For basic cheap transport this car just cannot be beaten. It behaves like a large go cart on the road, so I'd like to think I could avoid accidents in it, but I wouldn't like to be hit by a large vehicle. It gets outstanding gas mileage (35-45 mpg) even with an automatic transmission. Ford doesn't support it well (It is 14 years old after all). It is a cult car of sorts, because it has … a small(er) carbon footprint, is cheap and yet is acceptable all weather transport. If more of these were produced I would buy several. It would be nice to have more luxury features. It is basically a "hybrid" car at 1/10th the price.