Sure doesn’t sound like much of a reason to hate the Sable though. The one we had for so many years had the 3.0 and I thought it was a pretty quiet engine.
I will say this. There is absolutely no one on Earth, and I mean no one, I hate discussing car purchases, repairs, maintenance, or anything else with than my wife.
So after I’ve turned wrenches for 40 years my wife, who still can’t differentiate a headlamp bulb from a torque converter, will still try to second-guess me on everything. 
It’s great, however, when a woman likes the car she drives. My wife keeps the 4Runner in immaculate condition, It’s a 2003 and looks like it just came off the showroom floor. When it needed tires, she went with me and we bought the top of the line Michelin. On the other hand, my 2006 Uplander usually looks like it’s been through 3 wars. I was pressed for time and purchased a couple off brand tires when I needed to make an unscheduled trip out of town. I tend to purchase the bottom of the line vehicles for myself–if the Studebaker Scotsman was still made, that is what I would own.
It’s great to ride in a nice car as long as it belongs to someone else and if nobody wants to ride with me in my strippo vehicles, that’s o.k. I enjoy the peace and quiet.
Wow, I’m not blaming him for the car problems, I just am a little more practical in the kind of vehicle I choose and the purpose it will be used for long term. Iowa winters can be brutal and commuting will always be in my future. For that reason the car did not seem practical in the first place, but because I trust my husbands vehicle knowledge more than my own, I went with it. But now, I will choose a vehicle based on its’ practicality for me long term. Really I thank you all for your comments, but I would rather not waste anymore energy thinking about this car. Now, I need advice on what to choose next. I have always grown up around Jeeps, and I had a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee V6 with Selectrac that I absolutely LOVED and traded for this Stratus. I miss the Jeep! I think I might look into another Jeep or investigate more AWD or 4X4 vehicles.
I don’t know a whole lot about cars but I have spent a lot of time holding flashlights and grabbing tools for my husband while he worked on his race cars til all hours of the night/morning! I have picked up a few things I guess!
I don’t doubt it, it seems like you can’t trust anything anymore! I was just curious how someone learns this vast array of car information. It seems as if everyone speaks like they have a degree in it and it is amazing! I really wish I had more of a mechanical intelligence because knowing this kind of information could save me a lot of money and time!
Well, you must be a patient and understanding woman if you have a husband into race cars; a.k.a. money pits!
You might consider a Jeep Liberty. A friend of my oldest son has had one for about 3 years or so and loves it.
Our local rural mail carrier bought a Jeep Liberty about 2-3 or so years ago to replace his Tacoma which he said had become a money pit and was starting to develop a bad rust situation.
He said the Jeep has been bulletproof so far and that’s saying a lot because his route involves a lot of stops, about 2/3 of which is on dirt and gravel roads, and it also involves a lot of slogging through the mud and muck at times.
Anyone who relies on CarFax to inform them of the maintenance record or any problems in a car’s history is likely to be very …
Well woth repeating. There is no obligation for anyone to report problems with CarFax.
Yay, we are trying to sell the race car right now for that reason, money pit! But he works hard for his money so if that’s what he wanted to do for a hobby who am I to say no?
As far as a Liberty, I have looked into them, but my thing is, I am going to be getting a teaching job hopefully within the next couple years and most likely will need to commute, so I have been looking into fuel mileage as a factor. The Grand Cherokee’s and Liberty’s get the same gas mileage give or take 1 mpg, so I figured I might as well opt for the extra space of the full size instead of the smaller Liberty. I’ve heard good and bad reviews on Liberty’s. It seems like Grand Cherokee’s never stay on lots very long and they are hard to come by, is that because people drive them “til’ their wheels fall off”?
My husband left the computer on again and I think he was going to give you some car buying advice. Well, I beat him to the punch. I picked out the car that I drive. It is a 2003 Toyota 4Runner that I purchased new six years ago. The gasoline mileage runs between fifteen and seventeen miles per gallon around town and on long trips it runs between 22 and 24 miles per gallon. The 4Runner is perfect for me. Had my husband picked out my vehicle, I would probably be driving a stripped down Dodge Neon. If you want a Jeep product, buy a Jeep.
Mrs. Triedaq