Bill, those are all good points and I have and still struggle with how much money I am willing to spend on the older vehicle vs purchasing a new or almost new vehicle. The mileage for a 12 year old van (115,000) is really not that high. A new transmission was done at 90,000 so that should be good for a while, all new tires in the last 12,000, new water pump and radiator within the last year and the van was repainted at 97,000. Now of course the A/C could and probably will go as well as all the little things that break even with new vehicles.
Due to my wife's back situation, she can not sit for any length of time while we are traveling and must lay down flat for relief so a P/U is out of the question. New or newer vans with the options I want will cost at least $25,000.00 or more. This van is paid for and is in excellent shape.
I guess the cost analysis is that I can fix a lot of things and put a lot of gas through this van for the $25 grand it would cost to upgrade. It's kind of like what I see here on the forums. Very few members have new TM's. Why not maintain and use what is still good.
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