[Gouldness]

Hey guys & gals,

First time posting, intro/history:

Always been a car guy, first was a 30th anniv Camaro, white on white with the orange racing stripes, modded...blew the engine, replaced it, and continued to break it, i was young and dumb and somehow could afford that insanity.

Second was a gift, paid off Infiniti g35 (2007), loved it until i made the dumb move to trade it in on an 08 sport, same model and gained a shiny new car payment! Yay! (bigger meeestake!)

Got tired of the car and payment, sold it and got a 08 Tundra 4x4, lol right? It was a phase. Thankfully sold it a year later and decided to buy a beater...

A 99 Carolla, 5 spd. Drove the **** out of it, even inadvertantly through Deals gap, just about burnt the clutch doing that. Not long after the transmission went, great way to spend a grand, sold it for 800.

Took my lessons and what little cash i had left and bought a "safe" and uber efficient car: my current Chevy Volt 2012 gen 1 base model. Had it for just over a year and put about 36k miles on it. Averaging about 57.5 mpg (i know i know) but that's partially due to 3/4 road trips in and around the SE.

Looks like i went too safe, as this volt is awesome, i love it, but it's financed and that's never fun. So i'm paying it off and looking to get a Prius (04-06 for 3-4k) as i don't haul anything and don't care to haul ass anymore, just want to retire early and travel.

That's my story, what other car would you recommend for around 3-4 grand that gets close to the Prius? or maybe less $$ but equivalent mpg?

Look forward to the future of this site and community.