To buy or not to buy?

David Komer and his wife, Karen, with their 2001 Ford F-150.

• Talkback: Are you buying a new car?

Why I'm keeping my Ford: I own a F150 Supercrew, which I purchased new in 2001. It's paid for, it runs fine, and I'm not looking to get anything new for another two years. It's cheaper to keep my truck running.

I previously had a Dodge Caravan, and I was looking for a pickup truck primarily to haul things around for Boy Scouts; I'm an assistant scoutmaster. I also wanted a four-door pickup so each of my two boys could have his own door.

We've been happy with it. Aside from standard maintenance that's necessary after a car hits the 100,000-mile mark, it's running fine at more than 130,000. We anticipated this would be a long-term vehicle.

The Supercrew gets 18 miles to the gallon, so it's not an economy vehicle. When I first picked up the car, my commute was 15 minutes. Then my firm moved and it became 25 minutes.

It bit a little when the gas prices were so high, but they'd have to hit $10.00 a gallon before it would be worth the monthly payments on a new car.

My thoughts on the Big 3 bailout: To a large degree, it's the sins of the past coming to roost. The car companies made mistakes and were greedy. But it's the unions' fault, too. And the consumers' decisions. It's hard to lay blame.

NEXT: Dick Flores: 2000 Honda Accord