Car totaled - time for replacement

[Chairboy]

Insurance company confirmed that the car is totaled, so I'm looking for a replacement.  I'd like to spend less than $20k, and I'm not interested in buying a newnew car.  2002-2006 is my target range, and I'm looking for:
1. Leather seats
2. Side impact airbags (after what I saw a week ago, yikes)
3. Reasonable maintenance costs/reliability
4. Can fit both kids in the backseat on occasion.

I've been maintaining a list of cars that I'm interested in as I go, here's my results so far:
1. RX-8: I love the engine and suspension, but the backseat is a little small and I'm thinking the insurance might be high.
2. Mercedes C320: Has all the safety features, but mileage isn't super duper.  Also, it'd be kind strange to get the type of car that had the fatality in the accident, but that's just an aside.
3. Another Buick Regal: Each day, I lean a little closer to this, but it doesn't seem to have side airbags.  It's a known quantity, it saved my bacon last week, etc.
4. Ford Five Hundred: Seems to be a good value, but 1. It's a Ford (haven't had great experiences with it) and 2. It puts me to sleep just looking at it.  Eminently practical though.

I'll save the one that's caught my imagination the most for last:
5. VW Jetta TDI: This has been the one I keep going back to because I'm convinced gasoline prices are about to skyrocket.  I like the idea of a Diesel because there's the potential to run on a bunch of different fuels, plus it gets 40-50mpg.  Building a waste vegetable oil processor in the garage sounds neat too.  The downsides, Consumer Reports ranks the Jetta very low in terms of reliability, it's hard to find one w/ the stuff I want (Leather, side airbags, etc) but possible.  Just not a big selection.  It's not a huge car, but I sat in one at the local biofuel conversion place and it seemed to fit.

As you can see, I'm all over the place.  Any other suggestions?  Any thoughts on the ones I've listed above?

Thanks!

[eskimo2]

I could see you doing the vegetable oil thing.  Do the diesel Jetta; Mercedes makes some diesels too.

[Yknurd]

Don't forget the Bobble Head Jebus!

[Chairboy]

My dad rode on a bus in South America in the 70s that started its life as a schoolbus before moving south and being turned into a cross-country mass transit (w/ chickens and everything).  He described it as having a Virgin Mary figure glued to the dashboard with a lightbulb in it that was wired to the brake pedals.  Whenever the bus used its brakes (usually when crawling down the narrow single lane dirt roads with sheer cliffs beneath them in the jungles) the statue would illuminate as a signal to start praying.

I've often felt my car was missing something...

[superpug1]

the jetta and ford are good choices. my mom has a 05 ford 500 with the 6 speed auto and FWD. itll get 30 to 33 mpg cruising at 75 to 80. Massive trunk. very quite. the seats are really comphy too. Downside is that the best 0 60 run i could pull in it was 8 seconds with just me in the car and quarter tank of gas. They are really sturdy and handle well to.

[Bronk]

Live a little and at least test an RX-8. If you get it, remember it's not you sitting in the back.

[Chairboy]

Thanks, Superpug, sounds like a good pirep on the Five Hundred.  If I go practical, I'm more interested in the Regal, but that Ford looks easy to install a computer in w/ the big compartment on the dash.  A test drive would, of course, be a big deciding factor.

[SD67]

I'd go with either the Jetta or the Ford too.
The Jetta is a damn good car.

[Tarmac]

I would stay the hell away from VW if reliability is a factor.  Their parts network is absolute garbage... much of it having to do with outsourcing assembly to Mexico, while many parts come from Germany.  Look up the recall and "dealer service initiatives" (or whatever VW calls them) on any car you're considering.  A person I know worked for VW customer service and told some of the most horrible car stories I've ever heard. 

-Entire runs of engines being built with upside-down piston rings, leading to poor compression and burning oil at rediculous rates.  VW had to replace engines when people's oil ran dry on their almost new cars.  Engines sometimes replaced with cannibalized ones (see ignition coil story below)

-Defective power window switches.  I don't remember the exact problem, but they routinely died and replacement was difficult because of a part shortage.

-The worst, by far, were the ignition coil stories.  The cars had 4 of them, and all would go bad within a year.  However, VW didn't have enough to replace them, even though they knew they would fail.  So people would bring their car in to get the one bad ignition coil replaced, and rather than do all of them the dealers would see the person back 4 times in their first year of owning the car, until all coils were replaced.  They just didn't have the parts.  Worse, cars that shouldn't have had the bad coils on them mysteriously acquired them after a trip to the dealer for unrelated service.  Dealers were cannibalizing good cars to cover the bad ones, and hoping that it would buy them time to get the parts in.

Hell, VW can't even get people who want to open VW dealerships, leading to a very spread out dealer network.  Problematic if you want to take your car to a secondary dealership, as many customers did after their ignition coils were cannibalized by their primary dealer.

I wouldn't put a dollar into one of those POS cars.  VW relies on the myth and reputation of "german engineering" that rubs off from BMW and Mercedes to keep selling cars to suckers.

[LLv34_Camouflage]

If you want safe, go with a Volvo.  Saab aint bad in that respect either.

Camo

[xbrit]

Now remember you need to save a little of that money for the VS-9000 HD.

[SD67]

Volvo = The natural enemy of the Motorcycle

[mg1942]

Insurance company confirmed that the car is totaled, so I'm looking for a replacement.  I'd like to spend less than $20k, and I'm not interested in buying a newnew car.  2002-2006 is my target range, and I'm looking for:
1. Leather seats
2. Side impact airbags (after what I saw a week ago, yikes)
3. Reasonable maintenance costs/reliability
4. Can fit both kids in the backseat on occasion.

It's so HARD not to recommend Honda Accord (V6). 
There's just way too many of them on the streets but this says something - This is THE STANDARD of sedans.

I own the 2003 EX-L sedan. 3-4 year old accords can be had for +/- $20k
This trim comes with everything you mentioned above. 

It has 3.0L iVTEC V6.  The V6 here just SMOOTH.  It can be THRASHED at 6,500 (red line is at 6,800) and feel no vibrations in the cabin. In comparison, I rode on my bro-in-law's Altima V6 and it feels like the altima's engine is gonna fall apart at red line (just exaggerating, it's really harsh near red line)

Don't mistake this accord as torqueless at low RPMs just because it has iVTEC.  Power is good at all RPMs.     

It does 21 mpg city / 30 mpg highway.
It does 0-60 in 7.2 seconds with auto, manual (coupe only) in sub 6s.

The drivers seat, interior, and the nice/simple instrumentation (just like my aunt's 1991 accord) is what made me decide to get accord.

[Chairboy]

I'll sit in an Accord.  Used to drive one, and it was great, but if I'm getting a lightweight car, I'd kinda like it to be a super mileage car.

[eagl]

I wouldn't get a jetta.  I've never been impressed by the reliability of those.  The same goes with the RX8...  It's a nice car but you're gambling with the reliability.

Find a nice used pontiac GTO and be happy

Or more seriously, consider an Accord, used if necessary.  Get the V6.

If money wasn't an issue, I'd say get a BMW 3 series.  A 328 would be nice. a 335 would be awesome.  But that's a good 50% over your desired price range, so...

I'd recommend something smaller but I don't think you'd be happy.  I have a civic and it's nice, but it's really cramped with a rear-facing child seat in the back.

Consider one of the Mazdas before you buy.  They typically handle better (more sporty and responsive) but you suffer a bit in fuel economy.

I simply don't fit into most toyota sedans so I don't even consider them, although I am considering a toyota sienna minivan since it's the only minivan with an all wheel drive option right now.