Last weekend, Sarah and I took the car to get its oil changed, and the technician said that it was leaking transmission fluid. I wasn't terribly alarmed. After all, we drive a Corolla, the Supreme Emperor of Reliability. At 113,000 miles, I was counting on 5-10 more years of smooth sailing. I was so un-alarmed that I almost didn't even bother to see how much fluid we'd lost. Almost.

Over the next 24 hours, I came to the conclusion that the technician was quite mistaken. We weren't "leaking" fluid, we were "hemorrhaging" fluid. See the difference? As it turns out, the cost for repairs would likely exceed the value of the car (see "totaled"); thus, the Corolla appears to be headed for early retirement with a whimper. And by "headed for early retirement," I mean, "headed for dismemberment."

Unfortunately, this leaves us in a lurch. We'll have to buy another car, but those with good fuel economy and reliability (see "foreign make and model") aren't exactly easy to come by right now (due to the stagnant economy, rising fuel costs, ). Not to mention, this is Michigan (see "Home of the Gas-Guzzling Crap Heap"--no offense intended for local auto workers...).

So, we're faced with a no-win situation: do we buy a (used/cheap) gas-guzzling crap heap that will cost us an additional $1,500-$2,500 per year in fuel costs alone, or do we spend the vast majority of our savings on a nice and/or new car (with the money that I earmarked for paying off my student loans or putting down a small payment on a house)?

I considered a third option, but Sarah's 50-mile (one way) commute would probably seem a lot longer if she had to walk.