How could any car be worth such a price?

I stood in absolute disbelief. Perhaps he had misunderstood my question. I answered, “No, I don’t want to purchase your business, I want to buy a car.” His frown left me mystified as I grasped what he was implying. The car actually was $44,991, on sale! I contemplated this as I scrutinized the automobile, searching for a toilet or maybe waiting for it to speak, something to verify its price. “Well, it should never break down,” I remarked. “It should run forever.” He laughed, but remarked on the car DVD player, the navigational device and the OnStar alert system. “Fantastic,” I echoed, “more gadgets to break down.” He grinned and I left.

It puzzles me that cars cost what once houses did, and in truth, are their engines that much improved? Fuel pumps, water pumps, gaskets, starters, batteries and radiators all still fail, as did the engine in my $10,000 Suzuki. Do we honestly believe that these exorbitantly priced automobiles outshine all others? That their engines won’t ever bite the dust? Do we not see this clue in having the OnStar alert system? Do we buy a car to watch DVDs?

It is distressing that there are those who believe these unrelated-to-the-engine devices will provide you with outstanding performance. How quickly we overlook that, sometime down the road, we will be forced to make the decision of either repairing it, again, or trading it in. What was it that we paid $44,000 for?