hey anons, I really need your help. It's hard to admit,

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422KB, 1440x1080px

hey anons, I really need your help. It's hard to admit, but I fell in love with my neon 2.0 4speed auto..
I'm the kinda pension driver who just likes to relax in his car. But the car also has character and peppiness. I like the size of the car- small but spacious, the quietness inside the car, the smoothness of the shifting.
But I have a problem. The neon is a 2001, original mileage- 89k.
biggest problem is rust- both sides and undercarriage. I live in eastern europe, so the weather is like philadelphia/new york/ chicago- cold winters and snow so loads of salt on the road in winters.
In short- what is the alternative to this car- quietness, more or less similar dimensions, reliable automatic gearbox, that isn't shit on the rusting side?
Or perhaps I should just invest more money into it and recoat the undercarriage and whole body or smth? ;/