Looking for a second car, what would you choose?
 

I have a FR-S, but I want a second car. I've had issues where I park at my work and at night people mess with my FR-S (broken window, etc.). Would be nice just whenever I want to go out on the weekends and plan on parking in a shady neighborhood too.

Needs to be manual, reliable and easy on the wallet. No specific budget but I want to drive this car into the 200-300k miles range with just routine maintenance. High MPG would be nice too.. ideas? Would be nice if the MPG savings paid for the car itself in a few years.

I was looking at a 5 MT 1st gen Insight. Good mileage, old, inconspicuous. Can be had for under $10k...

Toyota celica gts year 2000

get an old mini :D

get an old busted ass truck.

they can be so useful

Was thinking about getting a 10 year old WRX myself, mostly for use in ugly weather. Thought it would be fun, cool, dependable, affordable, and I wouldn't worry about babying it or keeping it pristine, as it would have to be parked on the street.

But only started looking a week ago (mostly in Subaru forums like NASIOC) and have found: 1) they go for more than I expected, 2) many of them have rebuilt engines.

-Z

Never heard of the Subaru 200?
When Subaru engines hit 200K, they need an engine rebuild.

Will most likely hold true for our cars as well.

Suck it up and get a Prius. It meets your criteria minus the stick. But as an added bonus, this will make time with your FRS all that much better.

Prius doesn't tick the boxes for him, remember. Has to be a manual and has to obviously be a beater. Prius is a CVT and is way too posh for what he needs (the car needs to effectively be ghetto-flauge).

A little nicer than what you want but Acura RSX, Integra along with the Scion TC and Celica others mentioned, mid to high 20's mpg on all, bullet proof reliable if maintained and won't destroy your soul (if you're resilient enough to own FWD).

I also second the idea of a beater truck, 4-bangers get low 20ish mpg with a manual and RWD, light back end makes sliding it around a bit of fun as well. Dirt cheap to repair. At this point the ones that are going to be cheap and not need much work are going to be late 90's early 00's, Ford Ranger, Mazda B, Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. If you're willing to put more work into 'em you can go early 90's late 80's, cheaper simpler and in my opinion less to go wrong.

Plus the Nissan hardbody comes with the same single cam KA24 that was in the 240sx ('89+'90), had more torque new than the Toyobaru does (ok only by a hair).

Edit: To pay for itself in gas savings compared to the FRS? That's going to be tough, you're going to have to get really boring. For that option I'd go early 90's to mid 80's Honda, Civic or Accords should get 30+ mpg from that time frame. My father had an 85 Civic hatch that got a little over 40 mpg, he got it for <$1k at the time (before cash for clunkers). No power steering, no AC, that was the closest thing to a go-kart with a windshield I'd ever been in.

Could also go Miata but the break in potential is higher and you'd be spending more on gas than the FRS.

Mk1 or 2 GTI or 1st Gen mini.

+1 on the truck. 4x4 Toyota Tacoma would sweet to have.

+1 on the truck. trucks have many more uses.

+1 more for the truck. Need to run to Home Depot for something bigger than a can of paint? Your FR-S is not ideal in that scenario.

If you want piratical, then well...nothing really beats this...

http://photo.netcarshow.com/Chrysler...1_photo_01.jpg