Post Saturn

[Jake]

An E46 328i or 330i would be at the least a must-drive... The 328s don't fit your power requirement (but they're pretty close, the newest 328s made, IIRC, 193 hp) but the 330 does. Highway mileage on those seems to be between 27 and 30 if you don't drive like you stole it.

This may be a bit too big for you, but what about an Infiniti I35? I only bring it up because it'll definitely fit your price range (think roughly $15 to $18 ) and gets pretty decent mileage for its size and all. My dad owns a 2002, and when I drive it, I can get somewhere around 30 mpg all-highway. City is about 22, give or take. Dad's has heated front and rear seats, a 225 HP V6 (the Nissan "VQ" that's won all sorts of awards) and an auto :-( The auto takes some fun away sometimes (as does the FWD) but if you're looking for a good highway cruiser that happens to be decently fast and fun, it may be worth a look.

As far as reliability, it's been rock solid - we've owned it since new. Sometimes it has random cold-start problems where it'll take three-ish tries to start, but aside from that (and it always starts anyway) it's been great to own.