Thanks everyone for your insights. Over the last 29 years, between DH & I, we've had 10 Fords. Every one has lasted 10+ years and the lowest mileage one we had when traded was 135,000. I think this 2002 Taurus is just a "dud" but I've had 3 other Taurus' since 1986 & had excellent records. I had a 1989 Ford Explorer that ran over 200K miles & 13 years. I sold it for $2,000 when I bought the current Taurus and some college kid is probably still delivering pizzas in it! And the love of my life was my 1983 red Thunderbird - DH and I traded it back and forth for 13 years, until our 2nd son was born and the back seat was way too small for 2 car seats. My mechanic gave me a good insight on the "gas guzzler" Crown Vic when I discussed with him what he would buy if he were looking for a used car and had less than $10K to spend. He said he'd go for a full size sedan becuase they still get around 20 mpg, and cost around &8 to $10K. If I kept the car for 6 years, and gas even went back to $4 a gallon, I'd still spend way less total than buying a small car for $14K or more. Plus with 3 unusually tall boys, a small car just won't fit us. He said his top pic for a used sedan would be a Nissan Maxima but it's just not big enough for us. I am very hard on cars - I only live 3 miles from work and most days drive 10 miles or less of 'stop at every corner' type driving. That's really hard on a car, so if my Fords have lasted 135,000 or miles or more, it's like double that in highway miles. I will most likely buy another Ford, mostly because of my good experience up to now, and also because Ford is in better financial condition and will be around to honor any warranty. I know intellectually that I should get rid of this car before it blows, but emotionally I'm just not sure I am ready to spend the $$ on a "new" car. Every time I say I'm going to look at cars, I come up with an excuse not to. I just took 2 weeks off work and had several days with no plans, but never managed to make it to look at cars. I live right in the city & near a major business corridor with 5 or 6 dealerships in a 5 mile stretch, but still can't seem to make it over there!

Well, a few months later and I thought I'd give an update. I may get some flack for our decisions, but they feel right to me. First, we decided to keep the Hyundai and get it fixed. Taking it to a couple of mechanics was on DPs to-do list (this never got done). Second, we had been working on some real estate tax problems and those were finally resolved. This resulted in enough cash for us to get started on the kitchen. Again, we already had most of the expensive stuff. A friend of DP is doing the work at a discount and DP is helping around work hours. I'm just complaining that the kitchen I've waited 2 years to get my hands on is finally being done without me ;) Soon after the kitchen decision, the fridge died, however we got a new one, great deal, at Sears Outlet. It has a couple of dents, but is bigger and much more efficient than the old one. And it works lol. One day DP took down the ceiling light in the kitchen. He reached up to the much larger than it should have been bundle of wires hanging from it and all of the cloth insulation crumbled off! Well. That answered that question. And why were there so many wires running through that fixture? Well, we no longer had any working ceiling lights on the first floor, and the outlets in our bedroom on the 2nd floor also stopped working. So, DP and 2 very handy friends replaced all that wiring. Since nothing was being added/removed/taken out it was safe. At the same time they split up all those things that were on 1 fuse into 4 fuses. DP has also bought a circuit box (?) load center (?) something like that and will be replacing the fuse boxes - again with experienced help. Because of the delay with the electric (3 electricians never showed up, must be plenty of work in Chicago) we (I mean they) had time to demo the plaster (not good enough to keep) instead of drywalling over it. Because we took it down we were able to insulate the exterior walls :) On to the AC. I find it extremely amusing that after saying Chicago only has a couple of miserable weeks a year, this has been an AWFUL summer already! Luckily we had decided to buy energy efficient window units. 1 on each floor keeps it just bearable. I still end up with cold showers some nights though. The whole pregnancy = higher body temp thing is apparently true. Last - back to the car. We got a great deal on a 2005 VW wagon. It's bigger, safer, etc. It's definitely a family car, not a "sport wagon" and I still haven't made my peace with that, but everything in due time ;) Baby could come anytime in the next 2 - 3 weeks, I'm due the 20th. The kitchen isn't done and the house is a disaster, but I'm not worried. My electric is safer, my car is big enough for the whole family, and I have enough AC to survive. We're stable financially and are both looking into additional income sources to be safe. As always, thanks to the great GWers for the rational advice!

