These days, just about any new car has a chance of going a year or two without a single problem. But there’s also the chance with any new car that it will have a problem the dealer just can’t sort out, at least not right away. Especially if it’s a new design in its first model year.

What to do? Most people will just keep taking the car back to the dealer until they resolve the problem. A few of these will end up going through the lemon law process and having the car bought back.

But one thing I have learned from conducting this research is that more people than I ever would have expected simply trade the problem car in for a new one. They generally take a large financial hit in the process.

My initial reaction: this lets the manufacturer off the hook and leaves the buyer with the financial cost of the manufacturer’s mistake.

But for buyers who take this route, life is simply too short to waste on the hassle of a problem car. And they’re not ones to complain. Just dump the problem car and buy a new one, quietly eat the cost, and move on.