<p>So we did know that our college freshman Son’s 13 year old ford wagon wouldn’t last forever but we WERE hoping to get another year or two out of it.</p>
<p>But the rear wheel is hanging on by a thread and we are extremely relieved that S was only travelling 20mph and recognized those new vibrations were bad news.</p>
<p>Mmmmm, the classic question. Just how much money to pour into a rusted out shell of a car?
Tuition’s just paid and the roof is leaking again.</p>
<p>Time for us to locate another ‘newer’ used car! This family is quite good at it…</p>
<p>It will last forever (well, knock on wood, mine has been happily doing 30k miles a year with minimal maintenance) and it’s safe… and safe… and safe. Lots of cargo room, too.</p>
<p>Good advice. We’ve been driving Volvos for ages. Find someone who buys them new then sells after a few years. You can then usually drive them for another 10-12 years before anything major needs to be done. The downside is that when something breaks, it can be expensive. Fortunately that doesn’t happen all that often. The wagons are great for hauling stuff between home and college.</p>
<p>If you happen to be anywhere near Morris County in NJ, I can enthusiastically recommend a mechanic who specializes in Volvos.</p>
<p>To me, Volvo wagons are one of the few older cars that have a classic look. Great cars and, in my experience, driven by great people (with great dogs )</p>
<p>I’m an old car person, myself. I’m hard on cars…wash them once a year…get dings, plow them through deep snow…and like cars that can take abuse…and I HATE car payments. </p>
<p>I agree with BassDad & Aries. Musicmom, sounds like you worked that ford for all it was worth! Well done.</p>
<p>I hate car payments too. We finally dumped our 1992 minivan, but we kept it long past the expiration date, walking the line between dumping more money than it was worth into it, but not wanting to spring for something new or someone elses problems.
I agree volvos willl last forever, at least if they drive it the way my mom drives her 1988 sedan- but I don’t know if they would hold as well with a college student</p>
<p>We had our volvo station wagon for 14 years, and it broke down on us for good last month. And the expenses for the damaged parts were piling and piling until we just decided to trade it in for a Freesyler from Ford. It sorta looks like the volvo station wagon, but more modern.</p>
<p>Musicmom,
Our 1990 Mazda MPV finally died last November…after MANY revivals by my husband. We bought it just before the birth of D2. The flatbed came to toll it away…within 3 hours we had a 2001 Toyota Highlander! The MPV was the last new vehicle we’dpurchased. We sent an electronic photo of the Highlander to D1 who is away at college. Oh, by the way, we took our an equity loan for the write off.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for all the stories! Glad to hear we’re not alone!!</p>
<p>We usually buy one ‘good’ vehicle for H to drive long distances to his work…and I inherit it after 5-6 years and drive it into the ground on my lovely 2 mile commute to work. Then we repeat the cycle…it’s been working for 23 years now.
But, now, trying to stretch the plan to provide some VERY basic transportation for the 18 yr old is proving difficult.
This is the first time we’ll be starting out with a much older car since his budget is small…
I hear all the votes for Volvo and agree with them. We actually called our one set of friends who are Volvo folk through and through and asked whether one of their current two wagons are ready to be passed along. No such luck!</p>
<p>BassDad- we indeed live IN Morris County… would love to know your Volvo connection if you can share.
Thanks to you for commiserating!</p>
<p>um you drive to go 2 miles?
I am assuming it isn’t safe to walk or ride a bike?
That is actually really hard on a car because it doesn’t even have a chance to get warmed up. Be sure to take it out on the freeway frequently and let her rip!</p>
<p>My sister was driving a Volvo wagon when her DD was born in 1985- now DD is driving the same wagon. I’ve not heard any significant car trouble whining over the years!</p>
<p>EK-
My drive to kids school is about 2 mi each way…which takes 25 mins to drive roundtrip, but would take about 50 minutes to walk each way. There is no way I would walk to and from school (or work) for an hour each way, unless I was childless and had nowhere else to be - HA!!! Was that ever the case? I can’t even remember a life of such leisure.</p>
<p>momsdream-
Yeah, 2 miles in northern NJ traffic takes about same time as walking BUT I do need that car for the tooo many errands after work.
Sigh.</p>
<p>MusicMom - i just recently bought a 2002 mitsubishi mirage, and I love it… it’s a great little car… I’d reccomend any of their cars, and they seem to last forever… well, from what i’ve seen of others…</p>
<p>Thanks, fendergirl.
Glad you’re happy with your mirage.
Our son would be thrilled with ANYTHING made in 2002…he’ll probably end up with something much older ):</p>
<p>Well, fortunately, he’s easy to please on the the car issue.
A “point A to point B with all instruments and equipment” kind of kid, luckily for him and his budget.</p>
<p>Wow!!! Deja Vu. I had this conversation last year on CC and actually wound up getting a Matrix for my son at school in LA in part based on the recommendations from the group. </p>
<p>Good things:</p>
<p>Reasonably priced
Side air-bags available
Small but station-wagon like so there’s room for stuff
Fairly good looking.</p>
<p>Lots of people swore by (not at) Toyota products.</p>
<p>I was comforted that the recent side impact crashes rated Toyota at least fair . . . got a relatively new Corolla which I hope no one will ever put to the test! Matrix is a cool car!</p>
<p>FORD- Fix or repair daily
FORD- found on road dead
So we took our Ford Taurus wagon to the junkyard last week- It had 165,000 miles on it. Pretty good uh? Well we replaced the head gasket and the transmission at 50,000 miles. about $3,000 of work. Outside of that it held up for our son till he backed it into a telephone pole. So now we have a Mercury Marquis with 95,000 miles on it that my in-laws gave us- Never owned a Volvo all my firends swear by them then swear when they get the repair bills. Ford owns Volvo now- any correlation here? Seriously though we have found generally buying low mileage ,clean cars that are under warranty has paid off. Plus we don’t get thrashed on the typical depreciation that American autos experience. My mechanic said to buy a high mileage Toyota or Honda for our son as he rarely has to repair them…</p>
)</p>
We bought it just before the birth of D2. The flatbed came to toll it away…within 3 hours we had a 2001 Toyota Highlander! 
The MPV was the last new vehicle we’dpurchased. We sent an electronic photo of the Highlander to D1 who is away at college. Oh, by the way, we took our an equity loan for the write off.</p>