Good luck on the test, Joyful, I'm sure you'll do fine. Accidents are a pain. Figuratively, and all too often literally. I'm going through my own vehicle woes. Several years ago I bought a van from a friend's son's estate. Since then I've put about $5,000 into it... (heavy sigh) Transmission & starter ($3k) and about $1500 in brakes several times and different parts and many same ones over and over. The brakes would drag and last summer finally got it cured (a brake line believe it or not). About a week ago the pedal was going to the floor. So I was hobbling home putting fluid in at several stops. Both wheel cylinders in the rear were bad and leaking and soaked the linings so my recent full brake job had to be done again to the tune of another $300. But then I think that I've gotten what 2 1/2 or 3 years out of it and so all things considered, it's not been as bad as it seems. The things that made me put the money into the transmission were: 1) It starts SO well in ANY weather, even sitting outside for days in sub-zero temps 2) It runs SO smooth 3) It drives great (when it goes!) Front end is tight, drives nice and straight down the road 4) Reasonable gas mileage and doesn't burn any oil 5) Quite comfortable and these days what's very important 6) Comfortable to get in and out of. Since getting busted up, that makes a big difference. It's got a few problems, a/c doesn't work and I won't spend $800 to fix it, the blower fan now only works on high, and the vacuum hoses must be leaking because it'll only work on defrost, gas gauge doesn't work, one of the speakers cuts out now and then... yeah a few other minor problems, but all of these I can live with. But I was kind of bummed out at the last expense. So I'm looking for a decent deal on something. I asked the owner of the shop if he knew anyone who had a good used vehicle for sale, preferably a mini van, SUV or a mini to mid sized pickup. Well he has a mini van that he might get from a customer. The oil light came on and they kept driving it and siezed the engine. He'd charge me nothing for the van, only what it would cost to put a rebuilt engine into it. It's a 2001, in very good shape from what I saw and I started thinking that a rebuilt engine, I'd have essentially a new engine, the biggest problem point could be the tranny, but would be worth thinking about. He said it'd run about $2700 for an engine. It's got many more bells & whistles on it than I have with mine. But I haven't heard from them whether they got it or not. Guess I need to call them or stop by and ask. I'm kind of leaning toward buying it and keep using the one I have until more problems develop. Then I'd have a spare and since I have to drive for an income, I need reliable transportation. I was even kicking around whether I could turn around and sell it for a little profit. The book value looked like it has some room. But that wouldn't make a lot of sense I guess. Argh! For me, a vehicle isn't a status symbol. It's to get me and my junk from point A to point B and back again, reliably and safely. So if anyone knows of a good used vehicle at a reasonable price, let me know. I was kicking around the idea of a new vehicle, with the Kia Sportage going for less than $12k... But there's extra costs in a new rig too. My head is spinning! Keep us posted OJ. Oh, btw, on the popup windows you're getting and especially on an older machine, if you use a browser like Opera or K-meleon, they have a built in popup stopper and both of them use far less resources than does Internet Explorer. Easier on your system, faster and stops the popups in their tracks!

I also feel if I buy new it needs to last 10-15 years to be worthwhile. With even less than reasonable care, this is not impossible. Everyone has preferences on new vs. used, but the frugal in me says a vehicle is to get me from point A to point B reasonably dependably. My last vehicle lasted over 15 years and cost to repair would be unreasonably high though I would have put some money into it had I not been able to find a low cost vehicle to last a while. There are the "thrifties" out there that are known as "beaters" and "winter beaters" that will get you around. I bought a mini-van from an estate for $500. It was 10 years old and had about 140,000 miles on it. Ran like new. Not well maintained but ran like new, good tires, and though the body had its share of dings and scratches it wasn't rusted out. For a backup vehicle it would be fine. Turned out I bought it at the right time since the pickup gave up the ghost. I've put on 20,000 miles plus (at least) and it's going strong. I just had to put $1000 into it but the mechanic said it's solid and worth putting the money into it. 24 mpg now, comfortable and reliable. Sat outside over the winter and starts right away, even at -30F. Granted, the heater in a van is a joke, but that's not the vehicle's fault, it's the designer's. A friend of mine offered to sell me one of their company vehicles. A Lexus SUV with a book value of $22,000, for what they owed on it, about $16,000. But that had 90,000 miles on it and I said for my vehicle purchases, it's off by a decimal point! Since I can buy a new Mercury Marquis for the same money, I'd prefer that to the used Lex. I don't need a status symbol. If someone doesn't drive much, it's really worth looking at going the beater route if they don't have an ego. Carry a cell phone for about $5/mo instead of a car club and you can call for help if you break down. I personally feel people should have one in case of someone trying a bump-n-rob, or something anyway. And if the older folks get a flat tire, accident (deer or otherwise) or something it's worth having. Nuff on that. Since I have to drive for work, I need a vehicle. Our society has done everything it can to make public transportation impractical for far too many.