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You and me are in nearly the same situation (put about 3k down for my down payment, am Asian, but since I'm paying for all of it, my mom didn't have a say in the matter...my girlfriend, on the other hand, is another story).
I commute 40 miles a day (20 miles each way), and I love it as a DD. Been doing it for a little over a full year now.
Cons:
-40 miles a day for a year means I have nearly 20,000 miles already. I'll have used all my free oil changes/inspections in under 14 months.
-Road noise at freeway speeds. I gotta crank my stereo fairly loud to compensate, and the stock speakers suck.
-The constant, and I mean CONSTANT, urge to drift every corner. It's pretty bad. I'll sometimes take it to the parking lot behind my work, time it so the security guards are changing shifts, and go sideways a bit.
-I have to fill up at least once a week, so make sure to factor that into your finances.
Pros:
-You'll step out of it with a smile every time, and a year later, I'm still gazing at it longingly before locking up the garage.
-My FRS is a manual, and I live in Los Angeles. Since I work retail, most of my work days aren't on traffic heavy days. However, on the rare occasion I am stuck in traffic, it's not so bad. It also makes it easier to downshift quickly and overtake someone.
After driving it during my first week, I realized I would've HEAVILY regretted it if I had bought an automatic. It just feels so alive when you're rowing through the gears, downshifting, etc. It also helps that I live near Angeles Crest Freeway, one of the best curvy roads to drive in SoCal.
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