Hmm! 2005 and the guys in the shop said it's time to get rid of it? I bought a new 2005 Ford Ranger 4x2 2.4 liter 5 speed stick. Zero defect, zero repairs. The only problem is that a couple of times a year the radio loses it's memory. It takes me five or ten minutes to reprogram. No big deal. It cost $12K drive away with AC and a bed liner. It gets a solid 20MPG summer and winter and a solid 22MPG fall and spring (when you aren't dealing with cold or AC). I lack Tracy's "conspicuous consumption" wealth so the good mileage is helpful. My gasoline cost is low but I like to drive without thinking about the fuel costs too much.
The first thing to consider is that if you plan to keep a new vehicle is to figure that at over five year ownership the cost of unleaded regular will average at least $4 per gallon. If high when you go to trade it will affect resale negatively and good gas mileage doesn't seem to harm resale even when gas is cheap because the used vehicle buyer. Used car buyers tend to have less money and nowadays you can buy a calculator at a dollar store. Used car buyers have always liked "gas sippers". over "gas guzzlers". Again, figure $4 per gallon gas.
There is a huge glut of new "gas guzzler" vehicles out there compared to demand. When car sale people see a "conspicuous consumption" person like Traci walk in I can imagine them thinking "Thanksgiving is coming early this year." When everyone is struggling with high fuel prices potential clients will see "gas guzzlers" as waste, not affluence.
As for the Japanese Vehicles during last winters bad cold snap I noticed that most of the vehicles with mechanical problems were "rice burners" five years or older. Japanese has a temperate climate and they export most cars after three years. mostly to warmer or coastal climates so I wonder if their engineers really understand the cold.