<prompt> Human: Im in the market for a car; something reliable and economical but still fun to drive. Im going to use it for commuting M-F my office is 10 miles away and road trips on the weekend. Im in Seattle and Ive been using public transit for a while. Its okay, but it doesnt have great coverage. I had been using Car 2 Go and rental cars to fill the gaps, but I added up my monthly transportation spend and its more than a car payment.I have my sights on a Mazda 3 hatchback stick shift, as its a good balance between low cost of ownership and driving fun. I want a no-frills base trim because I prefer fabric seats and the base model is pretty well-equipped as it is.Ive been looking at lightly used and CPO models, and they average 16-17k with about 30k miles. The MSRP of an equivalent new model is 20k and with current incentives, I would probably pay around 19k. The CPO car comes with a longer warranty, but with a new car I can be sure it wasnt abused. I am biased in favor of buying a used car if possible, but it doesnt make logical sense given the used vs. new price for this car. What do you think, PF? Would it be a mistake to buy brand new in this case?Income: 6500 per month after taxesRent: 1560 per monthStudent loan debt: 20k  <response>: In this situation, new is your better option. Thats a pretty flimsy discount on 30k miles of stick shift abuse. 