<prompt> Human: Hi PFers! So i am in a weird fork situation and need your advice on how to go forward. I outright own an older car American made, 90k miles, no Mechanical damage, Clean title, Kbb value at 4.5k dealer, runs like a beaut. I have started realising that as I approach 100k there will be a lot of maintenance work to be done on the car - so will require an upfront investment of 1 to 2 thousand overall. We are already frugal about it by having 1 car for a 2 person family. Just got a bump in salary making about 90k a year, have a comfortable cushion as backup.Was wondering if now would be a good time to switch to a pre-owned or used car saw a couple of cars with 40k miles which would put my monthly payment to 250month or should I still invest in this car until it gives way? Then the overall value would depreciate to 0 from the 4.5 that I will be getting now.  <response>: Not American, so unaware of pricings etc over there, apologies. If you know the history of your car and there is nothing wrong, why change it? All cars have to have maintenance, I take it youre talking cambelts, water pumps etc, transmission fluid change etc? Do you have a personal mechanic that you trust and who you use? This could reduce the cost significantly instead of going dealer route etc.100k really is nothing nowadays, I have a 1.9dci Renault diesel that is coming up to 200k miles, no issues at all and everything is serviced correctly and generally by myself, regular oil changes, filters and so on. Cost me in your money around 1600 over 2 years ago to purchase. Only work I have done to it is cambelts and water pump replaced as well as oil changes as stated.I would much rather have a car where I know its history that buy someone elses car that I dont know the history of and be potentially buying a pos. 