New cars, used cars, and one dieing car...

[cimmerii]

Car shopping sucks. Well, sucks if you don't have money..... I imagine that it would be rather fun otherwise. My car has aquired the kind ability to heat up nicely for the cold winter. I'm assuming that it's doing this for me, trying to keep me warm, and not because of something failing in it. The main problem with this is that it doesn't seem to know when to stop heating up. At the beginning of last week I could drive it to work without much issue, and possibly make it home without having to stop to let the engine cool down. By the middle of the week, this had degraded to needing to stop both on the way to and from work. So, this week I've been car pooling with Tracy. This has worked out fine for this week, and possibly next week, but not for the following when school kicks back in. Which brings me around to car shopping. I've been looking at Hondas and Saturns mainly. Found pricey ones in both categories. I'd love to find some $500 horrible lookin thing that runs great, but its lookin doubtful. So, on the other side of the spectrum, if I'm going to spend real money on a car, I would like to have an okay/decent/fun one. The Saturn L300 or Ions looked good, but kinda pricey, and the reviews on them are mixed. Honda Accords look good, but retain their value, so gotta get an older one, if looking to conserve on money. Honda Civics seem fine, but also retain value. Overall, I don't know what to get. I want something thats reliable, has some power, feels comfortable, and okay on gas mileage.... and cheap. Bah, every car has a bad review somewhere, and every car has a great review somewhere. Hard to tell what truely is good and what's not. Bah, car shopping sucks.

Any opinions or thoughts on whats good, whats not, whats cheap, whats overpriced.... anything, is well appreciated.

~ Cimm