Wow, the angels pulled a fast one!!
I've been thinking about getting a new(er) car for sometime. Well, this week, while the angels were here, a friend gave me the name & number of a friend who works at a car dealership. I called them on Thursday morning, got a call back at noon from one of his sales reps, then set up a meeting at 3 on Friday to look at a car. Now, my credit is pretty well shot. The car I had was literally on its last legs. I had no money to put down or pay TT&L. I had no idea what car I was going to be shown, other than it was a Honda (since it was a Honda dealership.) I went to this meeting, expecting just to drive a couple of cars, then limp home in my old car. Hahahahaha
I drove off in the new(er) car! Maybe a few more miles on it than I'd like, but wouldn't you know the price was right, they were able to get me financing, AND they gave me way more than I thought my older car was worth in trade!! Bonus points: when they ran the VIN, it turns out the car was "certified," so I was able to buy into the original warranty, bumper to bumper, the remaining 4 years of the 7 years or 100K miles, NO DEDUCTIBLE!!
Of course, since it's now Merc Retro, there was a lot of "hurry up & wait" stuff, but OMG, I now have a car I can drive & not worry about it dying on me. Considering where I was 6 months ago, I am completely flattened at how much my life has changed since I had the angels first visit. 
Thanks to the angels & a couple of posters here who have been generous, I was able to make it through this really rough patch. I wish I could pay forward the favor someone gave me by buying me a star, but I am paying forward the rest each time I go to the grocery store (you can have the checker add $5 to your bill & it goes to the food bank or whatever charity they're sponsoring that month). Thanks for all the support. It really has changed my life!!
= new reply since forum marked as read
thank you for the update and congrats on your spiffy new wheels 
awesome!
