Sometimes I feel like this is how my car looks...or at least runs sometimes

I got my car back last week after a minor $780 repair. It seemed to run great for about a day. Then it would not start every now and then. The best part is when it did not start when I was trying to drive the boys back from the pool. Luckily our neighbor was able to come get us because Jaime's van battery died earlier that same day and that was still stranded at the park. So our neighbor dropped off the boys and then took me to get Jaime's van. Later that night our friend took me back to my car which started and then I dropped it off at the shop. I then went to Walmart and bought a battery and changed it for Jaime. The next day I learned that my starter was going out and needed to be replaced. I had already deduced that I needed a starter and had priced it online at $149. The shop quoted me the same price...with labor adding another $50. I guess I am grown up because I know how to change a starter, but I opted to have someone else do it. "My time is worth more than $50 an hour, right?" That's debatable, but I at least have my car back now. It appears to be running at the moment. I have high expectations for the car and hope that all these repairs will serve beneficial. My hope is that I can get at least 1 year life out of the car and then I will be satisfied.