talk to me about cars

[fox]

It had to happen some time: my faithful car, the Jetta that I bought from datlowen almost a hundred thousand miles ago, is about ready to hang it up.

I took him in this morning for is 120K service (the last Major Service he had was at 40; 80 was just about when I got him back from my brother, and I didn't do the minor at 100, although I did do the interim -- or whatever it's called -- at 95), and asked them to fix the alignment while they were at it, and also, by the way, the washer fluid spritzer was held together with packing tape, and can you let me know what it would take to fix the slightly-skewed bumper.

The guy called me to say they'd done the service and put a clamp on the washer fluid hose so that wouldn't come apart anymore. But before going on, he wanted to talk about some other things:

• the car needs new strut mounts, he said, and there's no point in fixing the alignment without replacing these. importance of alignment, on a scale of 1 to 10: 3. importance of strut mounts: 9 to alignment, 6 overall. cost of strut mounts: $360 (P&L). cost of alignment: $200.
  
• the bumper can be fixed with new clips and brackets and blah blah blah. importance: 1. cost: $195.
  
• the front brakes are worn down to 5% remaining, which would absolutely fail a safety inspection, and rightly so, because it's not safe. importance: 10. cost: $570.
  
• the timing belt, which the manufacturer recommends replacing between 80,000 and 100,000 miles, has never been replaced. the car is now at 117K. the timing belt is worn, and if it fails, the engine will more or less self-destruct, is how I understand it. importance: 9. cost (including water pump): $1200.

So I ignored everything under 9 out of 10, and dithered for a while about the timing belt, and finally decided, you know, that's the one. That's the repair that's putting me over the edge. I called the guy back and said fix the brakes, because I'm not actually an idiot, but no timing belt please, I won't be keeping the car much longer.

I will be very sad about this when I pick him up at the dealership tomorrow, and even sadder when I finally trade him in, but we've had a good long run together, and I feel kind of peaceful about it. At the very least, it will be good to be giving up a car voluntarily, and not because it was totalled in an accident or because it fell out from behind me or similar.

So I'm thinking about what I'm going to drive next. I like the Prius, but doesn't everyone? The price there is not especially flexible, and who knows how long I'd have to wait for one. I also like the Mini, but likewise, one doesn't want to be a cliche. I've been seeing a lot of Scions around lately, and their website tells me I could buy a new xD for under $16K, which is you have no idea how appealing. Pending a test drive, that's the current front-runner.

But I'm entertaining other recommendations. Tell me about your cars, and what you like about them, and what you don't like, and what kind of gas mileage you get. No suggestion is too daft.