Carragee Consulting

Investing in the everyday

Living in Minnesota you don’t see too many classic cars 9 months out of the year. The winters are too harsh and salted roads destroy the frames and paint.

In California I see not just MG convertibles and sweet trucks from the 1960s, but the occasional older “cheap” family car that’s been maintained in like-new condition the past 30+ years.

In the early 2000s I read an economics paper which researched the question of if and why cars that were more expensive in their release years achieved higher lifetime average mileage.

It is an interesting virtuous cycle that when a car costs more up front to purchase it may be financially logical to continue to maintain it through higher mileage/more years than for a cheaper initial purchase.

Luxury brands may get an unfair reputation for durability given that their owners can afford and choose to repair them longer into their ownership than cars sold at the lower end of the price spectrum.

Inherently, mechanically the cheaper cars may be equally durable given the same willingness to invest in maintenance and repairs overtime, but the labor cost to replace the suspension or timing belt on an 8 yo Toyota Trecel may exceed the KBB value of that vehicle whereas it would still make economic sense for an Audi Q7.

Anyway, I think this one is a gem and it’s nice to see someone treasure it for a long service life.