Car totaled - time for replacement

[CAP1]

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!

check the subaru WRX.....they're pretty quick, have a bit of room, and all wheel drive...and i think they get good mileage too.

or...screww the good mileage and get a mustang(05 or newer..friggin AWSOME looking and fast)

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[Chairboy]

DemonSlyr, thanks for the feedback!  I'm putting a rotary engine in my plane whenever I get around to finishing it, I'd better be willing to trust it in a car in the meantime. 

[eagl]

I wouldn't buy one of the new Dodge cars...  That retarded gangsta look gives you a huge blind spot on both left and right sides.  It's "stylish" in the same way faster and furiouser is a "style", but I personally think it's dumb.  I'm not a gangster and think wanna-be gangstas are the biggest weenies on the planet.  IMHO

[CAP1]

I wouldn't buy one of the new Dodge cars...  That retarded gangsta look gives you a huge blind spot on both left and right sides.  It's "stylish" in the same way faster and furiouser is a "style", but I personally think it's dumb.  I'm not a gangster and think wanna-be gangstas are the biggest weenies on the planet.  IMHO

i agree with this..on the dodge 300's...but the charger is pretty hot......and have you seen the new challenger??? just like in the 60's dodge and chevy are copying from fords lead. ford goes to a retro-style for the new mustang(although at 25-30k they're over priced) then dodge and chevy do the same with the challenger and the camaro....i'll stick to my old junk for now.....a 78 fuel injected fairmont futura..it's fun to surprise the kids in hondas, stangs camaros, etc..and most of em don't even know what the hell it is that just hammered em

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[moot]

The funny thing about the new muscle car aesthetics, is that old rims look better on them than the stock contemporary sets...  Modern rims look out of place on them, more than any flaw in the retro aesthetics.

[CAP1]

The funny thing about the new muscle car aesthetics, is that old rims look better on them than the stock contemporary sets...  Modern rims look out of place on them, more than any flaw in the retro aesthetics.

that is covered by them....look at pics of the mustangs or chalengers.....they have older styled wheels too......but you know as well as me that some knitwit will put a gihugic stupid looking set of wheel on one of these soon.

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[Bronk]

i agree with this..on the dodge 300's...but the charger is pretty hot......and have you seen the new challenger??? just like in the 60's dodge and chevy are copying from fords lead. ford goes to a retro-style for the new mustang(although at 25-30k they're over priced) then dodge and chevy do the same with the challenger and the camaro....i'll stick to my old junk for now.....a 78 fuel injected fairmont futura..it's fun to surprise the kids in hondas, stangs camaros, etc..and most of em don't even know what the hell it is that just hammered em

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60's challenger ehh, I think not.

[CAP1]

60's challenger ehh, I think not.

sorry/....meant 70's for that one.....i think the charger as their 60's hot rod......

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[GtoRA2]

Chair,
 I have a budy with an RX-8, the first year they came out.

It's an ok car but he never gets better then 18 MPG.

He also had to have it towed once to the dealer to have the plugs pulled due to oil in the chambers....
What they told him is never start it and shut it down without it running atleast 5 minutes or the oil gathering in the motor can cause it to not start.

They prolly fixed this on the newer models.

[Cougar68]

ford goes to a retro-style for the new mustang(although at 25-30k they're over priced)

You can get a new Mustang for just a tick over 20k.

[CAP1]

You can get a new Mustang for just a tick over 20k.

i think that's a 3.8L 6 cylinder........
how much for a V8   5spd trans, with all the go fast goodies? i think a nicely equipped gt goes for around 34k in this area

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[Chairboy]

I test drove a Chrysler 300 today, and the visibility was surprisingly good with one exception: The ceiling extends a bit further forward than I like, so if I'm the first car at a light, I need to lean forward to see it.  This isn't a huge deal, I could always install a periscope attachment of some sort.  "One ping only," I'd tell the person in the passenger seat.

Here's the specific car:

http://tinyurl.com/4l69ea

Tomorrow I'll go see that Buick Lacrosse, and there's a local dealership getting a Ford Five Hundred in w/ the options I want that I'll check out and test drive.  They're the same folks w/ the 300.

Today I spent 7 hours on the road, btw.  I drove up to Portland to get my stuff out of my car.  The folks there were nice, they stayed open late for me (I left at 2PM for a 2 hour drive (why do I hear the theme to Gilligan's Island?) but there was a bad wreck on the 205 that added an hour to my trip).  I gutted the car of my personal effects as best I could.  I probably left something like $100 in computer cables behind because they were threaded under the carpet.  Installing a new carputer will be an experience for sure.  My Dell Axim PDA that I use for charts and GPS while flying seems to have gone missing. 

BTW, don't know if I mentioned it, but the Chrysler 300 is built on the Mercedes E-series chassis.  So a phantom Benz is fighting it out with a phantom Volvo (the Ford 500), go figure.

I really appreciate all the feedback, btw.  The RX-8 seems unavailable, as does the Jetta TDI, so they're basically off the list.

[Chairboy]

Bought a car!  I test drove the Ford Five Hundred and passed on it, it was kinda rattly and cheap feeling.  It reminded me of the Ford Taurus, in handling and cabin feel.  Also, the highway noise was pretty loud.

We test drove a 2002 Lexus GS300 (what is it w/ the # 300?) and it was fantastic, but priced a little above what we wanted to spend plus 4-5 years older.

Finally, we went back to the place w/ the 2007 Chrysler 300 and test drove it a second time.  Everything clicked, and I decided to get it.  Wife bargained them down the same way she bargained the insurance up, and we got it for a good price.

I've joined 300cforumz.com and have seen a lot of interesting mods, tasteful and...  not as tasteful.  I'll be installing a 5' tall spoiler, some hypnorims (to mesmerize the ladies), some pina colada dispensers in the trunk, and a big 18" tall '2 Wycked' vinyl decal along the side. 

Thanks again everyone for your help, I got some great feedback on what to look for and it really helped me focus on what I wanted.  In one word: A boat.

[eagl]

What trim line did you get?  Which engine?

Of course the 500 felt like a taurus...  It is the taurus, and they're changing the name back for either this or the next year model.

[mora]

BTW, don't know if I mentioned it, but the Chrysler 300 is built on the Mercedes E-series chassis. 

Actually it has the S-series front suspension and the E-series rear suspension. A reliable platform in any case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_LX_platform