My wife and I have basically divided our stuff, are living in separate cities and have almost complete separate budgets. We won't start the whole divorce thing until the house sells (if it ever sells, sigh).

 I gave my wife the better car (08 Honda Accord) because she won't be able to buy an new car as easily and that one is in good shape. I got the 2001 Ford Explorer that is rather beat up and gets increasingly horrible gas milage (currently 11.7mpg) . The honda should be paid off when we sell the house (hopefully) and the Exploder is paid for.

 When I dream of times after the house sale, I think about what car I am going to get to replace the Expoder. We got it for three reasons: It fit me, It fit my dog, and it was under $15K in good shape and was fairly reliable.

Now, I don't have the dog and the gas bill on the explorer is almost twice what I am paying monthly on the Honda Accord.

"Fit" is my big problem. I am a big guy (6'4") and have a hard time fitting in, and seeing out of most cars. For example, I can fit in Subaru's but I can't see farther than 2 car-lengths out of the front due to the slope of the windshield. I also have broad shoulders and long legs. The triple threat of car fit.

In May 08, I test sat over 100 cars and only found three that were under $30K and over 30mpg that I fit into. The Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and The Mini Cooper (all variants as long as I don't get the standard sports seats).

The Accord has a little more road noise than I want. Also, I can't get the radio options I want unless I also get a sun roof (which eliminates my head room and thus the car). I put an after market radio in the other Accord and it is a reasonable solution, but the road noise is still not that exciting. I do like this car.

I really like the Altima but I only have about .25" of headspace even without the sun roof, and it has the same problem with the radio that the Honda had. I can't really see it being a good option when I hit my head on the celling every time I hit a pothole.

Then there is The Mini. I am falling in love with it--especially Mini's build-to-order system. I fit fine. I can get the GPS, Sirrius, iPod radio without getting a sunroof. I can put a British flag on top (yeah baby!) and it just oozes class and charm. It also gets really good gas milage. 

It is rumored that the diesel version will be available in the US in the next year or so which would get even better milage.

The Mini's post 2005 redesign gets good reliability and crash ratings, but not as good as the Altima's or Accord's. I think I can live with that.

It is an easy car to fall in love with over the internet, in the showroom and on the test drive. It is a very fun car to drive. I can say with complete confidence that I WANT IT.

 So now the question is "is it good for me."

hmmm.

• I will be hopefully coming out of this divorce, with a high-paying job, no debt, no real assets other than the Explorer and my TV and Computers, and a hefty maintenance payment to my then ex-wife.
• The Exporer's gas bill will continue to be more than a newer car's bill + mortage payment for the volume that I drive. It plainly has to go.
• I will look at used options, but I don't think I will find the combination of stuff I am looking for.  My height really makes this tough. People tent to put things like an upgraded seat into vehicles with sun roofs. God I hate sun roofs.
• The one area on the mini where the reliability is really rated low on the post 2005 models was the automatic transmission. I normally like automatics because of all of the hills and stop and go traffic that we get in Seattle. I think I would get a stick. I can see really liking it on drives and swearing at it on Queen Ann Hill or on I-90.
• I prefer the Clubman model and that is what I would get if I am ordering to spec. If I buy used, then I would take any 05 or later with the correct seats and lack of sun roof.
• I have been reading about a carless lifecycle, but I can't see that working in my geography and employment situation, but I find it really attractive. I do want to get out of the debt cycle, but keeping the Explorer's gas bill won't help with that.
• I think I will be able to swing it to where, I buy the new (or used if I can find the seats) mini on time, but pay it off fast and then bank the equivalent of the car payments so I can the next car cash. I tend to run cars until they are falling apart so this should be many years down the road.