Well, I find myself going through the same motions as the OP. My 1996 Camry was totaled (not while I was driving and no one was really hurt) and the insurance company gave me $6200 for it (not bad for a 10 year old car with 118,000 miles that cost $20k new). But it's thrown me unprepared back into the car market, and I'm trying to sort out what makes best sense for me.
I'm a little older than your average ATOT'er, about 6'4", 200++ lbs, and have a long torso that makes head room a problem.
Here's what I've learned so far...
Despite what some have claimed, even a cursory look at the latest Consumer Report tabulations of automobile reliability shows that the Japaneese car makers (Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mazda, and Nissan) are tops. Now past performance isn't an absolute guarantee of future performance -- but it's the best predictor we have.
I've looked at (what I think are) their mid-size entries: Camry, Accord, Legacy, Mazda6, and Maxima. The interiors of Accord and Legacy just don't feel as roomy as the others, so I've reluctantly put them aside. I've looked at the Mazda6 and Maxima; maybe I should do more than just "look", but they just don't seem as "polished" as the Camry. I admit that 10 years with a Camry has to have made me a bit biased. But of those five...I prefer the Camry.
One other point that matters to me (especially after the wreck) is the safety features, particularly side air bags. The new Camry comes STANDARD with front, side and curtain air bags along with one more beneath the steering wheel to protect the driver's knees. It's hard to find used Camrys (or any others) that had side air bags installed when they were optional equipment.
I've looked for used models (really of all five) because I really don't want to spend the money for a new one right now. Their resale values stay so high, however, that there's no real reward for taking on the risk (most seem to depreciate only $2k to $3k per year and there's no big drop in value for just driving one off the lot).
"Certified" used cars are even worse (I had one salesman try to sell me a "certified" Camry LE for over $20k when a new one starts at around $22k!).
I also found that most used cars on the dealers' lots are not ones they took in as "trade-ins". They acquire most of their cars through the wholesale auctions, which means that many come from out of state and they don't really know any more about their histories than you do.
Trying to avoid a new car, I also looked at a few upscale relatives: Toyota Avalon, Lexus ES300, Acura TL, Infiniti I30, and Infiniti G35. One good point is that side air bags became standard equipment on all of these years ago. So...new Camry or used luxury "sedan"?
This is where I ran into my biggest problem: those %@$# mooonroofs! :|
Almost all of these luxury cars are equiped with moonroofs (as part of some option package or another). They reduce available head room by about 1.5" to 2.0". The top of my head is literally up inside the moonroof opening in the Acura TL, Infiniti I30, and Infiniti G35. The others were only slightly better. I would need to find a nice one without a moonroof, and this seems to be practically impossible.
So it looks like I will be ordering a new Camry (probably SE; probably V6; sans moonroof; ~$25k) pretty soon.
What I really want to be doings is finding a nice used moonroof-less Infiniti G35x! :brokenheart: