<prompt> Human: Bought a 2012 forester in 2011. Im now at the 5 year mark. I paid 28k after taxes. I will have it paid off in a year 6 year mark. I have very few 30k miles on it. Its in very good shape. It appears I could get about 20K for it on the open market. If I sell it after I finish my payments at this price, that means I would have paid about 8k72 mo 111 per month for 6 years of vehicle costs, not including a few services. My initial thought was to drive the thing for another ten years. My only costs incurred after I pay it off would be service costs. However, I have been thinking lately that perhaps in the long term I may end up paying more as my vehicle becomes an out of service model and requires more services in its old age. Also, I risk a higher insurance burden as it becomes less safe than new market vehicles. I realize this is a lot of philosophy and not a ton of hard numbers. Has anyone else gone through this process, and what factors did you use to help make this decision?  <response>: Drive it into the ground. As the car gets older, your insurance costs go down, not up, because the car is worth less and so the insurance companies risk isnt as high. Sure, repair costs go up - but if your new payment would be 250, you can afford a 2,000 of repairs a year and still come out ahead.Look, the numbers actually are clear - you cant ever justify buying a new car except for the happinesspeace of mind you get. Staying with something used is cheaper except in extreme cases and it doesnt sound like you are close to that.I get it - you have the new car itch. But, dont try and trick yourself into thinking somehow it magically makes financial sense to upgrade. 