There are people who need to 'trade up' to a new car every three to five years. Some of them want the thrill of driving the latest machine. Others want to avoid the maintenance problems of an older car. And then there are those who simply crave that new-car smell.

My husband Gerry and I aren't any of those people. We live by the golden rules of car ownership: Buy late-model used cars (with cash, whenever possible), maintain them properly and drive them until they drop. By following these rules, Gerry and I have saved thousands of dollars in car-related costs over the past two decades.

Buying used cars, rather than new, helps us avoid much of the sting of depreciation -- the annual decline in the car's value over the life of its use. New cars can lose as much as 20% of their value as soon as they're driven off the lot, according to auto-industry-data provider Edmunds.com.

By using cash, we also avoid taking out a costly loan. The average monthly payment in May was $446 on a five-year car loan, according to Edmunds. Those accumulated monthly payments would grow to $30,903 if invested over the same five years at a 5% return.

Gerry and I live in New Jersey, where insurance costs are steep. We both drive cars that are more than five years old, so we pay less for car insurance than we would if we were driving newer models. Right now, we pay $1,888 a year to insure Gerry's 1994 Honda Accord, my 2003 Ford F-150 pickup truck and Gerry's 'antique' 1989 Ford Mustang.

We have liability coverage, which covers only damages and injuries we cause to other people and property. With a newer car, we'd pay more for so-calledcomprehensive coverage, which also covers damage and injury to ourselves and our cars. (Most finance companies require owners to pay for comprehensive coverage.)

We've saved a lot by buying and holding on to cars. But while we agree in principle about when it makes sense to replace one, in practice our definitions of when a car is about to 'drop' have differed.

I know little about car repair, and when there's a problem, I want it fixed right away. My first car, a beat-up old Mustang, was a lemon -- sometimes it felt like I spent more time awaiting roadside assistance than I spent driving it. I vowed when I replaced it that I'd never drive an unreliable car again. So when the transmission failed for a second time on my next car, a 1994 Ford Explorer, I started shopping for a replacement, despite Gerry's desire to keep it on the road.

Gerry is less likely to be bothered by repair problems. When his car begins to show signs of trouble, he'll dig into the problem and usually fix it on his own. For example, his Honda has a problem that causes it to intermittently lose some braking power. He feels he can fix the problem, though it's a relatively big job.

In years past, Gerry would probably be underneath the car in the driveway fixing the car now, and we wouldn't even broach the discussion of whether or not to replace it. But the Honda has 165,000 miles on it, and he has started reluctantly questioning whether it's worth the effort to fix it.

When he first mentioned the possibility of replacing the Honda with a newer car, I was all for it. While he assured me that the brake problem can be fixed, there's another big reason Gerry is considering it: With gas prices approaching $4 a gallon, we need to factor fuel-efficiency into our old 'repair or replace' formula.

The Honda is averaging about 26 miles to the gallon. With gas prices in our area hovering at about $3.85 a gallon, we'd save an average of $697 a year -- or $3,484 over five years -- by replacing the Honda with a newer car that averages 34 miles per gallon. (Compare how much you'd save at Fueleconomy.gov.)

With all costs considered, we both agree that it's time for the Honda to go. Gerry has started looking through classified ads to get a feel for what a replacement car might cost. He's not looking for anything flashy, but used-car values have dropped so much that he's willing to consider pricier models. We'll shop and compare, and, with a bit of luck, find a luxury car that we can actually afford.

有些人每隔三五年就要换部新车。他们当中，有的是想体验驾驶最新款汽车的兴奋感，有的则是想避免旧车带来的维修问题。而有的则纯粹是追求新车散发出来的独特味道。

我和我丈夫格里(Gerry)都不算这种人。我们遵循着拥有汽车的黄金法则：购买新款二手车（只要有可能，就全部以现金支付），好好维护，然后一直开到它们不能上路为止。由于恪守这些法则，在过去二十年里，格里和我在汽车相关的成本上节省了数千美元。

购买二手车，而不是新车，帮助我们避免了折旧带来的刺痛。据汽车行业数据提供商Edmunds.com称，只要开出经销商的停车场，新车就会立即折旧20%。

以现金支付则避免了昂贵的汽车贷款。根据Edmunds的资料，5月份，5年期汽车贷款的月供已经达到446美元。这些月还款累计起来，如果投资在年回报为5%的5年期投资项目上，可以增值至30,903美元。

格里和我住在汽车保险费用奇高的新泽西州。我们俩开的车都已有超过5年的历史，因此我们在汽车保险上的开销要比开新车的支出低很多。目前，格里1994年的本田雅阁(Honda Accord)、我的2003年的福特(Ford) F-150皮卡、还有格里的那辆"古董车"1989年福特Mustang每年的保险费加起来才不过为1,888美元。

我们购买了责任险，只涵盖我们对他人和财产造成的损害和伤害。如果是新车的话，我们必须为所谓的全险支付更高的保险费，而全险还涵盖对我们和我们的汽车造成的伤害和损害。（大多数财务公司都要求车主购买全险。）

我们购买并坚持使用旧车，已经让我们省下了很多钱。不过，虽然我们原则上同意在适当的时候可以换部新车，但实际上我们对何时应该淘汰旧车的定义有所分歧。

我对汽车维修知之甚少，因此一旦出现了问题，我希望马上把它解决掉。我的第一部车是一辆破旧的Mustang，真是够破的，有时候我觉得我花在路边等待援助的时间比我开车的时间还要长。等到我换车的时候，我发誓我再也不会开一辆性能不可靠的车了。因此，当我的下一部车1994 Ford Explorer的传动装置第二次出现故障后，我立刻开始寻找替代品，尽管格里还想继续开着它上路。

格里对修理问题不像我这么在意。当他的汽车开始出现故障的迹象时，他会查看故障，通常自己就把车修好了。比如说，他的本田车曾出现间歇性刹车失灵的情况。他就觉得他自己能把车修好，尽管这是一个大工程。

要是搁在过去，格里现在很有可能趴在汽车底下，敲敲打打，我们甚至不会讨论是否换车的问题。不过，他那辆本田已经驾驶了165,000英里，他开始很不情愿地提出是否还值得修理的问题了。

当格里首次提出淘汰本田的可能性的时候，我表示全力支持。虽然格里向我保证刹车故障可以解决，但是他还要考虑另外一个因素：随着汽油价格逼近每加仑4美元，我们需要把燃油效率问题纳入我们固有的"修理还是淘汰"的法则中去。

我们那部本田车每1加仑油能跑大约26英里。我们所在地区的油价目前在每加仑3.85美元左右，如果我们把本田换成1加仑油能跑34英里的汽车，我们每年可以省下697美元，5年就是3,484美元。（你可以登录Fueleconomy.gov详细比较成本节约的情况。）

考虑到所有的成本，我俩都同意是时候淘汰本田了。格里已经开始翻阅汽车分类广告，初步了解一下换车的成本。他并没有着意寻找外表光鲜的靓车，不过由于二手车的价格下跌得厉害，价格较高的眩车也进入了他的视野。我们会到处看看，仔细比较，如果幸运的话，没准儿能找到一辆我们负担得起的豪华轿车呢。
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