Made the bad pun. Phwew, I am not alone. I'm with matt and Mel in my reaction to the emotional impact. Buffy knew it was a possibility, sacrificing herself for Dawn and humanity, and did everything possible to avoid it. And, without the wildcard of Doc, the plan would have succeeded.
Cars are often potent weapons.
Mostly, I'm glad they left dimension-land. That he is. I'm going to be royally screwed. I sure hope not. Otherwise they'd have to change the name of the show.