Rattle rattle, rrrrrrrrrr: that's the sound of my 2001 Volkswagen Golf accelerating these days. It's quite embarrassing. Apparently my catalytic converter needs replacing. I got a recall notice in the mail and am waiting for the dealership's service dept. to give me an appointment; they are notoriously busy, but after being on hold forever today, I found out that I can request a service appt. online! So I did. Smart.

Meanwhile, whenever I accelerate (up to about 40 mph), it sounds horrid. I'm embarrassed. It's not so bad if my windows are up and the music on, but in other conditions, I can really hear it. Don't hear it at all when my foot's not on the pedal or if I'm going fast.

My friendly full-service gas station guy, Dave, told me a couple of weeks ago it was just old-car noise. That was when the rattle was quieter. But I don't believe him. I'm quite sure it's a faulty catalytic converter. I listen to "CarTalk" on public radio; I'm a car expert (ha!). Anyway, the VW dealership has to diagnose and replace it for me for free, according to this recall letter.

I'm really not a car geek. I know very little about cars. I am getting myself organized to get a different vehicle this winter. Got the go-ahead from my financial advisor, who even recommended a place for me to start. There's an auto place that sells used but almost new vehicles for a really good price, and she trusts this place. The salespeople are not on commission.

Anyway, we do need a bigger vehicle than this puny Golf. As it stands now, Polly has the backseat of the VW to herself, and I use the trunk for storage. Anytime I have more than two teenagers to drive around, I'm in trouble. And we want a vehicle where Polly can have the far-back to herself and we won't always have white dog hair all over us. Even with various dog-hair barriers in place, it gets everywhere. Also I need something that handles better on snow and ice than the Golf. Even with four new tires last year, I didn't do so well on hills in a couple of the snowstorms.

A.J. is about to start driving (he turns 16 next month), so it has to be something he can handle too.

Believe it or not, this will be my first car purchase. My ex-husband always made the car decisions for us. Boy, that makes me sound like a 1950s wife, I know. Well, I'm learning.

I drove a Jeep while in Vermont this summer and really liked it. What do you think? We're in Minnesota, so we need a good winter vehicle, and we need plenty of space, incl. a dog area, as well as front and side airbags, and good safety ratings. A lot of dog-owners in Vermont drive Suzuki Outbacks. The dogs ride in the far back/hatchback part. Any car geeks care to weigh in here?