If you were to log in, you'd be able to get more information on your fellow community member.
My previous car was a 1996 Mercury Sable GS wagon, which I bought used. Head gasket blew at about 45,000 miles, which cost about $1,500 to repair. A few months later, a freeze plug popped. This $6 part cost $1,000 to replace because the replacement required dropping the engine and transmission. The very kind independent mechanic who worked on both problems told me, "I've seen a lot of these Sables and Tauruses come through here, and once they get a problem in the cooling system, the problem never seems to go away. My advice is that as soon as I fix it this time, you go trade it in." I did, on a 1998 Toyota Sienna.
Big-garage-out-front has pretty much been the defacto standard for new-home construction here in the Midwest for many years. The garage door has become the family's new entry portal -- they drive into the garage and enter the house via a door inside the garage. Most of these neighborhoods don't have the real trappings of neighborhoods -- sidewalks for people to walk on, front porches for people to sit on, etc.