Dr. Mourns The Loss of His 319328 Mile 1996 Lexus ES300.  RIP

I’m noticing a trend: Older cars on the road and fewer huge car payments for clients and more clients that tell me they don’t have a car payment.  Good for them.

Let’s get one thing straight: Cars need to be part of the budget.  Car repairs are NOT an emergency.  I’ve averaged $1200 a year on the Lexus these last 8 years.  Keeping money set aside for the inevitable just makes sense so we don’t get all in a panic when something needs fixing.  Emergency car repairs are a quick way to go back into debt.

We’ve got monies set aside in a special account just for car repairs.  When the car needs fixing, the money is there.  When it needs replacing?

Replacing?  I had a dream of hitting 1/3 of a million miles with my 1996 Lexus ES300.  Then my next goal was 400,000 and then 1/2 million.  I was going to be happy with 1/2 million.  Looks like I’ll have to settle for 31.9% of a million.  Three hundred nineteen thousand miles isn’t bad.

You might even recall an old blog celebrating the 300,000 mile mark last June (2012)

But it died and I’ve decided to let it go the way of all old cars.

How did I know it was dead?

-when 2 out of 3 repair guys tell you it’s not worth fixing, take a hint…

-when the repairs exceed the value of the car if it was sold when it was running well and if you don’t make the repairs the car’s not safe to drive…

-when your wife tells you she’s worried about your safety…

-when the car shakes in every conceivable direction and it feels like the front end is going to fall off…

-when you are nervous getting to work and then wondering if you will be able to get home again and you take back roads so you can crawl home thankful for each mile traveled….

So, yeah.  I’m taking it to the junk yard.  Bummer.  It has two new rear tires and new brakes and the engine uses no oil and the body is actually pretty good….but it’s bit the dust.

Good-bye ol’ buddy.  We’ve had a good ride.