Quote:
Originally posted by Chicane
I think the problem with most Americans is that they live beyond their means.
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Great quote... and VERY true. Of course, I'm a little guilty of that myself (see the $400 per month car payment for evidence of that), but you CAN justify that kind of a payment on a car if the car itself is providing you a service at a level that you would not or could not get elsewhere. I have three cars these days (none of them an SVX, but I stick around here... go figure); two of them I paid less than $1500 for each (cash), and the third is an Acura. Although I don't have payments on the first two, they DO cost me in maintenance. They are both older cars (one a '93 and the other a '96). The '96 gets significantly worse gas mileage than my Acura and has recently cost me $500 or so in a new A/C compressor after it seized (I knew it was going). The '93 I had to sink about $1000 into this year alone in order to get it to the point where the state would consider it roadworthy enough to drive.
So far maintenance on my Acura in the last 3 months has consisted of;
2 oil changes
1 replaced cup holder
Oh... and it gets me 26mpg on average in mixed driving. With the A/C on the '93 Escort gets me about 28... not significantly better... and the '93 I think is about to have some major problems.
Although your quote still stands as very true, I think in some circumstances it CAN be justified.