Two words -- Honda Civic. My son, a year ago, freshly married and starting a job paying a salary that is more than I EVER earned per year (and I was mid-level military officer) chose a Honda Civic. Previous vehicle was an Acura Integra.
He has NO regrets. Fun, amazingly roomy, economical, and reliable. And very slow depreciation. I tried to talk him into the hybraid, but engineer that he is he pulled out his slide rule, bounced cost against fuel prices (then), and said that it was almost a wash.
