Personally I think this is a really interesting discussion. I am an engineer at Honda R&D near Columbus, OH. At my location, there are over a thousand white collar workers, mostly technical. Within a hundred mile radius of me, there are a 4 Honda assembly plants, employing around 10,000 people. At other sites in the US and Canada, there are probably another 15,000 workers. Each of these plants is turning out thousands of new Hondas per day. Nearly every Honda/Acura sold in the US (by volume) is made in the US. The engines, transmissions, every major component. Furthermore, Honda actually *exports* cars from the US, something that the Big 3 can barely talk about. Sure, there are niche cars like the S2000 roadster that are 100% Japanese, but that is a tiny part of our market. I think these are pretty impressive numbers, especially if you consider that Honda is only something like the 7th largest market share in the US. Its been here since 1979, I'd wager that in those 27 years Honda has contributed significantly to Americans and their way of life. There are a lot of secure $25/hr plus full benefits jobs available in Ohio because of Honda. The US auto industry lost their way in the oil crises. They haven't been able to turn it around since then. They concentrate too much on short-sighted markets like giant fuel-guzzling SUVs. Its not that the Big 3 makes bad cars, its that they make cars that aren't in demand. Compare a Focus to a Civic. A Taurus to an Accord. Sure, those Fords might last 200k miles, but I'd much rather spend that time in a nice Accord than a hard plastic Taurus. I would rather support the thousands of American workers who build Hondas than support a few suits in Detroit and drive a Mexican Dodge. That said, my garage: 1980 Lawn Boy 7229 1996 Stihl trimmer 1997 Honda Accord (shocking, right?) 2002 Triumph Speed Triple (mc) 1976 Honda CB400F (mc) 1976 Suzuki GT550 2-stroke (mc) 1948 Johnson Sea Horse (outboard) 1949 Evinrude Zephyr (outboard)

No great words of wisdom for you, but a couple of thoughts. For my older boys we bought the older one a subaru wrx and middle one a used saab 9-3. While they both have been amazingly trouble free, when they do need work the things that are wrong need to go the dealer and it's been expensive. In particular with the Saab - they don't sell them anymore so parts are pricey and hard to come by - some impossible. That said, son #3 now has his temps and I've decided he can only buy American or Honda or Toyota. Looking at a several year old Ford Escape with AWD - not real sexy, but safe and functional. I personally love a new car, and have leased my last two vehicles. I drive them three years and take them back! My DH is a drive to the ground guy, actually takes pride in how many miles he can get out of a car. I believe BMW includes all the maintenance on their cars so you have to factor in those fees you'll also have to pay on a different car that probably will need some work. I'd keep the BMW, cancel the collision insurance on the Jeep since it's so old, and buy the girls a decent enough car that it will last at least 6 years. I think the 2010+ Fords are all good quality, and reasonably priced. I like the Ford Fusion. I also am a huge fan of Honda Accords and Civics. You should be able to find a fairly decent one for under $10,000. Goodluck, teen drivers are not for the faint of heart.

Let's see if I can explain in the limited time I have; if I don't finish, I'll come back later or tomorrow. Have hubby's last chemo & radiation today. In my office I have a dual boot Windows machine - running XP (pro I think) and Vista. I also have the Mac. I have not tried to put Windows of any flavor on the Mac; it was on my list of things to do. I was going to buy the program verses what's on the Mac. My pain management Dr did it; he had some issues with drivers. Not sure if he did XP or Vista. The Mac worked fine at 1st. I was able to Network; I was able to access the Windows machine both sides. When on the Windows PC; I was able to access the Mac from both. I'm not sure what changed and when but eventually I wasn't able to access either puter - I made user accounts on Windows (both sides) and now am able to access Windows (both sides) from the Mac. The problem is accessing the Mac from Windows. Granted, it very well may be me; because I haven't been as "heavy" into building & using the computer since we moved. The most I do is work with pictures; for that I use Windows because the Mac photo program confuses me. I like Windows much better all the way around because of ease of use; software works & I can do things without reading a manual. With the Mac, I feel so stupid some days. I haven't installed anything except firefox.. forgot how. lol It's so simple too from what I remember but I have to get the dummy book to do it again. lol One thing that will not work on the Mac is my Microsoft Works. All of my medical databases are made with works. I looked for a Mac plug in (reader) but they don't have one. I also don't want to have to replace my full Office suite.

Four cars in my family and four drivers. My Toyota Corolla, DH Honda Civic, DD20 Mitsubishi Gallant, and DD19 Ford Explorer SUV. We generally have three to drive and one in the shop for repairs-this week it's the Mitsubishi's turn. Handy having an SUV. For Mother's Day I bought two Adirondack lawn chairs. Borrowed the SUV to get them home. Also used it to haul bags of manure for my garden. Don't tell, she'll freak if she knew cow poo was in her SUV.