pretty sure you made your choice already, but I feel like sharing since went trough getting a new car about 7 months ago. First, I HAVE to advise to go Subaru. After going trough 4 winters with a 4cyl sonoma lowrider pickup, that fishtailed for fun, even when it just rained, then with a 1995 camaro Z28, that had so much power, in winter, you hit the breaks, and the car keeps going forward because the front tires lock up and the back tires are still sending power forward, and then to take off you need to activate your e-break so you have some control over the wheels, I have to say, any muscle car is worthless. Sure they are pretty, and they go fast, but it is a trap. I'm starting to get old and my credit stinks, so even with my salary I had to go conservative on cars. My criteria was: kind of fast, AWD is a MUST, bluetooth, sunroof and decent sound, mainly because I got tired of putting sound systems in cars and loosing value. Every single AWD car in this world that is not a subaru, is about 35k+, so I went and tested subaru. In the end, the purchase was a 2012 Subaru Legacy 2.5 Premium. Beautiful dark red paintjob that looks burgandy, no sunroof, and not a rocket on the road. It IS kind of fast, it has bluetoth and the sound is very good. The interior is amazing, with a very nice ride. You want to know the best part? I only paid 22k for the car. It is the best investment of my life! It has not given me a single problem, and the dealer threw in free maintenance for 30k miles. For a first car, if you are young, I would recommend it. If you want something a litle smaller, a Impreza is right on the money for what a first car should be, safe, reliable, AWD and cheap. If you DO have the money and you want to wreck a brand new car, then the Impreza WRX, that was my first choice but they didnt have one available. It is a 3.7sec 0-60, for 25k (BTW it has a faster 0-60 time than the STI, but the STI has a faster 0-100)
Ok enough ranting, most of you wont even read that lol and GL on your new car, I hope it is everything you want it to be and more. Ohh and, also, GO AND ENJOY HIGH GAS PRICES TO THE MAN!!! WOOOO HOOOOO!