Once Upon a Saturn

A plum 1995 Saturn SC2, with about 111,000 miles on it. That's what I'm driving around these days, and have been driving around since I bought it in 2002. There's nothing particularly wrong with it...unless you count the dying transmission, the incredibly slow, but also obvious oil leak, non-functional air conditioning...or any of the other minor nuisances that accompany my car with a lot of character. The point is, it still gets me from point A to point B reliably and safely, and if you had told us 3 years ago when we replaced Eric's 1988 Volvo station wagon with a Civic Hybrid that my car would make it through his Civic car payments, we most certainly wouldn't have believed you. Cheers to the Saturn! (Not a picture of my Saturn, but might as well be...) Despite my Saturn's stellar performance, I decided to begin the hunt for the next car...because you never know when your transmission might fall into the middle of the road. The only criteria I started the car hunt with was: Must Haves

1. Our 'big' car needed to be able to carry more than our Civic Hybrid - for example, 2 large suitcases should fit in the trunk. (in the Civic, the seats don't even fold down due to the battery between the back seat and the trunk)
2. ...but, I was kind of set on not going larger than a sedan with the possible exception of a station wagon. Given the kind of driving we do and how often we do it, it just didn't seem necessary to go for a really big car (minivan, suv, crossover).
3. Not a really ugly car. Subjective? yes.
4. Decent gas mileage. Not huge on the 'green' thing, but like to try and do our part - plus I've gotten used to getting 30+ miles to the gallon.

Wants

1. Power seats, locks, windows - basically the basics these days (though surprisingly, seats were not always in the basic package)
2. Lighter interior. The Saturn's is black and it makes for some hot days. This one wasn't really a sticking point though - and there is something to be said for the dark interiors lasting.

This lead me to a rather large, but comprehensive list of cars: Toyota Camry - Seems like there should always be a Toyota on the list, and when we looked at one of these as a potential car for Eric, we had enjoyed the drive. Ford Fusion - Consumer reports was all over the Fusion, and Ford does seem to really have turned around. Plus, it would be kind of cool if I stayed with an 'American' car. Mazda 6 - People seemed to be pretty happy with their Mazdas and I liked the look of the car. Hyundai Elantra - So cheap - had to at least give it a try. Honda Accord - We love our Civic, so it seemed a Honda needed to be on our list. Unfortunately, Eric reminded me that he didn't fit, so this one got kicked off before it was really even on. Volvo Station Wagon/S40 - Just in case I wanted a station wagon - plus the new Volvo Gore-Tex material for the seats is just cool. I do a fair amount of travel for work which has given me an opportunity to drive a number of vehicles. This lead to decisions early on like 'wow - don't like Volkswagen'. Hmm, Yaris = great!, but not big enough. Elantra...not really as nice as I hoped (cross that one off the list). I drove a Sentra for a week, and loved it - Nissan Altima added to the list! Then, I did a little reading, and decided that while sure, the Volvo was nice, it just didn't seem to be worth the extra price tag that it brought. The Ford looked the best on paper - it had basically everything I wanted, but a test drive seemed important for what remained on my list - the Nissan Altima, the Ford Fusion, the Mazda 6, and the Toyota Camry. I started my test drives with the Fusion and was pleasantly surprised. Nice car. It had a number of bells and whistles and drove really nicely. Still on the list. Next, I visited the Mazda dealer. I drove the 6 - not bad, but it seemed a little tight to me, which wasn't good...I knew that if it felt a little cramped to me, it would be worse for Eric...and the drive wasn't as nice as the Fusion. Since the dealer also happened to sell Hyundai, I decided to give the Sonata a run. Also definitely a nice car, but still just didn't seem like as nice a drive as the Fusion (though you can't beat the price). I decided they were both off the list, so I was down to 3 cars - decision making was going well. Eric and I went to test drive the Camry together. It was a very disappointing experience. The drive was just not what I had expected out of the car, and after being accused of being an aggressive driver (what??) the Camry was off the list too. We drove the Altima right afterward, and was still happy with how it drove and the available features. Thumbs up. So, the question becomes...Fusion... or Altima.... They're both great cars. I think I'd be happy with either, but my current leaning is the Altima. It's a nice looking car, the perfect size, I can get a moonroof and Eric will still fit (hooray!), it holds what I need it to hold, the mileage of the Fusion and Altima are roughly equivalent, and for whatever reason we both like it just a little bit better. Is there anything we're forgetting in our car search? Any strong opinions out there? There's still time to influence us :)!