More fun with "what car"

I have a few friends with the Matrix/Vibe and it seems like a great car. It's not going to make the criteria for the size (too small) and I'm thinking slightly more upscale.

I like the Fit, and she thinks it's cute, I had ruled it out as too small, but its probably worth investigating just cuz it seems like a neat car, I'm guessing rear seat room is going to be small though.

I had ruled out the Mazda 5 as too "mini-vanny".

I had never thought about converting the rear seats on a 530i sedan, I guess I'd have to find the seats from a wagon and start swapping...I wonder if the floor plan is different enough to prevent swapped in wagon seats from folding flat(?)

An 05-06 Mazda 6 wagon with MT is sounding like a winner, now I just need to show her a picture and see if it meets her inspection criteria...

I also walked past a Saab 9-3 sedan today and the back seat was bigger than I expected, I may need to look at the smaller Saab 9-3 and the BMW 3-series and see if they really are too small or if its all just in my head.

do you mean walked past a 9-5 sedan? 'cause the 9-3 sedan back seat is not that roomy.

We just bought a Fit, the rear seat room will surprise you, seriously.

I'd check out a nice used Volvo V50. Good size, between small and large, available with front or all wheel drive, and manual transmission, at least through 2007 MY. The car is beautiful inside and out, which is a nice bonus.

Check it out, I think it would fit the bill nicely.

belteshazzar wrote: do you mean walked past a 9-5 sedan? 'cause the 9-3 sedan back seat is not that roomy.

no it was a 9-3. I was comparing it to the back seat space in my WRX wagon and it seemed like there was another 6 inches between front and back seats. Maybe the front seats were just pushed up (?)...

I'm going to check out the Volvo V50, I didn't know there was a manual version available. The new ones are all automatics...

Yeah, it was only the T5 I believe, but it was a slick-shifting 6 speed. If you can find one, in red, I'll buy it off you in a couple years.