Yeah you right plmval but the relationship with these little cars is more than just an economic and practical equation. Based on numbers and logic you right but I think we all enjoy the challenge some don't we?
I've had cars that I definitely should have applied your logic to ... no doubt. But to take the cottage industry of keeping these little motors going in the style Pollyp does and some of us try to do, is great fun. I sort of consider it a hobby if you like.
If time is genuinely so short then yes another view might be in order. But the creativity and solutions (like this one) that come from this site are first class and I'd definitely miss them. It really does feel like the last car (maybe bar the 106) that we can all work on and sort with relative ease. And an angle grinder and MIG means they really can do a load more years yet.
In my case, I can (if really honest) afford a new car and indeed when the new XC90 came out, I came within 'that close' of buying one at outrageous money. I didn't, common sense came into play and the wife and I decided that is all we doing is going to Alsi, Sainsburys, dropping her at work, towing a few trailers to the skip and two or three trips down to Heathrow a year then it would be a real waste. But to keep a 25 year old car with 240k on the clock going is still fun (most of the time!!!
) .... a few more years and creaking joints the XC90 might look more attractive