Automobiles: Inconvenient conveniences?

Owning an automobile is a frustrating thing! If you are not trying to fix them yourself you are paying someone way to much money to fix them. The whole time you are wondering if you got ripped off or if you got a deal. In our case we have two cars one that is newer but still used (car 1) and the other has a lot of miles on it and is over ten years old (car 2). There is a constant debate going on in my head and it goes something like how long will car 2 last and at what point should we trade car 1 in? Both cars are fairly reliable but still have their problems from time to time. We just replaced the spark plugs in both of the cars in the last month. Car 2 cost me $25 to do myself with my dad and it barely took us an hour. Car 1 cost us close to $300 to do the same job. I had to bring it in and they had to remove half the engine to get to three of the plugs. Needless to say it is interesting to think about and frustrating if you dwell on it (which I have been guilty of doing) “Why the discrepancy?” I guess it boils down to the cars year, make/model and labor cost, but still why is there such a difference in price? Maybe cars are one of the things that God has put in our lives to build patience and character. I can’t say I have always acted in a godly manor when one of our cars decides not to run. I guess cars are one of those inconvenient conveniences... Cars will always be a part of our lives as long as we live in America. So I guess I better get used to them...