My first thought is that if you're short on money, a $20k car is NOT the way to go. I'm not even going to ask what sky high interest rates you're getting offered. Pay cash for something cheaper and keep some money in the bank in case anything goes wrong. If you go to a good independant mechanic, a $2k-7k car will be a lot cheaper for you in terms of your total costs (depreciation + insurance + gas + repairs + tax). Note that collision insurance costs for a young male driving a sporty 2-door car are old-turbo-VW-maintenance-cost scary.
What about an 00's Acura RSX? 2dr, they look nice, way below your budget so you would have money for repairs, they're fast, not omnipresent on the roads. If you really want to drive something unique, get a well maintained Toyota Paseo, although you might have to fly one way south to find one.
If you're really serious about dropping $20k on a car, look into a new Mazda 3. iSV or iSport ones can be had for under $19k, manual transmission. The powertrain warranty will last until you're out of college.
The problem with unreliable cars that are still on warranty (like the FRS) is that you're going to pay for them eventually; it will just be in depreciation, because eventually you'll own the car outright and it will be an unreliable car off-warranty. At that point, the market is not going to pay you as much for it as if it were a reliable car. After five years you are left with, say an 8 year old $5,000 car whereas if you bought a new, same priced reliable car, you would have a 5 year old $11,000 car.
| 1 |
More about the Prelude 
More about the Mazda3
