Sometimes I am a lazy reader so missed the part about this possibly being your only car.My opinion on this may not be a popular one. But if I understood you correctly, your lease on the 500 is ending and you do not have any other vehicles. Therefore I would not consider ANY "X1/9" as your only car and daily driver. Sorry but unless you are a skilled mechanic, have lots of free time to spend on it, and don't NEED to be anywhere at any given time, then o.k.. Well, actually I should add to that list, you will never have another person in the car and have a huge life insurance policy.
And this statement was not just about X1/9's, but any old car. You sound like a young person with a family. You need a very reliable and dependable and SAFE car. Sorry but these are not such a car. It might be one of the few times your wife was right (joking). Don't get me wrong, I have several old cars and love them all. But I am not in your situation. Be smart and realistic of your needs as a family man.
I voted run away. For your $5K to $6K budget range, you can get something really nice that would be immediately drivable or only need a tweak or two. Take a look at the beautiful X in the below link;
https://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/hey-guys-it’s-been-a-while-but-i’ve-come-to-a-decision.36846/
My opinion on this may not be a popular one. But if I understood you correctly, your lease on the 500 is ending and you do not have any other vehicles. Therefore I would not consider ANY "X1/9" as your only car and daily driver. Sorry but unless you are a skilled mechanic, have lots of free time to spend on it, and don't NEED to be anywhere at any given time, then o.k.. Well, actually I should add to that list, you will never have another person in the car and have a huge life insurance policy.
And this statement was not just about X1/9's, but any old car. You sound like a young person with a family. You need a very reliable and dependable and SAFE car. Sorry but these are not such a car. It might be one of the few times your wife was right (joking). Don't get me wrong, I have several old cars and love them all. But I am not in your situation. Be smart and realistic of your needs as a family man.
why are they adictive? I cant put into words. you need to drive one that is in decent shape.Thank you, Dr.! It's great to login this morning and see the whole other side of the coin! So technically speaking, I can bike to work easily (would suck in the winter months but it's possible) and our family's primary vehicle is a 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan my wife drives exclusively with our two kids. I pay $65/mo for the 500e because I qualified for the stupid high California subsidies so we've gotten away for 3 years on paying practically nothing. That's let me save up quite a bit for a "fun car" with my wife and I always having an agreement that I'd buy her something reliable and then I'd be able to get something that would be a bit more "me" than a 4door sedan. She's super supportive and knows that I work really hard to support our family so she can stay at home with the kids, so one of her ways of showing me some love is being supportive (as much as she can, haha!) with me wanting something fun.
That being said, I totally appreciate you and @dragonsgate and @autox19 and @carl and @dan giving your honest opinions. I definitely want to have something that combines fun and reliability. For a few years into our marriage I had a Honda Del Sol and it was like the cousin of the X1/9 and it was incredibly reliable even if I had to give it a quart of oil every month! I guess what I am wondering from you all is if the X1/9s are notoriously unreliable then why do people enjoy them so much? Every person that I've talked to or posts I've seen show people enjoying these cars like mad. How can people enjoy them if they're worried that they're going to go out on a joyride and have the thing break down? Are they really that prone to catastrophic failures?
Also just to clarify... I may not be a trained mechanic but I've worked on plenty of cars in my day. But ultimately you all are right... I do need a car to get to work and back at least semi-reliably!
why are they adictive? I cant put into words. you need to drive one that is in decent shape.
Odie
I have been thinking about getting them as they are not that much, but currently I have (9) x1/9's on the property and need to get some other junk off the property. (might start storing more x1/9s at my dad's in Sweethome.
I am meeting another x1/9 owner this weekend to give him some ordered parts
True. And for that matter, in the case of someone that really needs a very dependable, all around use vehicle, a $5000 Japanese car is cheaper than a $5000 Fiat....if you get my meaning.This may sound crazy but a $5,000 X1/9 is cheaper than a $500 X1/9.