[pierremcalpine]

Having taken on my own car repairs now for almost 10 years I've come to the following conclusion: If someone else is doing the work for you, it's really a "pick your poison" type of affair.

Any used car is going to surprise you with misc repairs. Some of these will be expensive. The timing of the large expenses and small expenses is a crapshoot but inspections do help somewhat. The poison here is to pay less upfront but swallow the poison over time with ridiculous expenses for very small things.

For the above, "the devil you know" to me is an apt summary. A good friend of mine once told me, "don't leave a good party in search of a better party." Odds are you are going to be disappointed. In other words, if you are just going to replace one used car for another you are rolling the dice AGAIN!

The other poison is to buy something newish and pray that expenses are minimal. The poison here is paying a crazy price for something that gets you from A to B for some piece of mind over the medium term.

If you are not doing at least 1/2 the repairs yourself , go with poison B, no question. That's what I've learned.

If you have young kids and or a partner with a very low tolerance for very occasionally being stranded because the old girl has let you down, again, go with poison B.

If your self-worth is all tied up in what you drive either convince yourself that the old Volvo really is a reflection of your true quality OR just go with the car that makes you happier.

If you enjoy tinkering, love feeling the results of your work when you drive, don't mind little electrical quirks that will take some time to figure out, don't mind paying a bit more for parts, and appreciate quality long gone - a P2 isn't a bad bet.