Hi there!
My girlfriend and I have decided it's time for us to get a stupid-gas-guzzling-lazy machine that is able to transport our bodies (+some stuff) from point A to point B.
Our reasoning is that having a car will allow us to do bulk grocery shopping, but mostly allow us to do things over the weekend away from home.
Up until now we relied on renting zipcars and such for a day/a few hours over the weekend to get to places requiring a car.
However, paying that $100 every time we want to get somewhere makes us go out less. And so even if getting a car isn't the best decision financially, we have decided to do it.
We're only two people (and no planned tiny-humans in the next 5 years, if not longer), so we definitely don't need a
huge ass monster car, just something that can easily fit us + some belongings (suitcases, groceries, etc').
Price (including over time), fuel economy, safety, and reliability are the important factors to us for this purchase.
We don't have a set budget we can't go over. We live in Boston, but I don't expect we'll do much snow-driving or anything (car isn't used for commuting, so on those days we'll just stay home).
I really appreciate the help, and let me know if you need more info.