Cars (Not the Movie)

I love to drive. I always have. However, it is time to replace both of our cars. Alice's car is 13 years old and mine is 9. We both have about 160,000 on our vehicles. This last year we have spent quite a bit in repairs and there is quite a bit left to fix. We have been renting cars to travel and now my inlaws live 2 hours away in the mountains. I'm not too confident in taking our cars. Two weeks ago I couldn't get out of my car. The seat belt was stuck and when I finally got out it wouldn't go back in. This led to some interesting events at the garage (why is it that all car repair shops treat their customers like idiots and then charge outrageous prices to do repairs).
I am definately not an expert on cars, but I knew that I needed a new seatbelt receptacle (there were pieces rattling around inside of it). I called the garage and they said I needed to come in and pay for the part before they would order it. When I got there I had to wait 30 minutes for a technician to look at the car and tell me "the seat belt receptacle is broken and needs to be replaced". Really!?!?! Wow...what a sharp guy. Anyway, $175 and a few days later my seat belt was fixed. Good thing too because 2 days after I got it fixed I hit a deer. This time $2,300 in damage. I only have to spend $500 because insurance pays the rest. Like I said, I love to drive, but man this car stuff is really getting to be too much.