When Do You Give Up on a Car? (Old Trusty!)

I am a bit attached to my Honda CRV car that I nicknamed Carvy. I have had Carvy since 2001 when I happily concluded the last van-pool of my life for my youngest as she left middle school. Carvy is a high-off-the-ground (perfect for low-lying Houston) and a mini SUV so she isn’t a gas guzzler but holds a bunch of stuff when you need her to. She is bright blue and still looks awful cute as you can tell by her photo.

Carvy

Yes, I am attached to Carvy. But she has 114,000 miles and up until this year, no major repairs were needed. I am driving an incredible amount each week, so I have to have a reliable car. I noticed that even though I am religious about oil changes and tire rotations, I haven’t done a whole bunch else with her lately in maintaining her youthfulness..
So this week’s bill at the car place came to about $2500 or about a year’s worth of car payments on a new modest vehicle. GULP. It is kind of sobering that I spent that much on my older vehicle, but again, other than a radiator replacement, all I have ever replaced before are brakes, tires, and battery. Reliable is Carvy’s middle name.
She was riding kind of rough and I knew she needed some work, but WOW. That is a lot of work for an old car and it is not even replacing an engine or anything huge. It was just a huge list of this, that, and the other. (Shocks, struts, etc)
With my ever present optimism, I am expecting this major maintenance session to have Carvy riding like new and keeping her that way for the foreseeable future. I am investing in Carvy because I still believe in her. She is a trustworthy old gal – and maybe that’s why I can’t part with her.
So tell me, am I crazy? Stupidly loyal? I mean, consider this: There is a radio and CASSETTE tape deck in this vehicle. That’s how old she is.
Wouldn’t it be better to have a car with modern conveniences such as GPS and maybe a bluetooth system, along with a CD player? (Although my secret weapon is a cassette adapter that connects to my iPod and plays my playlists though the radio thanks to this handy-dandy gizmo.)
What do you think? I don’t care if you tell me I have a weird misplaced attachment, go ahead. Just be honest.

7 comments

  • I have two CRV’s – one in Pa and one in Az, I love them both!! I prefer the 05 over the 07 and will run them both until they die!

  • I love my ’99 Dodge Intrepid. It has 86,000 miles on it and I’ve had to put some money into it. But I look at it this way – spending $2500 is way less than spending $25,000. I have a history of keepin my cars – –I’ve had only 3 cars in my lifetime – a ’72 Dodge Charger, ’83 Monte Carlo, and my “99 Intrepid, all bought new. So I do get attached to my cars, and this one still runs so great. I don’t think you’re crazy to be attached to your car. I think it’;s normal… Ask any person at a local car show who’s displaying his/her car – they’ll probably tell you more about the car than their children! BTW, I gave up my last car when it gasped in my driveway and then died. My Charger had steering issues and it became unsafe to drive. You need a good reason to leave me! 😉

  • My Toyota Corolla burns oil and has over 150,000 miles on it. The passenger side doors don’t open (front and back). But it also has a cassette deck. The radio barely works (it plays only one station, and that erratically).
    I’d say $2500. was too much to spend on your car. I’d gladly exchange my car if I got a bill like that. But now that you have, you need to get your money’s worth, or else put the thing on the market. The fact that you have spent that much on it recently makes it more attractive to potential buyers.

    • What year is it Robbi? My car runs like a creampuff and everything except the clock on the dash works fine. So I invested in her, thinking she would still have years to go. Now of course I have to get my money’s worth.

  • I finally got rid of my cute 1986 Honda accord with 135,000 miles on it in august2011. It still looked great and it had a CD player in it! The AC wasn’t working great(not good to be without AC in Houston) and I felt that the electrical system was going. It would have cost me too much to repair it. 🙁 I loved that car and didn’t want to give it up. I don’t like car payments!

  • didn’t you have a van before? An Odyssey? We have the same car tastes..I had an Odyssey and now share a CRV with my son

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