I was basically leaning toward getting a better car (not necessarily newer). It is a '97 Sentra and those things don't sell for much at all. I will be taking it to the scrap yard this week. I found a couple of cars that spark my interest. One is a '99 Ford Taurus Wagon with the 3.0l. The next is a rough looking '03 Focus with the auto tranny. Then the third is a tie between an '03 Subaru Impreza and a '99 Subaru Outback. I found a craigslist post for a '94 Geo Metro for $1200 with a bunch of spare parts to include an extra engine and tranny. The issue is being nervous about buying a car private party. I have had bad luck (army town) with these types of sells. I am torn between good FE and a fun ride
I know how good the Focus and Metro are and have always had good FE driving the Taurus too (for being a full size).