That Car Doesn’t Owe me a THING!

I grew up a gearhead. Rock and Roll, Hot Cars. The 60’s.

Two things we always said, "I trust that car so much I wouldn't be afraid to drive it to California". And, if we had fixed on a car long enough, "That car don’t owe me a thing". We felt like a hero if we got to see the odometer cross 100,000 miles. That was 1963.

As an older driver I want a car that works. I want a car that I can trust. But I don’t like the depreciation involved in buying a new car. So, when I buy a vehicle, it can plan on going to the moon before I give up on it. Moon?

The moon is 240,000 miles away. So, my goal is to get 240,000 miles on every car I own. I have succeeded a couple times. Mostly they get to about 200,000 and they start to drift. The big lie in car repair is “It’s nickel and dimeing me to death”. Another is, “The repair needed is more than the car is worth”. That may be true but if you can drive it another year with the repair you bought miles. Forget car value, buy miles.

If you fix what’s wrong right away it won’t nickel and dime you to death. The big reason people get frustrated is the electric window quits, then one light goes out, then it misfires some, then the brakes make noise, then the muffler goes out and then it hacks and coughs when you drive. Pretty soon it’s a basket case. Fix it when it breaks and you won’t have this problem. You build a mountain of repairs and then tear out your hair. The new car dealers love you.

An auto repair company, Merlins has just changed its company name to 200,000 Mile Shops. I understand and agree with the concept. They have a pretty good analysis of the situation. You make money by keeping the old girl running. Fix it when it breaks. Read the whole thing. You just might change your mind about going out and getting the newest rice burner on the market for $40,000.