Math Therapy

Sometimes a little math goes a long way to soothe the soul. For example, one could get very upset (and maybe even cry a little) after spending $1100 on car repairs one month, only to drive less than 700 miles and 4 weeks later be required to spend another $1100 on car repairs for a completely unrelated problem. However, if one does the following math, one may be able to stop hyperventilating and crying long enough to hand over the credit card and authorize the repairs:

2002 Used vehicle purchase cost in 2007 (Craigslist):
$11,000, paid for in cash,
$6000, total service and repairs over 4 years
=$17,000 total cost

Let's say I'd instead decided to finance a new sienna mini-van in 2007 with a good warranty so I would not have had to pay for any repairs (had there been any on a newer vehicle), nor would I have yet encountered the dread 90K mile service and timing belt replacement. By my estimate, I would still have paid in four years:
$26,000 new vehicle purchase cost (total ballpark, and probably low--new ones are now 30-35K)
$3300 interest over 4 years
$1100 maintenance (oil changes, regular service & new tires)
=$30,400 or $13,400 more than I've spent on my van in the past 4 years

Now, for arguments sake, let's say I instead purchased a used vehicle (because let's be honest, I'd never in my right mind buy a new vehicle--not while I can still do math anyway), but a few years newer, put $10K down and financed the rest. Now this is a total guess, but let's say I paid only $3000 in service and repairs since it was a newer vehicle:
$20,000 used vehicle purchase cost (again, total guess)
$1300 interest over 4 years
$3000 maintenance
=$24,300 or $7,300 more over 4 years than I've spent to date on my van.

Yes, so it hurts right now to authorize and pay for those repairs, but (sigh and deep breath) by my calculations, hindsight says I'd not have done it differently. Sniffle. It still hurts. You know, the difference between boiling a frog slowly and dropping the sucker in at a full rolling boil? I feel a little like a boiled frog.

Still, it's all a crapshoot anyway, isn't it?