Yeah - one evening we were having dinner at a little diner down the road. Seated next to me at the counter was a nicely dressed gentleman who asked me if I would read the menu to him, as he was blind. Obviously, I did, and helped him through his dinner as needed. He started complaining when the waitress was slow in bringing him his food - he had to be sure and leave before the sun went down because he had a hard time driving in the dark....... Guess if we want to be safe, our defensive driving skills need to always be extra sharp!

Hi Robo, funny you should resurrect this thread. We were pretty set on getting a Volvo crossover (DS didn't like the Subaru and we were fine with that since it didn't have any real advantage over the Volvo to us), and planning to look in earnest when they got back from their travels. We were out to lunch the day before they left, and DH mentioned a dealer friend he golfs with. I told him that I had checked his sites regularly and the only used SUVs they had were always late model and way more than what we wanted to spend. But I looked again anyway, and there it was. A 2004 BMW X3, over 100k miles. Not what we were planning on, but this dealer is a friend and we already have bought used BMWs from him and trust him. We called from the lunch table, then hurried over, and bought it. There were two other teenage boys in the waiting room with their Dads wanting to look at the same car. All of the other used SUVs they had were only 2-3 yrs old and multiples of the price. Anyway, yes, service is a killer on luxury cars, esp ones far past their prime. The cars we drive are usually still under warranty, but I had an old Benz once and we gave it to my stepson, who drove it 225k miles before selling it. You have to have the cash for the repairs, but actually it was a good deal all in. Hopefully the BMW will be the same. I am actually glad the car is so old and it even has a few dings; I don't want to spoil him. DS, OTOH, is tickled pink to have an X3. Safety wise, it has side airbags as well as front, and a low center of gravity, eg crossover SUV. Having now spent half of what we planned on, I told DS the first 7k of repairs are on us, LOL. In actuality I don't expect him to fully cover the costs of owning and insuring a vehicle; as long as he is a good student and is working at a job too, he is doing what we need him to do. The purpose of the job is to make sure they don't lose sight of the value of a dollar, but with all of the academic, extracurricular and volunteer demands on his time, (not to mention all the travel we do), he can't realistically earn terribly much. Good news is the dealer will give him a job (washing cars). ETA: Good luck to all the new drivers out there!

When my mother was 86, she'd had an illness where her doctor had asked her not to drive 'temporarily'. When she was well, he told me the HMO lawyers wouldn't let him give permission for her to drive again even though he felt she could. I can be her worst critic, but also her biggest defender and arranged for her to be evaluated (cognitively and driving skills - the evaluator went out with her behind the wheel and rode with her, much like an initial drivers license test). He said she would have his blessing to drive if she would take two brush up classes for driving. Brush up ;0) She'd never had a lesson or test, she'd bought her license at the corner drugstore in Kansas for something like 50 cents. i.e. She didn't know, had never heard, two hands on the wheel and drove left handed for her evaluation. But - she took the required two classes at her own expense, passed with the instructors recommendation and resumed driving. In her city of about 38,000 and not on the freeway. Two years later she sold her home, car, moved to independent living in a city of more than 600,000 and its traffic where she didn't have the confidence to drive. That time it was her idea, and worked out fine - we didn't have to have the 'time to give me your keys talk'.

So looked up some info on the real I.D.,, which I had forgotten about completely. It's available in Frankfort and they have limited walk ins. I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask if there are limits to walk ins. When I walked in here they asked me when my license expired and when I told them that's when they told me to call and make an appointment. They may have done it if it was way overdue? Thanks for all the responses.