Well, 2025 and beyond, as you know, has been about bad news in my family. On top of the three cancer diagnoses, my brother-in-law dying, and my DD's beloved 12-year-old pitbull having to be put down last month, it's not over yet:
My beloved 2007 Prius is on life support. The hybrid battery is dying. I would replace it, but apparently, my undercarriage is rusty and won't pass the next inspection. I can still drive it, but it will lose its ability to switch to electric and it will eventually lose power altogether. I'm sick about it. I always thought it would last me the rest of my driving life.
I'm wondering what to do next. My first thought was to buy a good used car--and I'd definitely look at 4WDs, after this winter, when my car was basically useless for several weeks with ice packing the road out of the neighborhood. But buying a car is seriously going to put a strain on my final retirement fund push.
I have always been against leasing a car for obvious reasons (more expensive in the long run vs driving a car into the ground like I did). But leasing might be a good idea for me, with its lower payments, and the fact that I drive very little these days (5k miles per year).
What say you, wise and frugal ones?

