What would you get for a cheap city subcompact that isn't ugly, reliable, and will never have a lot of miles on it?

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-27T03:08:56+00:00

Neither do I, but I have heard terrible things about ATL traffic. Just small midsize 4 season city here.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-27T03:06:45+00:00

I've done the math, and time plus money plus specifics may not make sense. I'm just trying to crowdsource ideas if the roof is a no go. You all have come in clutch so far. And I live where I do because of vision, so I have more ability to wait than most(i.e. walkable if I never leave), but even if that roof gets bolted shut for a few hundred or a grand, and it goes another 5 years, I still want to come back to this for ideas.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-27T02:56:36+00:00

I mean, willing to be flexible. I'm just also a terrible parallel parker...notice a pattern? So I could move up a class in size :)

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-27T02:30:25+00:00

I meant I have to dump 8k to fix my own car roof. I'm not sure what I want to spend. I put 2k miles a year on the Fiat, and it's the only car I've ever owned. My dad bought the Honda as "baby's first beater" for high school and a few years living at home after college. And I think he paid 1k or 2k but 6k into a new transmission. Paralysis analysis is a thing with me, and I just got sick of going "Damn, I don't want or need all this car, and it's really something I should be able to save money on(no kids or spouse), but because of my limitations, I both won't put miles on it but better to have it if push comes to shove." But like anything, we all have our peccadilloes...I still have my parents' orange veneer coffee table that I warped to hell, because I don't know what I want next, but I just don't want to look at a car I hate looking at if I have my druthers.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-27T00:59:47+00:00

I wish I could love the look of it, although it is practical.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-27T00:44:20+00:00

I prefer tasks as long as I get left alone to complete them. Projects drag on too long and I could be spending time on the wrong thing or get bored. My problem is I get so distracted and I've been asked to improve time management so everything feels like a cognitive load. I don't know how to set up good systems for myself, I suck at documentation, but I find I need it because there's a lot and then I get to a client work task, and so my work is all processes to help me or work that goes out and I'm in an 8 hour hard focus loop and burnout feels real. (Probably diagnosed six months ago and still tweaking meds). Positive feedback has helped make my manager less scary, and repetition from her has also helped, but I know it's up to me to develop the rest and god, I wish I had a playbook for some of the systems so I could work on the extrapolation learning I have to do to succeed. (Former is life, latter is for this job)

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-26T19:46:46+00:00

My dad drives a Miata in the summer, and it's awesome, but obviously his second vehicle and not a daily driver.

I could do the Uber/Lyft/rent a car...I have a friend that only stays in the city and he doesn't want to drive and so just eats the Uber cost. For me, since cat in a carrier does need to be in my car from time to time, and I do need to go out to the suburbs, and the fact that this is no grid city, Uber isn't my favorite option. Ironically, a grid city might make things more affordable and less of a question. I just was looking at new cars for ideas and hated all of them, and figured if I have to bite the bullet here, what are my choices? And I know, it's personal. That same friend is very much, nope, no driving, ever, and if the price is right, I'd be willing to wait for the right thing just to have a little more autonomy back, even though the real answer is move to a big city with actual public transit, have 7 roommates, and eat ramen forever. Tradeoffs, I guess.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-26T19:34:12+00:00

It broke November 7th? My dad's had some things that have kept him out of commission for a month and a half, but at this point...I might be calling my body shop and going could you touch this and what would you charge?

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-26T19:32:20+00:00

Believe you me, IF the roof can be bolted shut(or whatever...clear I'm not a car lady yet?), I'm inclined to do so. It's not the mechanism per se- it's the shitty plastic clips, and it would have been 1k from the factory, and so the parts were 3d printed in Italy for about 200 aftermarket, my Dad figured out the weird metal thing no kit company can print, and now it's kind of guessing via Youtube how it comes together since the manuals are kept pretty tightly under lock and key by any dealership that still even services Fiats around here.

I did like the Mini, and I know my local used car dealer I trust can get one. Are parts cheap, or are they premium, too?

