Well the 91 Buick Regal is growing long in the tooth, and after 2 1/2 years of aggressively paying down debt and working on improving my credit, my credit union approved me for a new car loan today at a very fair rate.  So I'm looking to buy a new car with the following in mind.  Any advice is appreciated as this will be my first purchase on my own.

I applied for $15,000 which they approved.  Might be able to get more, but $15,000 is all I can actually afford on my current salary without really straining the monthly budget.

I have $3,000 of my own money to put down.  So total budget for everything including tax, title, registration is $18,000.  I would however prefer to put a $1,000 in a savings account for rainy days.

My credit union considers anything 2001 or newer to be a new car.  So I need not buy a new 2003 or 2004.

I am a fairly big guy, so sub-compacts are out.  The cars I am leaning toward are:

Hyundai Sonata or Elantra
Honda Accord
Toyota Camry
Mitsubishi Galant
Volkswagen Jetta

The only features I insist on having are automatic transmission and AC.

What do you all think of Carsdirect.com?  Seems they have a pretty good idea as to what people on average are paying.  Looks like I can get a 2003 Sonata V6 with automatic for around $15,300 after rebate.  So around $16,500-$16,600 with Tax, Title and Registration.

Anybody know if Hyundai's warranty is fully transferable?  They have a nice 2003 on the lot with 17,000 miles and all options including the sunroof for $14,500 and you could probably get them down to $13,500-$14,000.

Thanks in advance,
Hiram

I'd go for the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.  If you take proper care of those cars, you can easily take them past 200K miles.