I have always had three cars for my wife and I. It reduces the stress when one of them craps out and I need to get it fixed (with kids and no public transportation....you HAVE to have transportation). I have become pretty good at fixing my own cars because the shops will rip you off BUT new car depreciation will really kill you. Get all 3 cars running, even if you have to have a pro do it. Drive those three cars until they rust in half or they are 15 years old and something super major happens (engine catches fire or transmission fails completely) Then buy a 2 yr old car and keep it forever. I have always figured an amortization cost of about $1000 a year when trying to decide if a repair is worth it or not. So if fixing your Subaru for $1800 nets you 2 more years of use then by all means do it. BTW, youtube is full of videos that detail whatever fix you need to do on your car. Sometimes it feels overwhelming to rip into a car and fix it but after you do it (with the aid of the video) you realize "that wasnt bad". Recent example: I had never done AC work on a car and was tempted to pay a shop to fix the AC on my old Grand Prix but I watched a couple of videos and after spending $85 in parts off of EBAY I replaced my condensor and drier in a couple of hours. It was super easy. The shop wanted $1100! Other than our house, we have been debt free for 20 years and I attest it to the fact we havent been blowing cash on new cars. Buy and Hold....it works in a lot of things money related (women, real estate, stocks).