What to replace the G with?

[SixFive]

Need a car I can drive about 5k a year. Want a low low payment as I can enjoy the lux of my wife's car if I need and would like to get a car that won't depreciate much more. THe thought of buying a car and selling it for 65-75% of what I paid for it 3 years later is appealing. IDEAS PLEASE

Ideas So far:

Accord, Legend, RL, Avalon, 1983-1986 Supra if I can find one with low miles, even the Mazda 3 came up.

Trying to avoid the boringness while having something inexpensive to own and operate.

[Picus]

I'm not sure where you're located, but RL's are going for ~40k in California. People are having them shipped to neighboring states the deals are so good. At 50k I wasn't a huge RL fan, but at 40k... Well that's just nutty.

If you're thinking Mazda3 have you given any thought to the 2006 civic Si? I can't believe I'm mentioning it on a G35 board, but they actually look pretty decent - like a slightly easier riding RSX-S with LSD.

[Z06ified]

No offense, but that's kind of a strange mix of cars you listed. I think the Accord, Legend, and RL are all EXTREMELY boring. Boring looking, boring to drive, boring to own. The 1983-1986 Supras were total pigs (even the turbo model), so that falls under boring too, IMO. Something that old isn't going to be inexpensive to maintain either.

I think a new Mazda3 is a good choice, or even the Mazda6 V-6 or Mazdaspeed 6. Although if you're looking for the lowest depreciation, go with as old of a car as you can get that is still somewhat reliable. Although at some point, you begin to trade off depreciation for much higher maintenance and repair costs. The best deal is a 2 to 3 year old car, like one just coming off lease, which still has some factory warranty left on it, and just keep it until the wheels fall off. That's the most financially responsible way of owning a car.

From a resale standpoint, among econoboxes, I think the Civic holds its value the best. Like picus mentioned, the new Civic Si will offer some fun to drive factor. But since it is a new car, expect to take it on the chin in terms of depreciation the first 2 years.

I would get a 2 year old Mazda 6 V-6 5 speed manual, fully loaded. The car already has taken most of its depreciation hit, is fun to drive, practical, and looks nice.