Alright, I'll go first. I am sadly at the point where I need to attempt to trade in my vehicle or drive it into the ground. I have a 2002 Chevy S10 with about 150,000. I like to think it's in pretty good shape but that's a lot of miles. Advice on whether I should get rid of it, or ride it out for another couple years?

My parents have been looking for a vehicle that has an 'assist' handle along the side of the passenger door frame, instead of it being positioned at the top of the passenger door frame (as in all the vehicles we've looked at). My mom is 5' tall, and needs to grab hold of a handle along this lower (side) area, to assist her entering into a vehicle.

I just got 2007 XC90. How come the dashboard is constantly squeaking?
Unfortunately this did not catch my attention during test drive. I believe this is a common problem with every XC90, for sure early years. Is there anything to be done to eliminate that annoying squeak or this is a Volvo standard.

PS:
Car has not been in any accident, and there is nothing to suggest that a dashboard was ever removed.

I'm getting to a similar point as Caitlin—our family car is a reliable early '00s Jetta, but we can see a point coming where we'll need to replace it with something that's got a) great gas mileage, b) can fit into our neighborhood's tiny parking spaces, c) is still useful for IKEA errands and d) is really fun to drive. Looking at the car market, should we be ready to compromise on any of those four?

Q. How many honest used car salesmen does it take to change a lightbulb? A. Both of them! ;)

I have a 2003 Nissan Altima with 177K miles. I have a cracked windshield and the "check engine" light is on because of the lack of pressure in the gas tank. Yesterday, my passenger side rear door handle snapped off as I opened the door. My question: Should I 1. put more money into my car to fix the problems and sell the car myself; 2. sell the car myself without fixing the problems; or 3. trade in my car as is for a new/used car? Thanks for your time!

150,000 miles? 177,000 miles? If you have followed the routine maintenance schedule and stayed out of accidents, the is no reason a car designed and built in the '00s and later cannot go 200,000 or 250,000+ miles. Especially if it is a car you have owned and maintained over the bulk of that time (or even since new). Cars are designed and built much, much better now than in the '90s, '80s and certainly the '70s.

So it is not so much a matter of "Will my car make it?" Your car will (and there is a hot market for maintained, used cars - sell it yourself).

It is more matter of "Do I want/need/desire something different?" and "How much am I willing to spend to fulfill that desire or need?"

I have a 2000 Camry that seems like it's going to top out at about 190,000-200,000 miles. So, what can a 2012 model car expect to hit? Upward of 300,000? Will they be able to design cars that go 500,000 miles in the future?