To buy, or not to buy

Spending this evening in my favorite local coffee shop hanging out and trying to drum up some computer consulting business. It's pretty slow, but I didn't expect an overwhelming response the first time out. It's amazing the lengths a person will go through to stop having to deliver pizza on the weekend.

My car. Is on its last legs. Its inspection is overdue and my mechanic confirms that the only way it's going to pass is an engine overhaul. It's a 1992 Mitsubishi Galant with over 215,000 miles on it. An engine overhaul would be like putting a new heart in a 110 year old with lung cancer and melanoma.

So, we are looking for a new(er) car, but don't have the cash laying around to buy something. To save up the cash would probably take a 6 months. We've got a pretty decent deal in the works, and it looks like we'll probably take out a loan. I'm trying to figure out a reason that this is okay. Dave Ramsey would probably chew my cheese. The Mits runs fine, but if I got busted driving it, we'd be getting a $500 fine. It's how I'm delivering pizzas on the weekend at present. So - out of fear of a $500 fine, I'm now looking at a $15,000 loan. That makes sense, doesn't it?