Unbelievable!

Vake's expression says it all.

When I bought my car in 2004, they were about to switch body styles. As a result, I got a fantastic deal on the car plus 0% financing. I love this car. I love that it feels heavy and safe when I drive it. I love that it has lots of trunk space. I love the cupholder that will hold a bottle of Diet Coke, not just a can.

My plan was to drive it for at least another hundred thousand miles.

Eric and I also just made the last payment on it. I'm not even sure if we've gotten the title for it yet. Eric was emailing with his brother last week and joked that now that it was completely ours, it was time to start looking for a new car because paying for it in full meant that something was DEFINITELY about to go wrong.

And it did. Yesterday. The "check engine" light came on and I took the car to the Firestone at Broad and Staples Mill. I've been really impressed by how honest the people who work there are. Once, when I took the car in to get the oil changed, they broke something and they called me to tell me what had happened. The manager there called us and said, and I quote, "Do you really want to know what's wrong with it?"

I did not want to know. I made Eric talk to the guy. The short version is that it needs a new transmission. The long version is it needs a new transmission plus the air conditioner has started to leak oil.

Aarrgh.

So, I think what we're going to do is take the car to a transmission shop and see what they can do for us. I had sort of thought that a station wagon would be the way to go but I'm not sure that either Eric or I is ready to commit that kind of money at this point.