I have owned two cars in my life. The first, the biggest lemon ever to fall apart on the highway, I got when I graduated from high school. My dad “knew a guy,” and that guy knew my dad knew nothing about cars. Nice on the outside, but a mess under the hood. I dragged the pocketbook-guzzler through college, when I got my second and current car. That was 2004.

My current car gets good gas mileage and runs like a dream. I have 117,000 miles (most of which I put on myself) and 5 1⁄2 years on it. Even with its skinny tires and cracked windshield, it’s not that bad in the winter. OK, maybe just Michiana winter.

Both cars I have owned are Pontiacs. I don’t prefer them, it’s just what happened. Like the company says, they are “Driving excitement.” Wait, Pontiac doesn’t make cars anymore. So that makes mine an antique. Or not.

Everyone is telling me to get a new car. I could get one that’s better on snow, something that doesn’t make large people feel like they are riding in a clown car, a vehicle that isn’t past the 100,000-mile mark and climbing.

I honestly have no idea what to buy. Vehicles have changed a lot in 5 1⁄2 years. Back then, 30 miles per gallon was pretty darn good. People turned green when I told them how long I could go without filling up. Now, that’s nearly standard.

Foreign cars are trendy; domestic cars are fuddy-duddy and unsexy. Foreign cars “last longer,” everyone tells me. I’ve noticed the huge, lumbering Hummers are really popular here.

I’ve been told to look at Kia, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Ford, Audi. Buy a Kia Rio (“The power to surprise!”) – your payments will be nothing. Buy a Honda Civic (“The power of dreams!”) – you’ll drive it ’til you’re dead.

I know little about buying and maintaining cars. Mechanics see me coming from a mile away and whip out their checklists in anticipation. I  practically scream “I don’t know what I’m doing.” I’m not even good at faking my way around a dealership lot.

That said, I have decided to … drumroll … do nothing. Because doing nothing is easier than making a decision, you ask? No. Well, not in this case.

I’ve been mulling this over and over and around and around for about a year. Do I sell it before the transmission rolls over and dies in the middle of Interstate 94, or do I keep it and risk it?

I’m not a betting person, but I’ll wager that my car will not die in the next six months. I faithfully maintain my vehicle and I don’t drive like an idiot. I’ve never been in an accident (knock on wood…).

But really, the reason why is simple: I’m just going to save the money. I am completely debt-free, and I am grateful and very fortunate for that. Could I afford a car payment? Yes. I also have a wedding to plan for and will hopefully buy my first home sometime after that, ending eight years of writing monthly rent checks. Add two years to that if you count college dorms.

And in the spirit of recession-inspired frugality, I figure I might as well join the crowd. The grass might be shinier, faster and less casket-on-wheels-like on the other side, but I like taking risks.

Katie Johnson is managing editor of the Niles Daily Star, Edwardsburg Argus and Cassopolis Vigilant. She can be reached at (269) 687-7713 or at katie.johnson@leaderpub.com.