I forgot to mention; my truck was in the shop last week.

My 1987 Nissan Pickup with over 200,000 miles is still running strong, but it has its quirks, particularly in the electric department. For example, the dome light doesn't work, the stereo won't work unless the headlights are on, etc. Anyway, I had to stop on a dime last week and shook some wire loose somewhere, because I lost power to my dashboard. Fortunately, the engine kept running, so I drove carefully home. I turned off the engine, and, to my surprise, it started up again, but I had no accessories, no headlights, no brake lights. The generous fellow that I carpool with helped me coordinate getting the truck to and from the shop as well as myself to and from work for a couple of days.

The damage was less than $100, amazingly enough – some after-market circuit breaker had failed (or something like that – I don't pay as much attention to the mechanic as I should), so he just took it out and rerouted the power. Everything works as well as it did; unfortunately, it works no better, because I still can't listen to the radio without the headlights on. But, the bill was less than the value of the truck (by a few hundred bucks), so I'm happy. The cheapest car you'll ever own is the one you're driving right now. :-)