We definitely live in a world dominated by desire and if we can buy freedom from care, we will. We don't want a car that promises longer reliability, we expect every car to last until our lifestyle changes - and we expect our lifestyle to change every 3-7 years. The pressure becomes greater if you have some reason, or believe you have some reason to benefit from the judgment of others. I drove an old Tempo around for a few years, and it was tremendously economical - but its disintegration made a statement of poverty about me rather than a statement of thrift. I replaced it with a decidedly unthrifty luxury SUV, whose dual-zone climate control system is broken (and the by-the-book repair? 12.5 hours labor plus $368 parts) ... I was pretty happy with the A/C in the Tempo, it worked rather well. To offset the fuel cost, I bike to work whenever possible. This sends a message of thrift rather than poverty for some reason... well, OK - neat, and maybe i get a less droopy ass out of the deal or something
