We finally broke down and got a new car after nine years (still keeping the other one though). Living in the country we finally decided we needed two cars. We miss being able to walk most places we want to go (work, groceries, movies, friends houses), but living here obviously has other advantages.
I'm so not a car person that it is really not something I like to put time and money into. That said, I have to admit that it's a nice car by my standards and Theresa is really happy that she won't have to chain up to get to work all the time. This could be a long story, but I think I can boil it down to this. Do not go to the Jeep dealer in Walnut Creek. Definitely go to Diablo Subaru if you are thinking of a Subaru. The folks at Stockton Honda were also real nice.