On my way to the airport on Monday, clouds of smoke were coming out the tail pipe of my car. It was so bad that the people behind me had to wait for the smoke to clear before taking off. And I’m not exaggerating. So I took the car into the garage yesterday and it looks like it’s an internal engine problem.

As a member of the Junky Car Club, I’ve always wanted to drive our 95 Ford Taurus into the ground. And twelve years isn’t bad. But I was hoping we had a few more years left. Which brings me to the $64,000 question: what do you do when a car repair will cost more than the car is even worth?