Ha! So it seems we mostly all agree that there are numerous benefits, and few drawbacks to keeping the old ones on the road.
Just so drawbacks are addressed, there's the fact that old machines - no matter how well maintained - do wear out in ways that often aren't obvious.
Long term stress fractures in the frame that could cause a sudden catastrophe with little or no warning, badly worn suspension or steering bushings may not appear to be a significant problem until they get dangerously worn & cause trouble in an emergency maneuver, older cars may not handle as crisply to avoid collisions, may not have the safety equipment or even standard of braking capability to which we've grown accustomed.
Older vehicles, even extremely well kept examples, need more frequent inspection by the user to ensure they continue to be safe to operate - for the occupants and everyone else on the road. As far as I can tell, motorists who actually inspect their vehicle for safety periodically are an extreme minority - let's put it this way, outside of my "automotive forum buddies", none of the people I interact with on a regular basis would have any idea how to check their brake pads or tell if a tire is showing unusual wear from a steering or suspension problem. Buying a whole new car every couple years allows them to continue being blissfully unaware of all things mechanical.
Still, I think the benefits of this type of recycling are numerous and significant enough that it's worth our time to not only practice vehicle maintenance with long term goals, but to defend our decision to do so and even evangelize it to an extent. Humans are far too "smart" a species to get away with using ignorance as an excuse for poor maintenance habits and the wasteful neglect and disposal of otherwise serviceable equipment.
In other words, let's keep our old cars running - that's a better ecomod trick than a kammback and when someone jabs you for driving a 20 year old car, saying "it's paid for" trumps at least half of them.
