A car is one of the most expensive things you will ever own, but it is deceptively easy to take for granted. If you drive a car around for several years, this becomes a normal part of your life, and the loss of this can cause some pretty severe stress.
Much of this can be mitigated by not driving your car around so much. Most consumer and household goods can be ordered online. Most grocery stores allow for the delivery of food, too. The only place people really need to drive to is usually their job, possibly the school their kids go to, and also possibly the doctor, dentist, or chiropractor, for example. And even these can be designed to be nearby.
A lot of people, when their car becomes disabled, freak out and go buy a new car. This is, in my opinion, a sub-optimal, though very emotional decision. It’s not that buying a new car is wrong, and there are times when it makes a lot of sense, but when people rush into it out of fear, there is usually a systemic failure increasing dependence on owning a car. If you don’t need your car, you don’t have to rush into such a precarious financial decision.
(I do have a friend who experienced major problems on a huge road trip. Eventually it was too much and he risked missing his arrangements in various cities. He bought a new car on the trip, and I can honestly say I would probably have done the same thing under those circumstances)
I have leaks from my transmission and engine right now. These are freak incidents, as neither leak should really be happening. The transmission leak is a little more critical, whereas the engine leak is pretty manageable. Neither one is particularly severe, so this is where I have to calm myself down and take in the big picture, but it is nonetheless frustrating. Because I work from home and live within walking distance to most things I need, this isn’t a huge concern, but if I were to lose access to my car, it would significantly impinge on my freedom.
I had a few great years with my car when hardly anything needed to be done to it, but as I started fixing things up and doing preventive maintenance this year, many problems began to reveal themselves.
Even when your car is good, it’s easy to forget just how expensive cars are to maintain. But this only makes sense – they are giant machines that weight thousands of pounds and consist of many systems that must work together in sync to provide the full functionality that people have come to expect. But the universe never promised you a giant, highly complex mechanism that works in perpetuity. Therefore, it costs money to operate and maintain. Everybody hates paying to fix their car, but few people truly appreciate just how useful one is. We adapt to this. We come to expect it. We build our lives around it. And when the car goes bad, we experience that cognitive dissonance that really should remind us just how unrealistic it is to expect our cars to work perfectly on a regular basis. Cars are a privilege, not a right.
Personally, I’m inclined to keep my car running. It was a well-designed car, of which very few complaints have been made over the years. It doesn’t have a history of burning oil, doesn’t have a history of a failing transmission, doesn’t really have a history of anything aside from the occasional rare and unpredictable problem (but perhaps a known issue where the steering column likes to make a loud thump on occasion). Keeping alive a car that is known for breaking down is a fool’s errand, but keeping alive a car that has a good reputation is probably worth it.
What I have found since the pandemic started is that I drive far less than before. I’ve started to realize just how superfluous much of my driving used to be. Driving half an hour away just to visit Microcenter and piss money away on consumer nonsense, then drive half an hour back. Going all the way up the largest street “because stores”. Every time you drive out, you put wear and tear on your car and run the risk of being involved in an accident. Now, I don’t believe living in fear, but I’ve made so many needless trips to various stores over the years, I’ve had to really ask myself if this is the best way to utilize my own 2,000 pound vehicle, which isn’t getting any younger. Yes, I could drive 25 minutes north to the specialty parts store, or I could just order it from home, pay $5 shipping, and wait. Considering how busy the roads can be and how stressful this often is on me, I’d say paying that $5 is well worth the preservation of my car and sanity!
This doesn’t mean not driving anywhere, it just means being more judicious where I do drive. One of my biggest fears of not having access to a car is not being able to go to the mountains. This is not an attachment that can’t be overcome, but it is a very strong preference that I believe is worth owning a car for. But remember, preference costs money. If I gave up going to the mountains, I question whether I would need a car at all. And quite frankly, I haven’t been to the mountains in months (and sadly passed up my chance to return yesterday).
Now, all of this is moot when I consider that I easily have the money to fix my car. But it is a useful thought experiment: if I wish to avoid the stress of owning a car, how can I decrease my dependence on it? You either need to be able to live without a car, or you need a lot of money to keep it running. There is no good way around this, and even being able to work on your car only gets you so far.
I did end up buying a bunch of tools to make my life easier when I am changing parts. I may have gone a little overboard, but I also enjoy learning. The things that still need to be changed are in addition to the leaks that need to be fixed, so I’d like to change these parts soon so then I can focus on the leaks, which I will likely need to pay somebody to fix (but for what price, I don’t currently know).
Personally, I love the thought of keeping a good car running. When you have a good car, I think it’s worth holding onto. I took a brief look online for 3rd party car sales, and it appears that everything is overpriced right now, which I had heard rumors of. Pandemic economics, or something like that. My make and model of car was selling for over $2k more than I paid for mine (3 years ago!) and I noticed that the headlights didn’t match on one car that was being sold, a telltale sign that it was involved in an accident. Heck no. Having my car totaled is probably the only thing that would convince me to get rid of this. And if that happened, I’m not sure what I would do, honestly. But as I don’t expect that to happen, I’ve chosen to focus on what’s in my control with taking care of this car.
It’s interesting stuff. Everyone has a philosophy of car ownership whether they realize it or not, whether they brewed it up themselves or took their cues from society. I think it’s worth putting some thought into. And there are people who say you will always have a car payment, but this is only true in the sense that owning a car will always cost at least something – I’ve never taken out a loan for a car, but I’ve been fortunate in this. Of course, you’ll never need to spend money on a car if you don’t own one. This is not a very popular option in our society, but it’s an option nonetheless, and something that should never be forgotten.