<prompt> Human: Im having some issues with my 2001 midsize sedan with 200K miles. Its a typical 15 year old car--some rust, some minor dings and scrapes, and its had some mechanical stuff needed recently. I just replaced the muffler for 300, and today I may need the strutsshocksmounts replaced both front and rear, for an estimated cost of 900 plus tax in California. The car is bouncing all around and the shocks have been squeaking for some time.The KBB on the car is only 1500, so a repair of close to 1000 is basically the full value of the car. And if I make this repair, there is no guarantee that it wont break down tomorrow.Ive asked in PF before, and it was suggested that I drive my car into the ground because of high amounts of student loan debt. So how far is into the ground? At what point do you cut bait and get a new car?  <response>: even with repairs at 1k, you will still likely be able to drive it for a while afterwards. Plus those are the big wear items. That kind of stuff will need to be replaced on any car after long enough.To me, into the ground means, its not just wear item you need to fix there are large, systemic repairs that are needed. Repairs extreme enough that you need to replace MAJOR things like then entire engine. 