My car is a mess

I finally got around to getting my car inspected and the bill was out of this world. It was over $1,600 but since I paid in cash, it was $1,560 which is ridiculous. I needed a lot of motor work done and the parts were almost as expensive as the labor. Usually the parts are dirt cheap but labor is a lot so I was surprised.

The worse part is that it was almost 3 times what I had actually put away for a car expense so I had to dip way into savings to pay the bill. I think I'm most frustrated because it's a small economy car and I only drove 6K miles last year. Yes, 6 thousand! The only reason I needed an emissions test was because I was exempt the year before and you can't go two years in a row without the test.

I love having my car but some days I really wonder if it's all worth it.