Thursday, June 16, 2005

The Parable of the Spare Car

My husband's 1994 Saturn SL1 has almost 222,000 miles on it. My brother-in-law (hey Big T!) moved back to the city and decided to sell his 1994 Prismm, which had about 90,000 miles on it, for a very reasonable sum. We bought the car with the thought that I could use it around town rather than my minivan when it was just me and the kids. Also, Jim could use it if his car broke down. (If I've learned only one thing in my 34 years on the planet, its that an affordable car will never be available when your car dies.)

The car wasn't in our possession a week before the Saturn broke down (which it had never done!!) A tensioner belt, pulley and $300 later, the Saturn is up and running again and the Prism has already proven itself a good investment. You may ask why invest $300 in a car that has such high mileage? That car has been paid for since 1999 and we don't put more than about $300/year into it in maintenance above and beyond oil changes. Its still a cost effective vehicle. When it is no longer cost effective, we have its replacement ready to take over full time.

I love it when things go according to plan!

No comments: