I’ve replaced my cars for a myriad of reasons.
Until very recently we’ve not had the money for new cars and have had to get used, often well-used, vehicles. Those have often been replaced when the cost of repairing some catastrophic problem (engine or transmission failure) cost more than simply buying another used car. Sometimes our little family outgrew the car (Toyota Tercel) or, on the other end of the spectrum, we didn’t need to ferry around two licensed drivers so got rid of the mom-mobile (Chrysler Town and Country). 3 cars I’ve given away to people who needed reliable transportation. My wife replaced her HHR when her chronic pain got to the point that it was uncomfortable to drive and she needed something significantly taller. I replaced a Honda Civic at 47k miles when my kids outgrew the back seat and we got a dog. The Kia we bought in Feb. 2023 now has 49½K miles on it. I wish – my God, how I wish – that it had a manual transmission. Otherwise, I love it and plan to drive it until it dies catastrophically and is prohibitively expensive to repair or… well, that’s probably the only reason I’d get rid of it.
I do like the idea of having a 3rd vehicle as a backup but right now our cars are new enough that I don’t predict and impending problems. My Soul, for whatever reason, was not part of the huge engine recall that’s currently plaguing most 3rd. gen Soul owners so that makes me very happy and quite confident that this car will last a good while.
Whenever I do replace this car though I really want something with a stick shift.
And if I ever do get a real Lancia I will never, ever get rid of it. That’s my dream car if it’s not immediately obvious.