Ladam8518, that’s a heck of a lot to have go wrong on a car in a week. I’d want to get rid of it too. (After I got done crying…)

My old car was 15 years old with only 90k miles on it. I had gotten it used 5 years ago for $2000 with only 10k miles on it and had to put $2k into it to replace all the rubber hoses. My parents actually paid for the car and the work as a college graduation gift. In the week before I traded it in, I blew two head gaskets and three starters. My transmission was also starting to slip very badly. Unfortunately it didn’t qualify for the CARS program (26 mpg rating, though when it worked I was getting 32 mpg).

I was content to keep repairing it, as long as it was under $4k per year, though in one month I topped that, and the transmission was going to have to be replaced before year end. My wife wanted it gone years ago. Unfortunately, we both work the same hours but both have a half hour commute… in opposite directions.

We had been looking at new cars, though small SUV’s for their carrying capacity (we do a lot of outdoor activities, have a dog to transport, and are trying for a kid). Ended up getting something much smaller (Toyota Yaris) and much cheaper ($14,000 as compared to $20+) instead.

My reason for a new car was reliability (to replace the headache of never knowing if my car was going to start and if so finish the trip every time I used it). My wife’s reason is she wanted a new car.

We ended up going with a new car because of the time frame. We were looking at cars of one type when mine died, and I preferred to replace it with a fuel efficient model. Looking at used cars for immediate purchase scares me because for the most part you are buying someone else’s problems. We could have paid cash for the car, but because of the holiday (and more the economy) we financed the car for 60 months at 0% APR and the cash in in a 60 month CD at 3.2% We can live with the monthly payments without touching our savings, and have a safety net in the CD if anything drastic happens.

I don”t give the reason “because I wanted one” because that isn’t the underlying reason. More correct would be “because I didn’t want my old one anymore”.

People are envious. Weird, too, but mostly envious. :P