[brucepick]

OK, I'll shoot my mouth off a bit.

Remember - with a new car, you end up at the dealership for anything more complicated than changing oil or a bulb. When it does something weird, it's too new, and so smaller shops don't know what to do with it, so you end up a the dealership. Plus, of course you don't want to mess up your warranty. You also need to maintain the nice shiny new appearance of the car so you're now responsible for taking care of all that cosmetic stuff. Been there, done that.

With an 8-10-12 year old car instead, your local independent shops will know how to fix it. Those are the cars those mechanics own and drive.

There are many decent fuel-economical cars you can get for $2000-5000. My 45-mpg Civic HX cost me under $3000, plus about $1000 to straighten up what it needed when I bought it (4 tires, wheel bearing, t'stat, some other things). There are plenty other decent cars in that price range, just go with your preference.

2nd rant, on hybrids and gas prices etc.
Gas prices are only going to go up. Sooner or later.

Hybrid batteries don't worry me. Taxi drivers in NY City and San Francisco are driving Priuses and other hybrids hundreds of thousands of miles per car. Don't you think we'd hear about it if their batteries were failing? Those cabbies push those cars hard and they keep going. It's just a case of fear of something new. Now, a 20-25 mpg car - that's something to be afraid of! Be afraid you won't be able to pay for gas to get to work one day!

Sorry for the rants. It's late, I'm tired.

Live long and prosper.