Hey Brewski,
My Artesian had a leak for a while as well so maybe it's an Artesian thing ... LOL!!
Seriously, I recommend repairing it if you have the time. I think I left my tub go too long and it sucked too much air and now one of my pumps is making a lot of noise (of course it could be that just the pump is going). I wouldn't buy a new one if you plan on moving.
Do you see water around the tub? My tub is on a deck so I definitely noticed water on one side so I had a big clue! The water level would drain to a certain level and stop so I knew about where to look as far as height. What I did was stick my fingers into the foam to locate the area that was wet, moved left and right and felt either dry or wet and moved up from that spot. Wasn't too hard to locate and I used epoxy putty to do the repair. For me it was a joint for an air control must have unglued/cracked and the epoxy putty worked great. And it only cost me a few hours on a weekend and $4.00.
About that car analogy, IMO if you put $1000 a year (not including regular maintenance) into car repairs it sure is cheaper then a car loan. But once it gets to the point that anything major happens or too many repairs are happening then it's time for another car. I feel the same about a tub ... if you put $500 in parts (assuming you can repair things yourself) and it gets you through then it's better then buying another tub for $10K. You may be lucky and the repair will cost you less than $100 (remember mine cast $4) and your tub is good to go!