We were just in this situation. Our 1998 Nissan Maxima developed a major problem in the steering box, and we decided to trade it rather than repair it. We did a lot of research, and looked at a lot of cars before settling on a 2008 Mazda 3 S Grand Touring 5-door hatchback.
My wife and I both like sporty cars, but we needed something practical, and this model fit our needs perfectly. It is very well-equipped for a car that can be had for less than $20K – it has all of the interior amenities you could want, HID lights, and 17-inch alloy wheels. The 2.3L engine develops only 153 HP, but it is surprisingly peppy with a 5-speed manual gearbox, and we’re getting around 28 MPG overall. I’m not thrilled with the driving position, but I’m a big guy, and I could probably tinker with the seat settings to make it a better fit.
The car’s got a lot of room, as much as a small SUV with the rear seats folded down, and the split rear seat gives us lots of cargo area without having to remove our child safety seat.
My current car is a 2002 Acura RSX/S that I plan to drive into the ground, but if something happened to it, I’d probably buy another 3 – however, I’d want the turbocharged version, which has around 260 hp. With that kind of muscle, I could get used to the seat very easily.