Loco,
Coming from a few hobby cars, the Zu being sort of the latest, and numerous beaters as DD's, the most important thing you need to remember is that it's a Daily.
That means reliable. Reliable. Reliable.
Experience has shown me that anyting with too much complexity, power, or technology lends itself to being an expensive daily. Things can and still will go wrong on the daily, and you end up with repair bills you really hadn't wanted. On a liened vehicle, that just makes things worse.
I've known three owners of WRX's personally, and none of them really felt they were built or made to the cost of the car new. Had they paid used prices, they might have felt more comfortable for the quality vs cost ratio. They ALL ended up selling their car within a year feeling they could get more for their bucks spent. The 'allure' factor and popularity is really the WRX's ONLY selling point; there are cheaper, stronger, more nicely built cars in it's class all around.
As a daily, I would stress that Turbos/SC's, Continuous AWD, and any other major complexities can cost you IF they go down. (even if they're under warranty, it takes time to repair the more complex systems, and thus, your daily 'supposedly reliable' car sits in the shop for a week or more)
The god honest best beater I've ever had? A mid 90's POcrap Honda Civic. Something some adult drove to work for a few years, then decided to sell. Maintenance is an almost perfectly predictable $600 or so a year, spread out either on brakes one year, shocks the next, or timing belt/water pump the last. (repeat twice, and you've basically exhausted the life of the car after YOUR 6 years, ON TOP of the original owners 8 or 9 years) They won't be loaded on creature comforts, no power windows or door locks, maybe not even AC since it will die and not be rechargebable since it uses the older refrigerant, but they're damn reliable for normal stuff. Their HUGE population of existence means repair parts are uber cheap and plentiful to boot.
The best part? those 8-9 year old civics go for around 2500, and really do last and drive and drive and drive and drive....
YMMV, but these are my personal experiences. Good luck :)
E.
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