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Comment by maiorana | Hacker News Reader

I have a 2006 Subaru Forester with the turbo engine. I've replaced the exhaust, radiator, fixed numerous oil leaks, and the steering fluid is leaking now. I feel 0 love for it and see it as a weight around my neck, but I feel beholden to keep it going for some reason. Maybe it's the sunk cost concept.

Oh it gets shitty gas mileage too and the AC cuts out after 25 minutes.

I don't think it's turning into obsession (god, I hope not), but when I look to sell it the market is flooded with similar makes and models and nothing is selling. It's like "what's the point if I can't get my money back out?"

When I do drive it though and I stomp on the gas pedal it feels like a rocket ship and my love for it is reaffirmed just a little bit.

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I had this type of relation with my previous Peugeot 307. Bought it used for €6000, drove it for ten years. Towards the end, all the ABS sensors were held on by epoxy since the bolts had snapped off during replacements. Fun fact, when the ABS system is out of operation and you lock up the wheels on an icy road going 70-80 km/h, the car is easy to control but it automatically turns on the hazard lights. Confused the hell out of me at first.

I had a jury rigged wiring harness for the front indicator lights. The exhaust consisted more and more of my crappy stick welds rather than original metal. I had changed basically all suspension and brake parts at least once myself. Main headlights were starting to wear thin since the haze had been polished off many times.

Drove it until the front right wheel literally fell off during one Christmas holiday (the steering link broke and the wheel turned 90 degrees out, fortunately at low speed). At that point it had close to 300 000 km on it, and we had been test driving new cars for almost a year in anticipation of the final trip to the eternal rusting fields. Total cost of ownership was amazing though, and it was really spacious and practical, I miss that car.

By the end of my time with it, my 307 headlight stick would also trigger the horn whenever I turned on the high beams, the AC would stop working at around 90 KM/h, the air intake pipe to the turbo had at least two tears glued down and I had to carry a 5L jug of water replenish the radiator on hot days. I sold it with 340k KM and AFAIK it's still being driven, refusing to die.

Well past time to replace it with an electric or a hybrid or at least something with decent gas mileage.

Are you actually sure that would be the more ecological option?

I can answer that one - it absolutely wouldn't. An electric car is vastly better than a new ICE car from eco perspective, if you're buying new. But keeping your old car and driving it instead will always be more ecologically sound.

Oh I know. Just wanted to give wffurr an opportunity to find out for themselves :)

16 years is a good run. You're well past the point of diminishing returns on repair costs and the poor mileage from that vintage is adding up.

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