This month marks the final payment on my 2014 FieSTa (at 0% interest, I took the longest term they would let me have - I also just turned 40). It has near as makes no difference 70K miles on it and the last year and a half of living on a dirt road is beginning to take it’s toll. The squeaks and rattles are no longer easy to ignore, the right side-skirt is coming loose (I really need to figure out how to stick that back on....), and the car is pretty much permanently dusty. I love the FieSTa, but the ride is punishing during the week before the town grader comes by and Mrs. BoostAddict has Commented On The Fact. I literally can’t make it beyond the end of my own driveway during mud season, and I feel a little bad about the beating it’s getting every time I leave the house.
Now, I don’t commute like I used to, but I have grown accustomed to excellent fuel economy, a reliable road-trip vehicle, and all the fun that’s wrapped up in owning and driving a FiST...
So ponder this:
Is there a thing I could acquire for approximately the private sale value (+/- $1000 or so) of a 2014 used FieSTa with ~70K miles on it that could handle the dirt road lifestyle more robustly, that I could also drive without getting sad about owning? What would such a vehicle be? Should I just beat the paid-for FiST into the dirt (so to speak) and replace it once it actually breaks?
I want *ALL* answers in the form of a picture. No text please. Links to vehicle listings accepted, provided there is a picture posted as well.