Our 1998 Malibu has roughly 278,000 miles on it. Yes, that is correct. It has also had a long list of normal repairs and several repairs that should never have been needed (three transmissions, but we only paid for one. It's a good story, ask me and I'll tell you about it sometime). Today I took it in for an oil change, and lo and behold, the Mighty Malibu has a broken rear spring on the left side. I'm guessing it's from the massive amount of pot holes and giant crevasses that have plagued the area since the end of winter. Both my husband and I have come to the conclusion that we probably won't fix it again. It also needs brakes soon, has a leak in the head gasket and a leak in the steering pump. I travel with a box of every fluid that the car could possible need in the trunk. The AC has been broken since 2000, so summer commutes have been miserable. I think we have gotten our money's worth out of this car, and it is time to let it go into the light.
So, what kind of car to get? We absolutely need high gas mileage. I'd love to get a hybrid, but we do mostly highway driving so we wouldn't be able to take advantage of the electric half. I love our Matrix, but my husband doesn't, so we won't be getting another one of those. It gets 35mpg on the highway, and as I do the majority of the miles that car will probably become my car. We have had only one car for the first 16 years of our marriage, first a Cavalier that we sold to my sister when it had 252,000 miles on it (she drove it until it had 325,000 miles on it), and then after that, it was the Malibu until Nov. 2006 when we got the Matrix.
Anybody have any suggestions? We are thinking about a Hyundai Sonata, and also like the new Impalas. It must get above 30mpg minimum and have enough horsepower to let us merge onto the freeway easily.
We are still carpooling when we can, as we both work in Milwaukee, kind of in the same area. When class schedule allows, or if he isn't going to work late or have a meeting. I am still adapting to the whole two car thing, and I know that's the norm for almost everyone these days, but Scott and I have been "green" before it was fashionable. It also allowed us to save a considerable amount of money that wasn't spent on a second car payment, extra insurance, extra gas and extra wear and tear. But, now that I need to go straight to Sheboygan on Mondays and Wednesdays, we need two cars. And, once you have that luxury of two cars, it's really hard to go back to one. Especially when both people need the car at the same time in different directions. I'm also at the age where begging for rides from friends and coworkers all the time is somewhat embarrassing.
Blog for the week of March 31st.
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