Time to buy a car. I need one, just for the independence. It's sure been cheap sharing Brad's car but I gotta be me! I gotta have wheels! The last car I had was a new iris blue 96 celica hatchback ST, manual of course. I leased it in 95 and kept it til 98, when I sold it for well over the end-of-lease cost and pocketed a couple thousand of sorely needed dollars. I loved my sleek purple/blue machine. It was so fast, the handling so tight, and it looked sexy and shiny and new. But I couldn't afford to keep it when the lease ended.


Fast forward to 2001. I've got a strong desire to not spend a lot of money, I've got some cash available for a downpayment or for buying outright, and a desire to acquire wheels. WHEELS!


So I'm looking at a new Ford Focus zx3. Those things are cheap, stylish and fun to drive. I testdrove one, it was fun. It'd be like $14-$15k though, so with 0% APR financing I'd have payments like around $275 or so.


Alternatively I could get a used Miata! Zoomy, great handling, looks awesome, holds its value. I could probably afford to lay out a bit of cash &amp; take a short-term loan for the rest. Say I look at 95 or 95 miatas. Edmunds says a 95 miata has trade-in value of $4800, private-party sale value of $5400 and dealer retail of $6500. I could totally do that. 96 miatas are $6000/$6800/$7900. I could possibly do that, but a low-mileage 95 miata might be the way to go. So with that in mind, I talked with a guy who was running a classifed ad tonight. Here's the specs:


Red 95 miata, black interior, asking $6500. 80k, 5spd, ac, am/fm/cass, interior top &amp; body in VG shape, body left-hand side repainted but carfax says no accidents. something must've happened though. On the driver's side door, paint chipping off, will pay cost of having that side repainted. piece of door trim split at the top, price $175 to replace. nothing else wrong with it. runs great!


He mentioned on the phone that he was willing to negotiate. He better be, since he's asking dealer prices for a car that needs a bit of work! If I talked him down to $5k, I could hand him a wad of cash and have a red 95 miata of my very own.


I'm not too keen on red though. Hmm.


So, comments please? There are so many options. TOO many options. I loved my Celica for instance. But a 96 celica hatchback actually costs more than a 96 miata. A 96 Toyota Camry DX coupe is about the same price but it's so plain-looking. A 96 Chrysler Sebring convertible is also attractive and has base price slightly less than Miatas, at $5500/$6400/$7700. No cheaper 95 option though. In 95, Chrysler made a Le Baron convertible (again an attractive car) which Edmunds rates really highly. The cost of that car is remarkably low, $3000/$3500/$4500. Wow. Maybe I should look for a used 95 Le Baron convertible. I don't know! Too many options! Eek! There's also used Kias, they are remarkably cheap. A 98 Kia Sephia sedan (although a totally boring car) costs $2800/$3400/$4000. Add on $900 and I could get a 99 instead. Another $900 and I could get a 2000. Damn, what do these cars cost new? Oof-- a lot more. $10300 invoice or $11300 MSRP, without any options. Clearly those cars depreciate like pesos in Afghanistan as soon as they leave the dealer lot.


Barely used but boring Kia Sephia? Neat, zippy but older Miata? Neat and cheaper Le Baron convertible? Cool but expensive new Focus? Or something else?


Options, so many options.