A new car came into my life today. Well…yesterday now. She’s a nice car. One of those commuter Jeeps designed mostly for running in town. I wouldn’t take her off road the way I could my old Liberty, but the Jeep Compass will do winter roads in Minnesnowta just fine. And maybe a little rough work in the gentler off road areas.

The trick is that she’s actually cheaper to own. She cost less than the Liberty after a favorable trade in value. It pays to keep your vehicle looking oh so pretty. The payments are a little bit more thanks to certain ancillary costs and loan terms, but my insurance cost is dropping, and the new girl gets better gas mileage. And since she has sixty thousand fewer miles, the maintenance should be significantly cheaper. The end result is that she’s a newer vehicle, with fewer miles, and a lower monthly cost of ownership.

I call that a win-win in the vernacular.