Well I would put in a vote for a protege. I'd go with the ES at 16k but the DX's and LX's can be had for much cheaper then that. The power is a bit on the weak side but it is quite fun trying to wrangle all the power you can. (especially doing 60 on an on/off ramp and having the wife plastered to the passenger side door
) Handling is as good or better then the SVT (sorry to say that but it's true) and they'll run forever.
