Our car passed 150,000 miles this year—and suddenly became very expensive. First the brakes needed to be replaced, then the catalytic converter, then the tires. But after doing all this work, we’ve noticed a marked increase in fuel efficiency. In January, our car was only getting 40 mpg (or below!), which is the worst it’s ever performed. Now it’s back up to 45 mpg, and I think that’ll rise even more when it finally stops raining…