For 1200 a month, you could rent a nice apartment steps from the Pantheon in Rome on an annual lease. I don’t care what you drive or where you drive it, it will not be as comfortable as an apartment and the location will not be as nice as Rome.
Ah, Roma...the land of endless graffiti and pick pockets.
You still have to factor in the cost of airfare, to get to Rome, several times/year. (Unless you take the bus/train, as Always On Crack suggests).
We love Rome, but are saddened by what has become of of it/Europe :-(