Originally Posted by eganders

Why do high end cars tend to look and perform better? Because their owners can afford to do what it takes to keep them in good condition. Premium items of all sorts cost more to buy, and more to maintain.

Like the guy who, because of the times, purchases a house in an upscale neighborhood where he could never typically afford to buy. The poor guy doesn't realize it when he buys because he only calculates the stretching he's doing to make the payments. But the reality is he also has to pay far more for maintenance and upkeep on his fabulous new house as well. Soon enough, this guy is unable to afford the level of maintenance his new home deserves, and he's miserable and upset. He can put all his money into the house and have none left over for anything else, or he can let his house go to crap so he can pay for some other things. Lousy choices, both.

Our Crossfires, certainly those purchased in '06 and '07, are just such an anomaly. Except for the recently discounted price, they are expensive premium vehicles that, due to Chrysler's circumstances, many of us were able to purchase far more cheaply than normal. However, they're still premium cars, and thus expensive to maintain and expensive to purchase parts for. As such, those that had to stretch to get into the car will probably have an equally difficult time maintaining and outfitting them. And, in fact, I expect we'll hear some complaining about the Crossfire being a lousy car, when the truth will be that the poor owner can't afford to maintain it as they should.

It's just a truism that when you buy an item that requires regular maintenance and upkeep, the purchase price is merely a down payment on the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).