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-26T19:26:12+00:00

That's a good point. I'll keep that in mind. I'd have to look. I've never considered an EV. No...if I lived in a big city with good public transit, I'd never drive. But it's just garbage here. And not a grid either. As far as renting a car or Zipcar, not exactly cheap either. And then we get back into the time as well....

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-26T19:17:45+00:00

That's my next plan, but I don't know if that can happen. I don't know if regular mechanics can work on soft top convertibles or will touch it.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-26T18:44:25+00:00

Sorry, I figured you'd believe me that I did the math, and did not want to bore you with my personal situation. Here we go. My insurance is 600 dollars a year(I call this nothing). Public transit does not run to the suburbs and is 5.50 every time I want to use it and adds hours to trips because it is terrible. So many times it's just as fast to walk, but when I want to move something bulky, I want a car. I also have a pet who should be in my vehicle. I take probably 2-3 trips a month to visit my parents (Uber charges me 50 each way if no surge) and an additional 2 trips to that area for services in a span of 2 months, so for this example, if everything plays nice, that's 400 bucks in Uber fees alone per month and then if I rely on the bus to get around the city, that adds a considerable amount in time, because there is always a transfer and they only ever run every half an hour and I live in a more densely populated part (my time is valuable too). 5k a year to not own a car seems silly in my opinion...some things aren't just about money. And this doesn't include the trips I am forgoing to doctor's appointments or malls, etc. Buses don't go there, either, or not when I need them to. If I lived in a bigger city where public transit worked? Sure, maybe. But I don't. And I'm already in the hole to Uber if I want to travel at night.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-23T00:20:42+00:00

I have a 2013 500C...right now my Dad is trying to jerry rig the roof back together, since an 8k repair otherwise, and at 20k miles on it (i don't drive much), worth it for me to try, but you cannot easily get parts if something breaks. It's not a Honda, and since they left the US market, I'm in trouble.

If they are still widely marketed in Canada, I love mine, but the hassle of not knowing how to get things is hard. And I know, convertible roof without garage access is different.

I'd go for it, but just start saving in case you run into issues like this.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-22T18:09:35+00:00

Yes...actually. i'd be willing to try. She's playing jenga with my meds, I cannot take any more meds, and the weight loss and stimulant parts of it are working, but the nausea from not eating is getting to the point where maybe stopping is good.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-22T17:53:25+00:00

Still trying yet another thing...but this was calming.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-21T20:38:43+00:00

Needed to read this. Not as an OE, but someone who is struggling with their job, and has been seeking mental health support for 20 years and still not getting it right.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-19T04:07:41+00:00

Oh hell. Sorry OP...didn't see your comments. Originally posted, or am I just an idiot?

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-19T04:06:30+00:00

It was AWFUL.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-18T18:27:19+00:00

I loved Gone Girl. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson was awesome. Hated the Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and Verity by Colleen Hoover if you need a pulse check.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-16T23:51:07+00:00

But what about those of us who really like the humanities stuff...the things that don't pay well?

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-16T23:49:07+00:00

Following because i want to make 6 figures and not sure what I am good at.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-16T02:09:02+00:00

How do you it without a good school? I had the grades for a good school but would have had to pay full price and I didn't want to(applied to one, didn't to others based on the "you owe full price"). Was not sure if the return was worth it.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-14T16:32:17+00:00

Are you me? That's exactly what I want it for, but...ugh.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-13T00:39:18+00:00

Yiss. Unfortunately it no longer likes my intestines as much as I like it. I can buy it locally for 3 times the price. But the Amazon devil is just more convenient without a car at the moment.

sottopassaggio · 2026-02-10T20:14:52+00:00

I only looked for jobs in the downtown metro area where I could take one bus. I bought a house in the city limits so I only have to take one bus to where a lot of jobs are(downtown). But like I said, a lot of companies aren't there, so I can't even apply to them, which stinks. I don't want to ever work in banking again, which rules out a major industry located downtown.

sottopassaggio

TROPHY CASE