Saturday morning, 5:30am. It's the first day of archery buck season in Pennsylvania and I am headed out to my favorite spot. Driving along at about 35, when out of nowhere... Wham! I never even had a chance to move my foot to the brakes.

Pull over and check the damage, it's bad. I turn on the headlamp that is already on my head and see the deer in the field nearby, leg totally in half. I turn off my light and hope he does not go far.
Go back to the 4Runner and now it doesn't look so bad. "I can fix this" I am thinking.

Neighbor pulls up in her car to see if I'm OK, and then goes back to her house. I dig out a knife and go back to the deer, that is now down in the field and find him dead. I tagged it, gutted it and had it home before first light. Not really the way I envisioned getting my first buck.

Insurance guy was out today and totaled it.
I have deer in the freezer, and soon will have a check to go looking for a 4Runner in better shape than mine. I'm happy, blessed really. But still, driving her home tonight, was just a bit melancholy.

Sucks, but can be a blessing sometimes.

I have an '01 VW Jetta as a daily driver (big enough fuel economy increase that it pays for itself to have), and I just got in an accident with it about 2 weeks ago. It only needs a bumper, hood and grille, but due to the high mileage and age, it's probably getting totaled.

Good luck on your search for a new ride! Go 1st gen/4Cyl IMO.