Update:
I think hubby has decided to buy another Ford Expedition, also a 2002 (I posted 2001, but whatevs), with fewer miles. He found one last night for $4000. And he is going to keep the totaled one for parts - it has a brand new battery for one.
This is a little hiccup in our journey, but we've had worse. When we were trying to get out of debt a few years back, we had several: two large unexpected medical expenses, owing the tax man several thousand bucks more than we had accounted for, debts hubby forgot about arriving in the mail, etc...
Hubby even said to me yesterday, "Oh well. All 4 tires on the Expy needed replacing anyway!"
Also, the front fender was dented from a crash, and the rear door arm (the thingie that holds it up) was broken, so hubby had to use a piece of wood to hold it open, and at least one of the kids was constantly nagging him to get that fixed, worried it would decapitate someone someday.
Looking on the bright side... :-)