data is great, but data isn’t reflective of my local mechanic rates.

in my city car mechanics charge 200/hr, on the cheap side. bicycle mechanics, charge 100/hr.

i am sure in rural texas the costs of mechanic work or half or less than what i pay.

lol what. i have a 1yr old car. my insurance and car payment is like 450 a month, and the new payment goes away after 3 years. you are vastly over exaggeration.

i got a new car because my 10 year old car needed $5000 worth of work and it made no sense to keep it anymore. new tires, fluid flushes, new brakes, etc. not sure if you have had a car worked recently, but like a brake job for all four brakes alone is $1500. the tires and wheel balance was $600, etc. a nicer car would have cost a lot more. one reason i don’t own a suv is the maintenance costs are double that of than a fwd sedan. had it been a crv the maintence would have run me probably 8000.

your prices seem 10-20 years out of date for car repairs. yeha, in 2002 I was paying like $2000 to overhaul an old camry, but that was 25 years ago.

Until that $5000 car needs another $5000 repair, and another and another.

There is a reason most cars don’t last more than 10 years.

reliable used cars cost nearly as much as new ones these days.