Car trouble

Today was a typical wednesday. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about. I had to take Tony to work at 5 this morning and my durango started making this sound like a flat tire, a thump thump thump sound. I knew i wasnt hearing things in my half awake/asleep state cuz Tony heard it too. So i got off the interstate and he checked everything out. Vinnie had said a few days ago that the idler (sp??) cable was wearing out and needed to be replaced, so i just had visions of that snapping and taking out half of my engine as i'm going 75 mph down the interstate. But it was still intact, so i got back on the freeway, dropped Tony off, and headed home for 1 more hour of sleep.
When i was leaving for work I told Vinnie about it and he said he'd call our mechanic, Travis. So about 10 am he swung by the office to pick up the durango and take it to the shop. Only thing was it took them til 3pm to get the part in, so Vinnie had to drive around in my car all day. Wouldnt have minded except it eats gas like there's no tomorrow. I cant wait til i can get a new car. I guess Vinnie talked to his friend Joe (i swear he knows like 15 joes) who works at the car lot and he ran my numbers and i owe like 2 grand less than i thought i did, which is cool. So hopefully tomorrow we can go by the lot and see if there is something more economical. I am going thur about $100 a week in gas right now, and that's just going back and forth to work, lunch every day, and out with Emily once a week. That's just nuts. Almost makes me want to just ride a bike to work. My thighs and butt might thank me for that....