OT - Wife wants a "new" car - what would you get?, Help me spend some money ... Options

[cha914]

I know this isn't 914 related, but it is car related, so I guess its ok for the garage...bump me if you need to...

Anyway, the wife wants a 'new' car, not necessarily brand new, but new to her. Our high end is probably 10K, but that doesn't mean we have to spend that much.

A little history, her first car was a 90somthing mazda 626, she loved the car, but it was somewhat of a lemon and spent alot of the time running on 3 cylinders, and we dumped it before it quit altogether. Her current car is a 93 subaru legacy wagon, and its a freaking tank. 240K and still running likeit will never stop. However, the car is "too big" for her.

She really wants a smaller car, but can't be tiny, as she is a teacher and needs some room to haul stuff around in. She really likes the new Mini's (yeah who doesn't), but it seems most of the nicer examples are still in the 15-20K range.

Anyway, we are going to start looking for and driving cars to narrow down the list, what do you guys suggest for cars? The car needs to be smallish, no wagons but hatches are ok, needs to be auto, and I want a car that has a good history as far as maintaince goes.

Here are the cars I am considering: Mini - if I can find a screaming deal, VW - she likes the golf/jetta but I have reservations about their reliablity, bmw's lots of used 3 series in that range but not too sure about the autos on those, Volvos lots to like but seem expesive, I like subarus since hers is a rock but would need to find a smaller example for her to try, then there is the camery/civic/accord/accura crowd that I really don't know much about, or what do you guys suggest?

I have been able to purchase mercedes, bmw's and porsches for the 5-10k range, so I know there are awesome used cars out there, what would you buy for a sweet wife ride?

Thanks for the help,

Tony (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/driving-girl.gif)