Another round of What Car... $6000 commuter / family hauler that's not totally boring

OK, I'm contemplating replacing my current car, a '98 Buick Regal with the supercharged 3.8. I'll start with the job requirements.

Mandatory:

• $6000 maximum budget.
• I'm about 6'2" tall - this car will need to have plenty of leg and head room.
• A real back seat that is able to carry two kids - currently 5 and 9. And it needs to be usable even with the front seat shoved all the way back. If carrying the whole family, my wife does not need to put the passenger seat back as far as the driver's.
• Reasonable level of reliability. Yes, this is kind of vague.

Desired:

• Not boring. Another kind of vague one here.  A stock Camry or your average crossover SUV is going to be boring. Decent handling and a responsive (if not necessarily powerful) engine would fit the bill. But other "does something cool" cars might be candidates too.
• Manual transmission strongly preferred.
• I also plan to be selling a Ford Ranger at this time - the Ranger appears to have largely served out its purpose in collecting engine parts for the project Dart, but I've found I can haul an inflated 12' rubber raft on the ladder rack (which I've been doing most weekends). So a wagon-like body would be nice to have. But I could always get a utility trailer or find something that would inflate the raft more quickly when I get to the lake.
• Good highway stability. I'm currently working from home, but my regular commute is about 28 miles, half on the Interstate.
• Around 25-30 mpg under this sort of use.
• Cloth seats preferred. They seem to hold up better long-term than leather or vinyl and do better in terms of summer comfort.
• Most adjustable lumbar support seats seem to have no position they can be adjusted to that works for me; they seem to be asking "Would you like to have me poke you with this baseball bat in your lower back or the middle?" Seats without this option generally do better.

Here's how the Buick is living up to them.

Good points:

• The suspension is fairly well calibrated for its use. Stable on the highway but surprisingly better in corners than you'd expect from a Buick. It appears the supercharged Regal had thicker sway bars and more rear bar than a normal W-body.
• Fits the interior room requirement well.
• No manual transmission, but it has decent power and quite a lot of low-end torque.

Bad points:

• Mileage is a little less than the target, and it uses premium fuel.
• At around 179K miles, it's developed a number of nagging, nickle-and-dime stuff that I'm not sure if they're worth fixing, and I'm not sure how much time it has before something big-ticket comes up.

Here are the leading candidates for replacing it, and concerns with each.

Toyota Matrix / Vibe

• Manuals are a bit hard to find, but possible.
• How are they for interior room and fun to drive factor?

Honda Civic

• Main concern is that many in this price range appear to be ragged out or riced out.

Honda Accord

• My wife has a 7th generation one - the seats seem rather uncomfortable for long trips. Not entirely due to the lumbar support either.

Hyundai Elantra or Kia Forte

• They're cheap when you find one with a stick, but how do the newer ones work for tall drivers? Earlier Hyundais tend to not have enough leg room, put the steering wheel where my knees ought to be, or worse, there was one I tried sitting in where I could get the tilt steering wheel to stay out of range of my knees but couldn't find the lever to lock it in place. Then I realized it wasn't a tilt steering wheel at all.

Kia Soul

• How appliance-like are they to drive?

Nissan Versa

• Concerns about highway stability and whether they'll fit the whole family well

VW Jetta

• How reliable are 2010-up ones? Early 2000s ones have a reputation for a never-ending Christmas tree of dash warning lights.

Honda Fit

• Same "How's it do on the highway?" concerns as the Versa.

Toyota Prius

• Low running costs and general quirkiness may make up for the appliance-like driving manners. Or not.

Scion tC

• These seem to go for reasonably cheap with a manual transmission, but seem to be regarded more as a punch line here. And I'm not sure if the back seat is usable.

There have been a few dark horse options too - for example, I spotted a Caliber SRT-4 on the local Craigslist lately, but it's hard to tell if something like that is a boost grenade with a pin pulled.

The cloth is really the kicker here.  For a decent 4 door fun sedan with cloth maybe Civic Si?  If you can deal with leather than that opens up Audi

Still the B6 Passat.

Acura TL with a manual.  They do exist, and are nice to drive and have lots of room.  
 

The nicest Mazda6 wagon left, potentially even with a manual?

A Toyota Avalon is big and a good cruiser and reliable, and cheaper and likely in better shape than a Camry. Is a set of Konis and springs enough to make it more exciting? 

The Versa is a car designed to make people hate driving and switch to public transportation.

Can you get a 4 door Cobalt SS turbo for $6k these days?  Mine was rock solid.  I replaced the turbo and clutch at 200k miles and sold it at 250,000 miles running strong.

