A number of years ago a man owned a red Ford Pinto station wagon. He bought it when he was going to college, and kept it for quite some time. In its last few years of service, the car had several thousand dollars put into it. The owner had to replace the engine; he had to put in a new transmission; and he had the whole body repainted. It looked good on the outside, but it had some serious problems on the inside.

The heart of the matter was that it was really on its last legs. When he finally bought a new car, the man traded in his Plymouth -- a much nicer car. The dealer said he would give him $2,000 for it. Then the man asked the dealer to take a look at the Pinto. After taking it for a drive and inspecting it carefully, the dealer told the man he would give him $2,000 for both car…