[Sean.Heihn]

Just to toss another option in the mix, a Corolla would be in your budget. Wouldn't get quite the numbers of a Metro, but they are nice little cars. Loved my 02 and the only reason I moved to the 11 Yaris is my Corolla was totaled in an accident sadly, with only 160k miles and no rust, could have gone for twice that mileage. As the guy from Wisconsin said, the only Metros you see around here are almost falling apart from the rust. They seem to be up there with older VWs as the least rust resistant cars, but than again if your car makes it 10 years here without major rust problems you're doing pretty good.

God, I just remembered that part from Fargo, "Well, the tech coat, ya." But in MN some cars do need a dealership undercoat, the guy at the dealership I purchased my Yaris from told me not to waste money on it, because Toyota undercoats their cars from the factory, but KIA doesn't. It's also why the Saturn S series were so popular here, they didn't rust.