Saturn SL or SC. What did you expect me to say;) ? You have lots of seriously good advice already.

Recently, I tried to get a '96 or newer Civic or a Toyota Echo. Very hard to find one that is less than $5000. The Yaris was right out-- too new to be in the price range I wanted. Other small cars *cough* Aveo *cough* are shockingly sucky on mpg-- some of them can't even manage 30 mpg.

Finally I gave up on the Echoes and Civics. A Chevy Metro is a way better deal. Cheaper price ($2500 to $3000 is about right), decent quality, and better mpg, and easier to get parts for. Don't be fooled into thinking small = poor quality. That's generally been true for American cars such as the late 80's Escorts (that one really lived down to the name Fix Or Repair Daily, what a hunk of garbage), but for Japanese stuff, that's not true. Best of all is Japanese under an American name. You get Japanese quality at domestic pricing, with parts being commonly available and not too expensive.

Got my metro for 700 bucks (great deal for its condition) and hasn't had any major problems yet. Pushing the 60mpg barrier with no mods. MUST be a stick. Only thing I really worry about is winter driving..

Absolutely nothing to worry about there. My previous metro loved the snow (as do I). You just gotta keep your speed up so you can punch your way through the snow drifts :)

I remember being the only car on the gas with the ditches full of vehicles during one interstate trip. Even saw one guy grind his firebird up a guardrail.

Front wheel drive in a tiny car=no problemo

And that parking brake becomes part of the steering system in the snow ;)

Skewbe, where you live? This may make me sound like a bad driver, but oh well. Each winter so far I've gone off the road and/or lost controll 3-6 times. Last incident I tried to go around a turn at 10mph, and it just went straight. Went down an embankment sideways and nearly rolled it upside down into a river when it was below freezing and I was in the middle over nowhere. Ended up having to walk over 2 miles to the nearest house and have my car pulled out by a tow truck. Tow guy who's a friend of mine said he'd never seen a car at such a steep angle without rolling haha... Just to give you an idea, the right taillight was nearly 3 feet higher than the left.

Still though, it sure will "plow" through the snow and is a hell of a lot better than my mustang which I wont take out in the winter. Atleast if I wreck in the Metro, no biggie...

I'm in the midwest, I practice driving in the snow whenever I get the chance, deliberately getting slideways and doing 360s and whatnot on deserted streets and empty parking lots. Do you practice your winter driving?

Im in the upper Appalachines (sp) so we get a far amount in the winter. And yes, that parking brake sure is fun in an empty parking lot. At my old workplace we would get off at 1:30 AM and go flying across the parking lot and spin like a top..

Of course, we also played bumper cars with each other, so, it might not of been the smartest thing to do :)

thats really a Toyota Corolla. Well in 1990 they were...

lol i hate to say it, but 10 mph is WAY TO FAST to be doign a 90* turn...you really need to practice winter driving... never been in a ditch or even close. i love fishtailing it and drifting around in parking lots tho....

but seriously, next time it snows, drive real slow to a big empty parking lot and purposely loose control and practice correcting it before you kill yourself or someone else. practice pumping the brakes and whatnot. keep doing it enough and it becomes second nature.

ooh and a word of advice. some of you know that all snow is not equal. wet stuff is very slick while dry powery stuff isnt bad. so once you pull out on your street if theres nohting for you to hit, speed up to about 5mph and slam on the brakes. it will give you an idea of how slick it accualy is so you know how fast to drive and how fast you can take cornners,etc.

that and some spots are just treacherous. You have to anticipate the spots where the road is going to throw you off, i.e. a hi crowned, slick ice covered, downhill curve, with a light snow dusting as an extreme example. That'll escort you off the road if you just park there :)