Need Help Choosing a Daily Driver/Beater

[JGmazda]

The Miata is a great vehicle. I drive almost an hour each way and am a "big guy". Having said that... it's not a car for long trips. It's loud, you feel "everything" (as it should be with a sports car) and maintaining it is a no-brainer.

Having said that... it's much too small. Next vehicle will be larger for sure.

 

[Lubener]

If you want a rear drive, I'd go with a Gran Marquis. They are plentiful and cheap. There's a reason the police really miss its cousin, the Crown Vic. They are a bullet proof tank. Also, your golf clubs fit nicely in the trunk.

 

[afree]

Thank you all for the suggestions. So far I have narrowed it down to a few options:

- Test drive a Miata to see how comfortable it would be for the long drive. I may choose this depending on how I fit.
- Used Corolla or Camry
- Drive the Tacoma until and pay the est. $4,000 in mileage fees and buy something else.
- Buy the Tacoma when the lease is up (contract's buy price at the end of the lease is $25k) and just drive it until the wheels come off.

 

[KitaCam]

As has been said, buy a car with an extensive maintenance record and reserve $1k for the inevitable repair...
I took my neighbor to buy a 2003 Altima with 127K miles and 4 pages of regular maintenance every 4k miles and STILL paid $150 for an inspection...worth every penny....got a nice bottle of scotch out of it...thanx Fred!