I bought my Mazda3 sedan in 2004 for about $16,500....and I still love it. It's a little car, but surprisingly it has a lot of storage space both inside and in the trunk. I get pretty great gas mileage too (usually around 30 mpg). I know you didn't even have this an option, but I've been nothing but pleased with my car. Granted, I've only put 30,000 miles on it so far, but I've taken it on long road trips (Alabama) and had no problem.