Your commute is 2.5 miles. You can do that with a garage sale bike. What you're really asking is how can you justify a shopping spree.
And so what if he is? Not everyone wants to ride a beater to work. And reliability is important. I got into three near accidents with my Trek before I sold it and bought something more reliable.
Not everyone is a bike mechanic either.
I say pick something comfortable that you will actually ride.