Originally Posted by
honeypig 
Congrats on the car, Lexie! It sounds really great. Happy driving!
I'm going thru a sad time w/my 17-year-old Saturn wagon. It was the first new-new car that I ever had. I've had it nearly as long as AH and I were married. It has a lot of memories--has carried 3 of our dogs on their last ride ever and countless bags of groceries over the years. It's the same car w/the magic radio that has played me such appropriate songs in the last several months--"Won't Get Fooled Again" on the day I filed for divorce, "I Won't Back Down" when I was seriously considering stopping the proceedings (altho I did end up legally separating rather than divorcing). It has been remarkably reliable and has never left me stranded anywhere. It has a manual transmission, crank windows, non-power locks and a key that I can get replaced for $1.29 at any hardware store. I love my Saturn.
But I fear it's near the end of its life--this week I need to take it to my mechanic for an assessment of whether the growing number of issues it has are worth fixing or whether this is the end. And that bums me out. A lot. For several different reasons.
But this thread helps me realize that there's another car out there for me, and maybe I can even learn to be happy with it, altho that seems so unlikely right now...
Gosh, Lexie, I'm not so sure this thread was OT at all, at least not for me!
I know what you mean--I've had cars I felt that way about. I loved my Sonata, but it didn't have a lot of emotional hold on me. And the last time I sold a car (on Craigslist), it was purchased by a young medical student who was moving out of state and needed a good, inexpensive, reliable car. it was perfect for him, so it could be that your car will still find a good home. Or, if its days really are numbered, you could consider donating it.
One of the great things about the Altima is that you get a lot of "bang" and "bling" for your buck. I paid about 5k less for this than I did for my Sonata 9 years ago, and this car has navigation, backup camera, blind spot detection, and a Bose stereo. And I got 0 percent financing for six years. Now isn't a bad time to be shopping, either, because the new models will be coming out soon and the dealers are trying to whittle down their inventory.