Matt Barrow writes:

Around here, a two year old 172 goes for $105, wet.

So that's still only 1.5 hours for the cost of a pair of expensive sneakers.
The sneakers will last for months or years; once that 1.5 hours of flying time
is gone, there's nothing.

You know, I _think_ you just showed the attitude that may be behind the
dearth of new students.

It's a pretty reasonable attitude. It's not rational to throw money out the
window. Everyone wants value for his dollar.