Our situations are similar CD. I'm just as well satisfied to drive an old beater and generally drive less than 3000 miles a year. The main thing is that it gets you from point A to point B without leaving you on the side of the road. It doesn't have to be fancy.
It's a little different when you're married. Around here ... a stand up guy will always make sure that his wife and kids are well provided for. The kids come first. The wife comes second. The husband comes last. It's an honorable thing. A fulla can take pride in himself if he's done well for his family. Where it comes to vehicles .... it's a car or truck that will pass a State of Maine annual inspection.
I was working in a repair garage a few years back. It was a real eye opener. A vehicle might look good and drive okay but it's entirely different story when you put em' up on the lift. The underneath is where you see them for what they really are. There's a lot of rust and corrosion damage here in the snow belt states where they sand & salt the roads in the winter. A repair job that might ordinarily take an hour can take a day because of all of the rust damage that had accumulated over the years.Sometimes it turns into a can of worms where you have to fix half a dozen other things before you can fix the thing you were originally setting out to repair.
For whatever it's worth .... i drove the Ford cars & trucks for over 20 years. The last one i had was a 94 F-150. Gotta say .... that was probably one of the most troublesome trucks i've ever owned. It was a couple of grand in parts and two or three weeks of my labor to keep it on the road every year. Seems like with the Fords i've owned .... 20 years on the road is about the limit. Mind you ... 20 years is really quite good. Fords are quality built trucks ... it's just that they don't last forever.
Around here ... most folks have gone to the Toyotas, Nissans, and Hondas. Every other vehicle is a Subaru Outback, Forrester, or Cross Track. Their all wheel drive system is unbelievably good in winter weather.
I hated to do it .... but i just put up a 2004 Honda Civic. It was one of the most trouble free vehicles i've ever owned but it was time to take it off the road. Too much rust damage underneath.
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