Thanks for the continued replies.

The Mazda was my wife's doing. Back in 2012 we needed a car badly and that's the one she wanted. I was going to take over driving our beat up old Cherokee and she would get the zoom zoom. Honestly, i didn't care one way or the other what we bought. I encouraged her to buy the car she wanted since she was going to be the one driving it, not me.

But me being who I am, I couldn't just get any old Mazda3. If found a "Speed" model for sale on CL that was almost brand new, owned by a cop. Hey look it's a MazdaSPEED3! Cool! So we go look at it and test drive it. I come back from the drive and I'm like "yeah"! She has trouble with the clutch though, even though she proclaimed she had many stick cars and was proficient at it. But, we agree to but it because it was in such good shape and I was happy with it and figured she would eventually get used to the clutch. Again, it was not my choice even remotely since I wanted an older station wagon or a truck but she said no way, "I want fuel efficient, 4 doors and safe", (none of which the Mazda speed is). But she knew I liked it so we close the deal. What can I say, I was looking out for me. I like to be inspired by what I drive, I hate econobox, 4 cylinder cars with an automatic, most boring thing ever.

So anyway, we get it home and she tries to drive it and just can't. She is roasting the clutch. It took a little getting used for me too but once I figured it out, it's like butter. But, she just can't do it. She's cursing me and in tears. So of course, I end up driving the thing and she keeps the Cherokee.

So two years ago, the Cherokee is on it's last legs and literally falling apart. We sell it for peanuts and she finally gets her car, an Outback. Almost the same damn thing as the Cherokee - a lifted station wagon.

The Mazda is staring to need work now at 75K - fuel pump, suspension etc. It's not cheap either, this car takes some specific parts and I don't like replacing with generic A.M. stuff. We have to start thinking about the future of the car now, like do we start sinking money into this thing to keep it in good shape or is it something we should consider selling before it's too late.

So we are talking about it the other day and she goes, "we should have just bought a truck instead of the Mazda". I'm looking at her in astonishment, like "WHAT?!!"

I'm actually not entirely sure if I even want a truck now though, I am so used to the little car. It's fun to drive, is quick and is maneuverable in tight spots. I am having a hard time imagining what parallel parking a crew cab would be like. I used to work on these things too so I know what they drive like. They are comfortable for sure but in all honestly, I'd rather have a '70s D series.

We'll see how this all plays out.