My 1999 Infinity G20 celebrated Rocktober 1st by turning 200,000 miles. Here’s the moment it went down, accompanied by Soft Cell:
I’ve had two cars in 32 years. During that time I’ve driven over half a million miles. 10 years of car payments and 22 years without!
I don’t cotton to car payments. As I said in My Hooptie’s Total Recall, my first car ran for 13 years and 328,536 miles. My 1999 Infiniti was turned 19 years 3 months when it crossed over 200,000 miles. Although nearly worthless, it looks pretty sweet. Thankfully, I don’t live where rust never sleeps.
A few years ago, I cancelled the Collision portion of my insurance coverage. So, please don’t hit me.
My insurance agent said my car falls in the “classic/antique car arena”. What tipped him off, my cassette deck? My Thomas Guide map in the glove box? A glove box?
He said it would be worth less than $1,000 if totaled. Well, that was my deductible, sooo… This must be what it feels like to stop taking a medication and start greeting every day as a gift.
A couple years ago, I upgraded to a new radio with built-in Bluetooth, iHeart Radio, Pandora, USB ports and a bunch of other things that didn’t exist when I rolled it off the lot last century.
Lots of folks assume any 19 year old car must always be in the shop. In the six years since I wrote Today, My Car is a Man, I’ve spent less than $500/year in repairs on my Infiniti. A new Infiniti might cost at least that per month.
If you are looking to trim your spending, consider unloading your current chariot and getting one with some experience. I’m not saying you should get a 19 year old ride, but you could! This is also a great idea if you have a teenager who “MUST” have a car. Why saddle yourself with debt? It’s just a car.
Kelley Blue Book said that my car is worth about $1,800 if I sold it directly to another person. Add the radio and a full gas tank and that might get me another $300! Alas… this car is not for sale.
