I'm just going to keep fixing the 240 for now. A couple hundred bucks now is better than 7 grand worth of depreciation over 5 years. Rental cars will be just for rentals. I can get any of these cars for about $10 a day. I once got a free upgrade and rented an 850 and loved it. My delima is my wife is a social worker who has to drive into some of the worst neighborhoods in Toledo for her clients. I'm hoping she can get another assignment where she won't have to drive for work. As for my list.... My brother has a Corolla with 185,000 on it and never has had a problem. I personally like the Subaru Imprezia WRX.
As for rental cars, I guess you could call me the "rental car master" because of all the cars I rented over the years for Vacations and business.
Best have been the Volvo 850, Pontiac Vibe, the new Mustang, and a big suprise was the Daewoo Leganza. The worst ones were the KIA Sephia which handles like crap and has no access to the rear doors. For Escort which ran hot and had crappy A/C and no guts. The KIA Sportage's handling was terrifying from a car's point of view. KIA's have controlls made for people with tiny fingers too.
I once put 3,500 miles on a Buick from Budget in one week. Hey, they said unlimited miles!
I've always had bad luck driving my own car on vacation. Hit a pothole in Cincinatti and bent a rim on our old Dodge. Fuel pump went out the day I got back. Hit a deer and a pickup truck in Indiana in my wifes old minivan. And the van once broke down going to Daytona. Speed week. Never made it there. The farthest I've driven the Volvo it Columbus - Every weekend for 3 months and no trouble.
P.S. someone backed into the Daewoo in front of my house and did about $400 worth of damage. Never caught the person either.
My insurance had to pay for it.
Make sure you have good insurance.