car to Sears? Why isn't she taking it to the Cadillac dealership?

Exactly what I'm thinking. It wouldn't make Sears any more money to do her car over yours, so why did she think she got priority just because her car was "nicer?"

Sheesh, my car is 9 years old, 160,000 miles and my dealership loves me. They know I'll keep that baby going as long as I can and then buy the same kind of car from them after (provided I can afford it, right now I'm not anywhere in that position). So they get my $$ for the repairs for those random things that start going wrong at this point. At least when the repairs that aren't that much more than the guy my mom has been going to for ages. So it's an old car, but they're making more $$ off of it than they would a newer car.

Hmmm, all of us with the beaters/ancient cars should have priority with places that do repairs because we will need to use those services more statistically!

[chainedbarista]

"Sorry, I'm all out of Grey Poupon."

dammit, sheldon! i almost violated a #1 because of that; now i have an image of that rag popping her head out of her 'mcpimpmobile' and asking the next caddy owner that same thing.

[Crazyredhead]

Guess I drive too much too - my 2001 has 88k on it right now.

I must drive waaaaay to much then, mine is an '01 and has 121,000 miles on it.

[Argabarga]

Yeah! Let's hear it for 10+ year old cars that still get the job done! Mine's a 95' with 138K on the clock, and not slowing down. I've taken good care of it, do all my own work, I've put about $3,000 into it over the last 4 years, but that's still cheaper than car payments, so that money can go to other things. People who think they just CAN'T live without getting the newest, flashiest, shinyest car every 2 years have issues.

The "Argabargamobile"
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2098/...3b9e1478_o.jpg

Besides, there will never be a Cadillac as awesome as the 72' Eldorado Coupe, so don't even try to impress me!

[Catwoman2965]

I kept my first car until it was 18 years old, and was still able to sell it for $250 - my last car before this one; mom and dad's hand-me-down, a 1990 with 145K on it. Sadly, it died a couple years after I got it, but there's a lot to be said for good, Swedish engineering! (Both were Volvo wagons).

When that one died, I got a 3 year old Ford...nothing fancy, but in my price range. WHile I'd love to have a fancy schmancy car, i cant' see paying an insane amount of money every month for one. I drive mine into the ground; as long as they are reliable, and get me where I need to go, no need to repalce it with anything fancy.

[STEELMAN]

This reminded me of an accident I was in once. This guy pulls out of a parking lot and clipped the rear end of my car. Before the police got there he said that we should take care of our own repairs. When I told him that the accident was his fault and that his insurance would have to pay to have mine fixed, he said that since my car was old, I wouldn't get it fixed and just keep the money, so he shouldn't have to pay for it.

That was only the beginning. He was from a different state and told his insurance company that the police were in cahoots with me and that it really wasn't his fault even though he received a ticket for failure to yield right of way. His insurance company then told me that I would have to sue them to get the money. It was only $1200 so i eventually gave up.

[LewisLegion]

Yeah, my baby has 188,000 on it. I'm actually due for another oil change here pretty quick. I'm a big believer in running stuff into the ground. I don't care what it looks like, if it does the job then I'm using it.

In fact, just recently, my stepdad dragged me to the store on my mother's orders and bought me a new pair of shoes, because they knew that I wouldn't buy a new pair on my own.

Why would I, when the old ones still did the job? No holes, didn't leak, didn't smell, yeah, they were old and beat up and scuffed and worn...but they did the job and they were comfortable.

Who cares that I bought them and have worn them pretty much every day since high school...sure, I graduated 14 years ago, but they were a good pair of shoes!!

Parents...

[protege]

I must drive waaaaay to much then, mine is an '01 and has 121,000 miles on it.

My now-gone Mazda had 117,000 on it, and it was a 2000 model. The 2007 Corolla is approaching 14,000...and it's not even a year old yet Also in the fleet, my MG hasn't gone over 70,000 miles...and it's almost 40! Granted, it's been in bits since 1995, and wasn't driven much before then, but still.

I tend to get my money's worth out of my vehicles, and other things. For example, it wouldn't surprise me if my fleet of Radio-Flyer wagons had 200,000 miles between them. All but one were used to deliver newspapers for many years. I still use them around the house to haul crap in the yard. Much easier than a wheelbarrow.

