Asvice on a new car - considering Scion to replace my 92 Civic

[Devedander]

I love my Civic... it still gets almost 30 mpg, starts every time and is fun to drive. But I have let the body get serious damage that is going to be expensive to patch or repair, it needs a new radiator and is in line for a new timing belt and water pump soon I am sure along with who knows what else.

To top it off my drivers seat just broke on of it's support posts...

So rather than fix this car up I am thinking of just buying something to replace it.

I was going to just get another Civic but the new ones I think are a bit overpriced and I am not a fan of the snub nosed look.

I have shopped around and most of the makers answer to the civic (sporty, small but still economical) don't impress (namely I feel the Astra is too pricey for what it offers and the Elantra just feels cheap overall).

If I could have my choice the G35 has long been one of my favorites and the 350z is just up my alley... but both are more than I would like to spend and I fear will drive up my insurance a lot.

This leaves me looking at the Scion TC... it looks nice enough outside and seems like a solid value even if it is more than I would like to spend (I bought my civic in good condition with 180k miles at 10 years old for $2700... it runs almost as strong today as it did the day I got it and as I posted earlier, it's nothing to snuff at).

The problem I see is that this is very much geared towards F&F fans, and while I have nothing against it, I am almost 30 and am not very interested in souping up my ride much anymore. I like a lot about the car on features alone (moon roof and fold down rear seats are nice) but there are a few things I am concerned with:

1: mileage - I see differing mileage numbers in many places and I think this must be due in some part to the new epa system. I know it's not up there with the new civics, but is this really a 25ish mpg car? I keep seeing also that the stick has WORSE mileage than the auto... how is that possible?

2: The stereo. I may not be a tuner, but I have always hated stock stereos and prefer to have an Xvid playing video system in dash... even though I willl never use them, I just like having one there. This car seems to offer some severe limits in aftermarket head unit options, even if you use a dual to single DIN converter I think you have to remove the door to fit most stock stereos...

If anyone has any input on these issues (and if you have read this far... I really appreciate it and would imagine you may have even more things to chime in about) I really appreciate it.

I am asking in a few places but holding out for the best info here as I see the scion forum here is kind of empty and makes me think I won't have too much fanboyism skewing responses.

Thanks in advance for any input!

BTW this will be mainly a work comuter car, I live 5 miles from my work and it's up a fairly steep hill. I rarely have more than 1 passenger, and very rarely need to haul anything big.

I am a 29 year old male who lives and works in a rural area of a decent sized city.

[CLS Guy]

If buying G35 and 350z are high enough for you, try leasing them instead. Leasing is good when you tend to get good offers.