Within the first week or so of buying my car, I had to fly to Ohio for a friend’s wedding. I drove to the Harrisburg airport for my departing flight, gripping my steering wheel as if my life depended on it as tractor-trailers moved by me in a pouring rain.

I wanted that car to last for ever. Not just because it cost me a bunch of money, but because I really liked it. I planned on taking care of it and making sure that it lasted for a long, long time.

That was almost six and a half years ago. I found out last week that some of the problems which I just considered a minor annoyance of having an older car had turned into serious issues that force me to do something I really dread.

I have to get a new car.

Well, I don’t have to get a brand-new car, but I do need to get a replacement for my beloved Saturn. Since they have gone out of business, I lost the security blanket that made shopping for my current car so easy.

This is my second Saturn. I barely considered other manufacturers when I bought it. My previous car had treated me well, and Saturn had a new model coming out, one which ended up winning a bunch of awards. I believe I bought the first one in York County, not that the distinction means anything.

I don’t have that luxury any more. Before I even got the final diagnosis on my car, I started looking at other options. I needed to come to grips with the task ahead of me as soon as possible.

I hate that my car means this much to me. I wish I could walk or bicycle to work. I have had that option before and loved every minute of it. But my commute makes that impossible. I spend about 10 hours a week in my vehicle, making car buying slightly stressful.

I need something which will last, but I can’t spend too much because of how much I have to budget for gas. I want some sort of hybrid, but need to consider whether the gas savings justifies a higher sticker price. And don’t even get me started on how awesome an all-electric vehicle would be because they cost too much and don’t have the range needed for my commute.

So the hunt begins. I have already started to obsessively visit dealer websites and plan on making some Sunday visits to try and map out my strategy before getting asked a hundred questions. I need to get better educated on interest rates and blue book values, especially since I might buy a used car for myself for the first time in more than 20 years.

I wish I could spend that time waving a magic wand over my car or making some sort of sacrifice which would fix its problems and give me a few more years without a car payment. I’ll just have to remember the good times, like making it safely to the airport in the rain that day.