A very sincere thank you to all who responded. You are all just fantastic in sharing your insights and I truly appreciate it.
A few notes:
A Kia Rio or a Mitsubishi Mirage will not work - I need a 2 door with a trunk (unless someone makes a 4 door where the frame is far enough back to get in and out without difficulty). That’s why I was looking at a Honda Civic - there just are very few options in coupes.
Chris
Buying a used car in good shape or buying a new car with the fancy electronics might be your choices here. If you get a used car you might look at ones from a dry climate where they don’t salt the roads in the winter so you don’t have to deal with rust.
For example, a buddy had a Jeep Cherokee that had lived through 20 Chicago winters and it was about to break in two when it failed inspection because of all the rust. You don’t want to buy a nightmare because it comes without power locks and windows. You might also look into fixing up what you have with the money you would have spent on a new car.
Yes, sadly, there are many aspects of life where it much more expensive to be poor.
I’m still lost as to why you object to power windows/locks. The only repair to a window opening mechanism I have ever made on my personal cars was when the crank handle broke off on my old Caravan’s manual windows. Power windows and locks are very reliable.
Maybe there were early era barebones Honda Elements with manual window cranks. A friend of mine custom ordered a Civic hatchback in about 2000 (A.D.) with manual crank windows. Maybe you could find his out there.
Please tell us why you don’t want power windows and locks. Have you had bad experiences with breakdowns?
My wife and I have collectively driven many cars over the last 20 years for totals of probably 500,000 miles. Over that time we have had to make two power window repairs* and zero lock repairs. We have had to replace a dozen or so remote batteries, and maybe 2 remotes (available online for 10-20% of dealer cost.) *The most recent window repair I did myself in 2 hours, saving $500. I used to prefer simpler analog technology too, but I find the new stuff is reliable enuff.