I only drove one for about one week, and it was a real dog. Lousy handling was at the top of my complaint list, but the acceleration was also pretty poor, and the gas mileage was unimpressive.
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I had a customer that dumped over $4000.00 at once on an old beater that wasn’t worth $1000.00 probably at the time… I was nervous that after all the work was done that we would never see them again… It’s happened more than once… lol
Anyway the wife showed up and put it on there Credit Card no problems, come to find out he was a Heart surgeon down town and drove the beater to work and left his Maserati and other high end toys at home… So he really didn’t care what it cost, just wanted it reliable…
Besides that $3000.00 a year is only $250.00 a month, way cheaper that most car notes and the Ins probably cheaper also…
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Before we start blaming the mechanic remember that this is a 20 year old vehicle.
The OEM parts mandate is only 10 years and after 20 years, with few of these remaining on the road, it’s doubtful that there’s any After Market suppliers still making any vehicle specific repair parts.
Sure, with enough time and money you can McGiver or fabricate anything but for a 20 years old economy car and the rest of the rubber/plastic heading down the same path does it make any sense?
And will you end up with a happy customer? This month the PS leaking, next month the plastic radiator, next the window regulator pulleys, etc., etc. etc.
Humorous stories about the reason for all the repairs on that car in the photo, but I don’t see any problem myself with spending $12,000 over the course of 3 or 4 years to repair an otherwise reliable 20 year old car. Folks will spend more than that for a vet to treat an incurable illness with their 14 year old dog, to give the dog a few more months. Likewise folks can become very attached to their cars.
If there were someone like a mechanical handyman type in the family, I might have advised them to take an auto-repair course. Then they could do the simple maintenance and repairs themselves, probably save half the cost.
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@bcohen2010 my friend, I can honestly say I don’t remember ever hearing “Ford Tempo” and “great car” in the same breath! 
Not that I ever thought there was anything particularly wrong with them. But the typical Domestic mid-size offerings of the time–Tempo, Spirit, Celebrity–are largely forgettable. They served their function but that’s it.
The car she had before was a Plymouth Horizon, manual trans. That car got a new clutch and flywheel every year, year-and-a-half, because she was such a poor driver. I urged her to get an automatic, she showed up with a 15 year old Tempo!
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Perfectly rational, and both my father and myself have done that in the past. As long as the person has a reasonable justification for wanting the car repaired, such as really liking that vehicle, and as long as the probability of a successful repair is reasonable, why not? Not everyone cares about Blue Book value, and many people just want a comfortable car that runs, and would like to avoid buying something else if at all possible.
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Some people also realize that the depreciation on a new car starts at a peak and gradually declines over time whereas the old car is the opposite, it gradually costs more every year to keep it on the road and you never reach the peak until it is junked or sold.
I got where I am by saving money buying used cars and fixing them myself. Now I can afford to buy new cars and have lost some of the drive to continually repair cars. So circumstances vary and change over time…
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Nevada says he prefers this method too. I’ve never done that myself, always bought new or nearly new vehicles. If I were doing it all over again, starting again from age 21? hmmm… I think I’d still buy new or nearly new vehicles. At that age I wanted to focus on learning about science & technology, stuff other than cars. Learning about cars makes for a good retirement activity though.
You obtained two used vehicles 20 years ago, from yourself.
If you buy new vehicles for economic reasons, you would be replacing your vehicles every 8 to 10 years like most others do.
lol . I guess that’s one way to look at it … 