I'm getting my LSS back.

[human]

I haven't seen my '97 LSS in almost six months, but I'm getting it back tomorrow. I left it at my parents' house in late January when I borrowed their Silhouette van to move. I finished that process at the end of March and have just been too busy to get back down there and pick the car up. The van has basically been parked for the past two months, except for a trip to a music festival in April, a run to Wal-Mart to buy a lawn mower that wouldn't have fit in my Aurora, and the week that I drove it while I was waiting on some parts (ignition coils and wires) I'd ordered to fix the Aurora.

The LSS hasn't been out of my parents' yard all this time, but I'll be getting it back with new front brake pads and a new (and hopefully quieter) idler pulley, thanks to my dad's buddy Randy, a mechanic who makes house calls.

The funny thing is, even with the Aurora, which is a bit more fun to drive, as my daily driver, I'm actually a little excited about getting the LSS back, especially because its air conditioner works a whole lot better than the Aurora's. I think the 'Rora will get a break for a bit while I give the LSS some much needed exercise. It's just not good for a car to let it sit for that long.

[human]

So I got home with the car late Thursday night and almost immediately discovered a braking problem, as in there was almost no fluid in the reservoir. I'd had to replace most of the brake lines last summer because they were rotted out. Why they don't make them out of stainless steel is beyond me. I made arrangements to get it back to the shop that had done the brake lines last summer, but before I could do so, the serpentine belt decided to tear up on the Aurora, so now both cars are down. I used my roadside assistance service to get the Aurora towed to be repaired and haven't heard from the shop.

Today, I've been seriously wondering whether it might just be time to accept that the '90s have been over for a very long time and I'm long overdue for a twenty-first century car. Both of my cars have very low mileage. The LSS has 64,000 miles on it and the Aurora has 72,000, but the reality is they're both close to 20 years old and the law of diminishing returns will only become more and more apparent. I acquired both cars in 2012. I got the LSS in June and the Aurora in December, partly because I was getting annoyed with the constant stream of minor repairs on the LSS. I had hoped the Aurora would turn out to be more dependable, based on my experience with a '98 model a few years ago, but it turned out the Aurora had a more than few bugs of its own, so it's become sort of a juggling act to keep at least one car out of the shop at any given time. It seems like having an older car for a daily driver requires having a second one as a backup. I'm not exactly sure what I'd want in a new(er) car, but I'm seeing that it's a question that deserves my attention.

[crash93ssei]

A newer car will definitely cost a whole lot more, but will likely be more reliable. In the end, for me it is a cost reason why I keep my older cars, they may have problems from time to time but are still way cheaper overall then a payment.

[human]

You're absolutely right. Like you, I am very debt-averse. I have no intention of buying a brand new car; I'll let someone else take that heavy up-front depreciation. The sweet spot comes when you can find a low-mileage used car around four or five years old that you can write a check for.

A newer car will definitely cost a whole lot more, but will likely be more reliable. In the end, for me it is a cost reason why I keep my older cars, they may have problems from time to time but are still way cheaper overall then a payment.