Car to get

Hi guys...I'm in the search for a car b/c my old one (1982 MB sec 500 <3 ) is pooping out. Any suggestions would be great!

Here's my criteria:
a) Reliable and/or inexpensive to maintain (relatively)
b) fuel efficient
c) decent performance for price/efficiency (obviously not expecting a cheap car to drive anything near a corvette, or to get good mpg and still fly...but you get the picture)
d) cannot be made by an asian company (Yea, I know that's a pretty big portion of the market to cut out, but my dad, who's paying for most of it, wont let me get an asian car)
e) not an suv or a truck
f) manual tranny
g) at the very most, around 15k dollars
h) safe (good crash ratings)
i) good handling

I know that's kind of a lot to consider, but if you have any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. So far I've looked at 2 generation old bmw 3 series, saab 9-3s, volkswagen gts, lots of things, but I'm sure there's more out there.

thanks

If you want reliable, asian is the best way to go unfortunately (honda, subaru, toyota are the japanese "big 3"). I think its ridiculous that he won't consider an asian vehicle cuz they'd probably satisfy this the best, but that's me.

None of those cars listed will be that "inexpensive" to maintain (they're all european). Saab 9-3 doesn't really handle that well, 3 series is best in its class (wait for moderator Dinan, he'll tell you), volkswagen golf is pretty good (worth considering).

I highly recommend a saturn vehicle. The only thing that it doesn't fit from the criteria is performance. The L-series has a V6 however so that may work. The ecotec in the ION has potential if you upgrade it.

I got some Fat Tire in me so it's hard to think of others but I'll post again if some come to mind.

If you want reliable, asian is the best way to go unfortunately (honda, subaru, toyota are the japanese "big 3"). I think its ridiculous that he won't consider an asian vehicle cuz they'd probably satisfy this the best, but that's me.

None of those cars listed will be that "inexpensive" to maintain (they're all european). Saab 9-3 doesn't really handle that well, 3 series is best in its class (wait for moderator Dinan, he'll tell you), volkswagen golf is pretty good (worth considering).

I highly recommend a saturn vehicle. The only thing that it doesn't fit from the criteria is performance. The L-series has a V6 however so that may work. The ecotec in the ION has potential if you upgrade it.

I got some Fat Tire in me so it's hard to think of others but I'll post again if some come to mind.

It's unfortunately a personal vendetta. He was (and still is) in the electronics repair industry, and if anyone recalls, the asian companies gutted the american ones in the 70s-80s...lost him a looooot of business since the norm went from expensive electronics that you'd want to repair to cheap electronics that you throw away and re-buy. I symphatize somewhat, but it's still a pretty ridiculous view.

Anyway, that's off on a tangent.

I'll look into that Saturn...I like all those european cars but they are so expensive to maintain from what I hear. I'll still consider a 3 series though, I really like those cars. But I heard that 1992-1998 ones had some serious problem with their VANOS and it usually busted around the 100k mark, is that true?

Anyway, thank you, I'm researching the saturns now.

Any more suggestions are welcome!