I finally caved and purchased a car last year.
Seeking to primarily save money and secondarily to minimize my environmental impact, I purchased a salvaged 2003 Toyota Echo for $4,000. It had 45,000 miles on it and gets 31city/40hwy mpg. It was salvaged due to dents from a hail storm. Everything in the car is manual except the transmission. It is reliable as a Toyota and as a small car (1.5L engine), and I plan to drive it beyond 250,000 miles with oil changes ever 7,500 miles. The biggest risk IMO is any accident at-fault or otherwise, because the insurance company would almost certainly mark it salvaged because they undervalue mileage and overvalue the age of the car. The biggest benefit beyond the obvious low sticker price is low fuel, insurance, and maintenance costs. I'm not convinced I would be any happier in a dent-free Lexus.
Anyone think they got a better deal?
The car:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUosQzgLYqU
The connection to EA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lC4FnfNKwUo
Cool?
You might want to join www.reddit.com/r/effectivealtruism. It seems to be better oriented for discussions like this.