We're buying a depreciating asset, I mean a car

When we set out on Xmas Eve to drive 100 miles to spend Christmas with family, we got about 2 miles from our house when our 14-year-old car started behaving strangely. The steering wheel was pulling rapidly from left to right, shaking violently, and generally acting like it was going to start making its own decisoins about which direction the car should go. After much fretting and tinkering, we ended up taking the car on the trip anyway without any serious mishaps, but we used our time on the road to talk about whether we should think about replacing our car.

The car has been pretty reliable in the 3.5 years since we bought it. Our mechanic is a master at keeping old cars alive without putting a lot of money into them. But we'd rather buy a car while this one is still running. The last time we bought a car, we didn't have a car at all, and it was difficult taking public transport all over the Philadelphia metro area with a tiny baby in the winter to test drive cars. Also, we had to buy one of the first cars we looked at because it was such a pain shopping for one.

In addition, my mother is moving to town in about a month and will need a car to drive for a while until she can afford to buy one. We have thought about giving her our current car to help with her transition. When I implied that this might be an option, though, she said, "well, I need something really reliable, though." I confess I was a little insulted. If she doesn't want a free car then I'll just sell it and pocket the money, thank you very much. And my car is perfectly reliable, if you don't mind having towed occasionally.

So, if you live within 50 miles of Philadelphia, and have a Japanese 4-door sedan that's 5-7 years old and gets really fabulous gas mileage, will you please sell it to me for just a hair under blue book value? Thanks. I really appreciate it.