Mazda5 man! You can find stick shift ones all day for under $6k, they meet all of your needs, and they do bonus truck like hauling stuff. All the manual ones are cloth. 2012+ are a 2.5/MT6 combo at that.

My first instinct is Honda Accord V6.  Quick...very quick, reliable as the day is long, entertaining to drive, larger inside than you think. 

Kia Soul would be a good candidate if you can live with the lack of power.  They're rather slow, but I've always found them entertaining to drive. 

The Versa is just a penatly box on wheels, I'd skip it.  The Fit is a great car, but it's a buzzbox on the highway.  Buzzbox as in 4k RPM at 80mph highway cruising.  Probably not what you're looking for. 

I like the Mazda5 and Acura TL suggestions too.  Both can be had in stick shift if you look hard enough. 

Mazda 5 gets my vote. Plenty of cargo room with 3rd row folded.

TL is the answer I think, but for $6K you might be looking at higher mileage :(

One more thought, I'm not sure if an older, such as 2013 or so, Kia Optima SX has dropped into that price range, but they're pretty nice cars.  Auto only, but still nice enough to fit the bill.  I can tell you from having owned an Elantra stick shift that while they're fabulous commuter cars, there is nothing sporty about them.  I really liked my Elantra and sometimes wish I had kept it, but I won't lie and say it was "fun" to drive.  I would call it "satisfactory" to drive...but damn if it wasn't roomy, reliable, efficient, quiet on the highway and comfortable for long commutes. 

My vote is Mazda 5. Followed by 2010+ Jetta Sportwagon TDI.

Versa is surprisingly more stable and quiet than the Fit on the highway. Versa seats are more comfortable as well. Those are the only pluses I can give to it. The Fit is far superior in all other categories.

Thanks to all who responded! I've got a line on a low-miles Vibe GT, but keep the suggestions and notes on the other cars coming!

Leather or vinyl seats are not a deal breaker; it's just that I would rather have cloth.

Mazda 5s are pretty rare around here for some reason. One of my co-workers does have a manual transmission example he found with a blown engine, but he's decided to cut it up to make a six-seat track day machine out of it. (Checks Facebook markteplace - looks like there is one manual example listed in the Atlanta area, so I guess they aren't complete unobtainium.)

Vibe/Matrix gets my vote. We put 230k trouble free miles on one and now my nephew is using it as a college car. We drove it all over the country and hauled all manner of things in it. In fact, I've recently been doing a commuter car search and my criteria looks similar to yours. I keep coming back to the Vibe, especially for the relatively cheap purchase price.  

Vibe GT was the first car that popped into mind. You need to ask an actual owner actual owner questions, though.

Vibe/matrix XRS is a great option. The engine has some things to watch for, but nothing major. Don’t remember what, but if you search on here I believe it’s beenntalked about.

+1 on the Mazda5, the Mazda6 wagon, and the TL if you can find one.

Some good options have already been mentioned, so I'll bring a negative.  I'd cross the Scion TC off the list.  I owned one for about a month just as a fix and flip.  It was amazingly bland.  Not quick or responsive.  I didn't care for the shifter, but I don't remember why now.  I never had a moment where I thought I might want to keep it.

Saw one here

Acura TL or the Mazda5

I rarely drive our Mazda 5, it's my wife's DD. I was behind the wheel yesterday.

I had forgotten how much I like how it drives. I am sure that I wouldn't find it boring as a daily. 

I also didn't know that the 2.5 manual transmission combination existed. While my wife is quite proficient with a manual transmission, she has no desire to daily one, so I won't be hunting for that unicorn.

Ours is a 2014, 2.5 auto.

Some personal experiences with a couple on your list:

My wife has a 2012 Hyundai Elantra GT (the hatchback one). It's an auto which is a bummer but surprisingly good on leg room. I'm 6'4" and don't have any issues.

I had a 2007 Honda Fit and is actually one of the cars I wish I still had. The amount of room was amazing. The gas mileage on 55mph backroads was amazing. The highway driving at 75+ was definitely not the best but it didn't stop me from taking it on the couple hour trips here and there. It was just fun having a car that you could rip through the gears and drive like a go kart and still not be breaking the law. 

Ok I am totally biased, but 6k should buy you the nicest BMW e46 3 series sedan you can find! (non-m anyway)  Or a really nice e90(skip the turbo versions if you want reliable).  Either should be available with a manual!

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

I'll go with an Accord Wagon with Manual.

Dodge Dart? 

chada75 said:

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

I'll go with an Accord Wagon with Manual.

I agree, but they haven't imported an Accord wagon with a manual since about 1997. 

I’ll vote for the TL, too. I see them regularly with manual transmissions far more often than you would think for a quasi luxury brand. IMO, they’re the epitome of the accord design. 

G35 would be a worthy contender too and well under budget.