In our family, we own cars for well over ten years and run them into the ground. Of course, we take care of them and do all required maintenance along the way. However, when a car gets near the end of its life, repair expenses can escalate dramatically. This is similar to what happens to healthcare costs when people age. Most higher cost healthcare expenses occur near the end of life.
With your own life, you probably want to spend as much as you can afford to keep yourself going, when you are old or at any age. However, keeping an aging car on the road can be a very expensive proposition. Extended life support for a car might not be the best idea economically, despite how much you might be in love with your old car. So how do you decide where to draw the line?