A Car for the Collegiate?

Hey Miss Car-owner T-

I'm a collegiate and I'm on a car search. This search has consumed much of the past week for both me, and B-town and Papa. The road has been rough, because our price range is cheap. We are looking for a used car, and when you look to buy a used car you are also committing to buy problems. Used cars are just going to have problems attached at the hip, so when you buy the car, you buy the problems. So we've been trying to figure out which problems to buy. Here are some we've encountered:

-A 94 Toyota Corolla (love that car because Toyota Corollas are the cars missionaries drive!): DIRTY, cracked windshield, grumbling and arthritic gears, 5 spd, maybe smoked in?
-A 95 Ford Taurus: Gold, Ugly, Clean, large (very wide, which makes parking for people like you and I questionable), Transmission becoming unreliable after 100,000 miles (it was at 117,000)
-A 2003 Dodge Neon: Cute, DIRTY, bad track record for reliability, giant ding in the back right passenger door, great gas mileage, did I mention cute?
-A 97 Nissan Altima: DIRTY, bald tires, no radio, 5 spd, great gas mileage

Which problems would you buy? Tough choice, no? We almost purchased a 99 Mazda Protege.

It's name was Marcos. Why this car was even in our price range is because it had previously been wrecked. The owner was an awesome Mexican man who had decked Marcos out with flaming skull seat covers and window stickers. Totally my kind of car. Also, while driving, you would gently bob up and down, sort of like when you are cruising a lake in a little boat (needed new struts). And last but not at all in the least, the 14 inch tires made for the car had been replaced by 17 inch tires with flashy hubcaps. Sweet looking, but with the interference this would cause with the odometer and speedometer, I felt uneasy about having a deceiving car. How awful would that be to think you are going the speed limit, but get pulled over because you aren't and it's because of your flashy huge tires? So, I guess it's ok that we didn't get that car.

All of this car talk and search made me remember my childhood dream car. A purple limousine.

Now wouldn't that make a sweet college commuter?

Well, hopefully I'll find a good college car, but until then I'll be patient, enjoy the savings on auto insurance, gas, and repairs. Remember how you used to want a red BMW convertible with a sun roof?

Wish I could buy this for you!

Love, Car-seeking KK