Choosing a new car

[arock7musicx]

Hey all, I'm gearing up to start looking for a new car. I'm all about performance, however I am going back to school. So between 60 hr work weeks and an engineering students work load, I don't have time for a project. On top of that, I'm married now and financial decisions don't get to be all about me anymore. Suffice it to say that my priorities have changed a bit.

I understand that there is not a car out there that will meet all my criteria to the extent that I would like them too. Also keep in mind that I am a fairly competent mechanic, so to find a car with a few problems that I can fix up is also an option. My budget is $5000, and here are my criteria in order of importance.

1) Low maintenance costs. That is - no premium fuel, no exotic hard to replace parts. Synthetic fluid goes into all my vehicles. A 4cyl will be cheaper to maintain than a v8 (4 plugs instead of 8, etc..) but I may be willing to make sacrifices in this area for a significant gain in performance. I don't have time for a car that needs constant minor repairs and tweaking.

2) Performance. This is going to be strictly a street car, so straight line performance and torque is important, but I'd like a car that is entertaining in the corners as well. A decent and inexpensive aftermarket would be good.

3) Comfort/space. While performance and cost are definately more important to me, it would be nice to have a vehicle I was comfortable in since most days it will be a point a <-> point b kind of thing. Also, although not vital, it would be convenient if I could fit a couple friends in there, or fit something besides a few bags of groceries. Really, space is more important to me than luxury. I can deal with a noisy ride if I get an aftermarket exhaust or suspension, but I'm 6'1" and 225 so space is important. That "isolated from the road" feeling is not desireable for me.

4) I really could care less what other people think of my car, but it would be nice to have a car that I'm proud of. A car that I'm not embarrassed to show up in. A car that I can enjoy taking care of and keeping looking good. Let me emphasize that this is the least of my concerns.

It's obvious I won't be able to have my cake and eat it to, but in all of your opinions, what vehicles are the best compromise of all of these things? Some suggestions I have heard or thought of:

First gen Dodge Neon R/T - "adequate" power ( I guess), short gearing for better acceleration, dirt cheap to own and maintain, with the biggest draw backs being a not so spacious car and well, it's not exactly a sex machine.

4.3 powered S10 - Lightweight truck with a torquey motor, a "car-like" interior, a pretty durable truck mechanically, plentiful (for junkyard parts, etc), plus the obvious other benefits of owning a truck. Downsides - NOT durable in terms of body parts etc, will probably never handle very well...

I had one friend argue the case for a 93-97 z28 camaro. Lots of performance, cheap and available parts, just need to worry about the optispark giving me problems, looks good, etc... My biggest complaints were that gas mileage will probably suck, there is no space, higher insurance costs, and I'm pretty sure it requires premium fuel.

What do you all think?