Way back in 2001, I bought my very first new car. It was a little Mazda Protege with a five-speed manual transmission. I loved that car and had every intention of driving it until the wheels fell off. Unfortunately, after driving it for eleven years, someone driving a pickup truck pulled out in front of me and the car was totaled. Despite the other driver admitting complete fault, I spent roughly two weeks without a car while the insurance company …