I am seeking some life / financial / car wisdom from you guys. I'm also trying to be financially smart
I am most likely moving back into my rental property in Rome in a couple months. This will give me a 100 mile a day commute. I am looking at getting a 3rd car and since slighty used Mazda6 is out of the question right now, I am thinking about a simple Civic like this one here. There seem to be lower mileage than most for the price. but usually 125,000 or more miles.
https://utica.craigslist.org/cto/d/1998-honda-civic-ex-coupe-5spd/6439186814.htmlGood MPG.
Plentiful parts at pick & pull
Cheap everything
Reliable?
The reasoning.
This is a temporary move. The rental house is for sale. It could sell in a couple months or it could take a year as Rome is well...... Rome. I plan on buying a place <10 mi from work, at which point the OBXT can go back to being the daily.
The outback is overall reliable, but has 130k miles on it and needs a little love here and there. This is the commute that was brutal on my 6-speed bugeye. Also even though its a 5eat, the OBXT has grown on me for fun, nice interior, and overall versatility and as a work truck. Also, they aren't too common and the 5-speed 08/09s often sell for $5000 more than I paid for mine.
Gas alone will save me $100/mo. So it will pay for itself in 2 years.
https://i.imgur.com/VflauFP.jpg {4-day work wk possibility.}
After 1 year and 20k miles I'm sure I could probably turn around and sell the civic for $1000 or more. A newer more expensive car would depreciate more.
If the Civic is down for a couple days for work, or weather is terrible, I have the outback as well.
Overall budget < $3500
Celica, tC, Mirage have been considered as well but are priced a bit higher. Civics seem to be the best combo of reliability, mpg, yet something i might enjoy somewhat? I don't want a rust bucket either.
Impreza / Legacy n/a have been considered as well, but it seems like I would have to raise the budget $2000 for comparable reliability and yield worse mpg. Though it would like become a rallyX car after all this.
Writing this all out has actually lessen my anxiety as life has been stupid crazy the last year