I currently drive a 99 Oldsmobile Intrigue with approximately 270,000 miles on it. My wife bought this car and put around 100,000 miles on it, and both her and the previous owner put mostly highway mileage on it. It's currently my daily commuter (not very mustachian, I know...I'm working on the biking situation soon. But for now I work very close to home and just recently had my first child, who I really enjoy going home to see over lunch...)
In any case, I really want to be able to drive through this winter and then look at biking to work in the spring. So last Wednesday the car died on my on the way home, and I knew it was either the alternator, starter, or the battery. So I pulled the battery and took it to AutoZone, they tested it as being bad, and I bought a new one and installed it. I thought this had fixed it until on my commute this morning, I noticed the battery light on the dash. So, it must be the alternator.
I just called my mechanic who I trust, and he said to replace the alternator would cost between $315-$590. On top of this, the car needs new winter tires, which should run around $450-$500. On the year, that makes the repairs for this car total around $1,700 at the high end. A quick check of Kelley Blue Book shows the car to be worth about that - $1,700.
I guess after typing this out it sure looks like I just need to bite the bullet, sell the car, and start biking to work. Any thoughts from Mustachians?