$300,000 for a 20 year old one-bedroom condo is more ridiculous. (I work in Santa Barbara, CA. An area in which the MEDIAN home price is over $500K. I now live in Oxnard, where I bought a brand new 4 bedroom, 1900 square foot home for $270K.)
Besides, the highway goes in between the mountains and the beach, and I doubt that there’s a prettier commute anywhere. My wife and I carpool, so we get to take turns looking for dolphins playing in the surf.
LV
Congrats on the purchase, LordVar. I hope you enjoy it.
Yeah, but you left out the most important detail…What damn colour did you pic! 'Cuz you know, some are faster than others…
Good luck. Many safe and happy miles. 
I also have to disagree with the 2000 dollar quote.
Among my family we have owned 9 of them, And have never heard that. Unless you are replacing the Manifold on down(something I have also never seen need to be done) It doesn’t cost anywhere near that.
Subaru’s do have a more expensive than normal exhaust system. Because of the extra AWD equipment(drive shaft, differentials) It’s tighter than normal down there, and it needs a uniquiely shaped piece to work. But it still only costs $280 or so for an exhaust job.
White. My only choices for the model I wanted (the ZTS, not the ZX3 I mentioned earlier. Darn initials) were white, black, silver, and brown-mustard yellow (named “Jackpot Gold” by Ford). I could drive off in a white one, so I did.
LV
Just so you know, I wasn’t taking about where the cars are built, but who engineered them.
You’re are right about my blanket statements though, but then again most people don’t do all of there own work on thier cars either. I’m not talking about adding spoilers or CD player either, I’m talking about engine swaps, rebuilding transmissions, replacing bearing, that kind of thing.
Just about anything you could have to replace on a car, I’ve replaced.
In my experienced opinion the cars I listed above break the least.
Oh yeah, one more thing - I didn’t include BMW or Mercedes for a reason - I’ve know people who say that they too are notoriously unreliable, but I’ve never owned one, so I wouldn’t know. 
Hmmm…
Well to Lord Vor, Nen, and anybody else I might have insulted with my tastes and opinions about the Focus or any other car, I’d like to take this opportunity to appoligise…
Just didn’t wanna let that go unsaid.
Well, to continue in that vein…
I believe (I did a quick search for a cite, but couldn’t find one) that Nissan, Honda and Toyota all have US design studios… and hence its not much of a stretch to say that at least some parts of their vehicles are engineered over on this side of the Pacific as well.
I do think I know what you’re getting at though, and I agree. IMHO, in general Japanese vehicles are all around a better vehicle than most North American vehicles.
It’s true that some foreign auto makers have some of their design work done here in the states, but as far as I know it’s extreamly limited.
For example:
Honda gave american designers the right to design the “look” or exterior design of the 2001 Accord Sedan. But only the sedan, not the coupe.
Not exactly:
Our 2000 Mitsubishi Montero Sport LS: 23,000 mi. Won’t start. Called dealer,car towed,“fixed”,driven back,worked for a day,won’t start,(see step 1).
Our 1993 Ford Aerostar XLT: Bought at salvage auction(Driver’s front smashed),repaired,tens of thousands of miles later still runs strong,(now at 112,000 mi)
So in closing, foreign cars aren’t always best.(The Yugo comes to mind)
In all fairness to me, MIKE_P, I never said that Mitsubishi made quality cars, and I never said that all foreign cars were well made. I only listed a couple of my favorites.
I am however glad that you have been satisfied with your Aerostar and I hope you get many more maintence free miles out of it.
While I must admit to not reading all the responses, here is my recommendation:
Honda Civic
The upper end of their lines are pretty powerful, offer good gas mileage and take a beating and keep on driving along the road.
I have owned many Hondas in my time on the road, none of them ever failed me. I traded in my 95 Suburban, after realizing that I could no longer afford it for a 93 Honda Accord EX. I take shitty care of it (I admit it) but it runs like a dream. I recently popped in some money to get new tires, new struts, along with a lot of other work and my mileage (from 5 years of absolutely no maintainence – none I tell you) went from 400 miles per tank to close to 550…it’s a 13-15 gallon tank.
Anyhow, I think that Honda is a great value for your money and even though it’s a foreign car, I have always gravitated to Hondas for reliability, value and over all costs being pretty cheap.
So go to your Honda dealer and ask for letters of their customers, I bet they will hand you a ream of happy owners. Count me as one of those, even if I suspect my pre-owned Honda was in an accident, she’s been a great little car and stays strong despite my inability to keep her at tip-top shape.
It’s finally time for me to trade in the '88 Daytona (sniff!), and I never thought I’d be buying a Hyundai, but I am. It’s an Elantra GT. I like it because it’s got a hatchback (good for hauling some stuff), is a bit sporty, and not too pricy. Plus, a 100,000 mile warranty is tough to beat. Maybe check those out; for under $15,000, it’s got AC, cruise, automatic, leather, and a keyless entry system.