Well, I bit the bullet and bought a new car, too!
My adorable PT Cruiser "Esme" needed a 60,000 mile tune up, new air filter, and new brakes...at the very least. Not to mention that I've put sooooo many freaking miles on the poor thing recently, and it only gets between 20-23 miles a gallon. So I took what everyone said here about the cute, good gas mileage cars and spent the last 2 days going from dealership to dealership. It wasn't the right time for me to really "upgrade" so I was more looking for a lateral move into a car that got better gas mileage, was a little smaller, and wouldn't need servicing for a good long while. I can wait for a few years to really get a "dream car," ya know?
Well, I wasn't wild about my test drive in a Hyundai Accent, but I
really liked the Hyundai Elentra. Unfortunately, the one I liked was too spendy. Honda didn't have anything in my price range, so next I debated between the Toyota Yaris and Scion. I could totally afford the Yaris, and it boasted the best gas mileage of all the cars I looked at, but it is a really, really basic model (though a sweeeeet light green with an awesome interior cloth that looked like a leaf pattern -- my favorite of all the cars I saw). But it didn't even have a remote keyless entry or anti-lock brakes. The Scion was awesome with a ton of great features -- I was almost about to buy a red one just like Mike's, LOL! The only problem is that the dealer claimed they weren't allowed to bargain on price. When I called my car expert (and Honda Fit owner) dad made me promise to at least look at the Nissan Versa. I did some online research and found that it is rated very well.
I am by no means a car expert! In my limited experience, the Versa felt very much just like the Scion during my test drive. The Scion was maybe a little bit more peppy/sporty, but I honestly don't need much in a car. The Nissan dealer totally marked it way down for me, too! Plus they gave me a pretty fair deal for my trade-in (I owed a lot more than Blue Book still since I've only had the poor thing for 2.5 years and drove it mercilessly).
So, YAY, I bought a Versa!!! It's a great gray color in between charcoal and silver with black suede-like cloth. Very shiny! It only had 4 miles on it when I test drove it. I can't believe I bought a freaking brand new car! I'm calling it "Hero" and being a complete and total dork going around saying (imagine a terrible Japanese accent) "Nissan Versa! Nissan Versa!" (Like on the show Heroes, for those less nerdy than me
) Yay Versa!
Here are some pics, too, though they are just some I found by googling. I'm still having camera issues so I can't upload my own, yet. My car has a spoiler.