Q, I agree with what you say about a car you might already have, but in this case the Cadillac had a BIG expense just lurking there, waiting for its time. If it caught up with me, the car wouldn't be worth what it would cost to fix, and I'd suddenly be without that car, without the thousand dollar trade-in, and in a tearing rush to get another. And then there's the fuel usage and cost of premium fuel for the Caddy. And then the big one: My Beautiful Wife wanted a new car!

I told her, "'A new car', meaning 'a new car', is just not in the cards, kid. But we'll get a nice newer car."

That's where the calculation came in, figuring which of several otherwise acceptable cars would be the best deal.

Dave Oesterreich