at what point

do you give up on a car and start looking for a newer one?

Is it when the starter motor fails on the way home from high school interviews?
Or when the air conditioning (a necessity in Brisbane in my view) still does not work after hundreds of dollars spent on it?
Or when the brakes fail when you are driving off the off ramp from the Gateway Motorway and you nearly run up the back of a ute?
Or when bits of the car start dropping off onto the driveway?
Or when the gears start crunching between two and three?

Or is it when you balance your chocolate milk on the handbrake because there is no cup holder and it spills when you turn the corner and it dribbles right into the electric switches that open the back windows so the windows don't open anymore and your dog gets frustrated that it can't put it's head out of the window and drools into your ear when you drive to pick up the kids?

I realize people in the world, in my city, in my neighborhood have bigger problems than old cars.

But I have been trawling car websites today looking at used cars. So much choice. And you get so emotionally attached to cars. I feel like I want to break up with our car but I haven't got the guts yet.

I definitely think we need a newer younger model though. With a cup holder.