They've been patched up various times, and one has just undergone its third rebuild. But, when they finally do go... I find other uses for them. I have a cheap Roadmaster (basically an R-F copy) that's sitting in the shed. This got "retired" after one of the struts went through the floor Rather than scrap it...it now keeps bags of rock salt of the floor.

With that said, I've gotten my money's worth over the past 20 years...and then some. Not too bad for an initial investment of $60

[Primer]

I've been called a Wel-fairy before and insulted that I'm 'poor' or 'white trash'. I'm really a case of 'do not judge a book by its cover'. Yeah, my car is beat up. Yeah, my shoes are worn and I wear baggy jeans and tshirts and battered baseball caps (I'm a big tom boy). But seriously, I'm a case of don't judge a book by its cover. I make good money. I'm saving up to buy a house on my own. I have NEVER been in debt (save my car, which I paid off and was never once late on a payment with). I pay all my bills on time. My credit score starts with an 8.
I'm a big believer in running stuff into the ground. I don't care what it looks like, if it does the job then I'm using it.

LL, are you my twin separated at birth???

When I bought my truck, I could have paid cash for it, but financed it through my credit union so they would do all the paperwork. I then turned around and paid it off the next month.

Last fall, we had to get a replacement vehicle for DH. His credit sux, so I cosigned, even though it comes out of his bank account (retirement income). The person doing the paperwork pulled my credit, and just about fainted. He'd never seen a score that high before.

I live in my baggy jeans--I'm too cheap to buy new ones since I've lost (a lot of) weight--that's what belts are for.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

My old car was a '94 Nissan and I got rid of it in 2005. It had about 110,000 miles on it, if memory serves, and the dealership I traded it into turned around and sold it for over $3000.

And I thought the only possible use for it would have been as an enduro car.

(OT--I wonder if it had that so-called "California emissions" since it seemed to have been sold in California before making it over to Cheeseland.)

My current car is a 2002 Saturn with less than 40,000 miles on it, so it's still a baby, but so far I have had no problems with it.

[LewisLegion]

LL, are you my twin separated at birth???

*ROFL* I must be. I have so many siblings it wouldn't surprise me if I had misplaced one.

I'm the same with my jeans. They have to have unsightly holes before I'll get a new pair...and then only because work requires jeans without holes. If they didn't I'd wear them until they more resembled fishnet instead of pants.

Credit is extremely important to me. We lost my childhood home thanks to a jerkwad stepfather and his flagrant overspending and horrific credit. I've seen what happens when people spend outside their means and I have vowed never to do so. If I can't afford it in cash now, I don't get it (outside of really massive purchases like a car or a house). I have only one credit card and its for medical/veterinary emergencies only.

Heck, my television just turned 23 years old. We bought it when I was nine (big massive old floor console). People rib me all the time about why I don't go out and get a nice HD flat screen or something. Well, easy. My TV still works just fine. It hooks up to my Xbox and my DVR and does everything I need it to do just dandy, and if I need it to it can double as a dining room table. Why on Earth would I get a new one?

[myswtghst]

Hmmm, all of us with the beaters/ancient cars should have priority with places that do repairs because we will need to use those services more statistically!

That was my thinking as well! If the car is that old and still running, it generally means two things:

1) The owner brings it in regularly for normal maintenance - meaning consistent $$ for the shop for simple tasks like changing oil.

and

2) Inevitably, certain things are just going to break/go bad after so many years of driving, no matter how well the car is taken care of - meaning the occasional "high ticket" repair.

And if you're consistently coming in for little stuff and being treated well, they can pretty much count on your coming back when something bigger goes wrong.

[Andara Bledin]

Heh. I found a site with a copy of the original ad for a '78 Chrysler LeBaron station wagon. A year before mine. It looks pretty much the same. Only mine looks like it's nearly 30 years old, and the last owner wasn't so great about keeping it clean. It's got over 1m miles on it.

http://www.adclassix.com/images/78ch...baronwagon.jpg

^-.-^

[Primer]

Heck, my television just turned 23 years old. We bought it when I was nine (big massive old floor console). People rib me all the time about why I don't go out and get a nice HD flat screen or something. Well, easy. My TV still works just fine. It hooks up to my Xbox and my DVR and does everything I need it to do just dandy, and if I need it to it can double as a dining room table. Why on Earth would I get a new one?

Next year (February?) all broadcast signals are mandated to go HD, and you perfectly good old TV will no longer work. You will need to either break down and get a new TV, or get a converter box. :-(