Well driving car w/ a good gearbox that won't break the bank?

I currently drive a miata, I know this is too small for you, before I go on, I know there are quicker sport roadsters for about the same amount of money (Honda and Toyota), but the honda roadster has a tendancy to be oilstarved, and the toyota has some minor faults also. The Mazda is engineered very, very well, and is one of the most reliable sports cars I have ever owned. Mine is 10 years old, and other than one set of wires and plugs and regular oil changes, one replacement of disc brake pads, and that is it. I plan on replacing the timing belt has a preventative measure, but with 100,000 miles on it, that is the total maintenance. Oh yeah, and I was it often and will be replacing the Bridgestone run flat tires soon. Mine have 100, 000 miles on them and they still have tread. It will hit 130 mph easily. The only engine mod has been a high flow, low restriction air filter.
The gearbox is perfect.

Now why I brought that up. Ford and Mazda are in bed together. Five speed gear boxes on for are made by Mazda. I have a large commute, and put a lot of miles on my vehicles quickly. I just sold my old ranger (1985) It had a 2.3 liter engine in it, which is easily Ford's most reliable engine. It had 343,000 miles on it when I sold it to a mexican farm laborer. It still had the original clutch, and ran as good when I got rid as it did new. Remember, an inline engine has more bearings on the main and cam than a v-8 or v-6 per cylinder that is. Mazda, by the way has a rotary (wankle) engine in a couple of it's sedans/ coupes and it is a torque monster stock. By the way, my ranger regularly gets 33-35 mpg on the highway, and 31 in the city. If fords don't appeal to you, perhaps Nissan or Toyota will. Remember, the more options on a car, the more things that can (and will eventually) break.

If money is an issue, Kia's may not be the most stylish, but they have come a long way. General motors engines have weakness. Some of the engines in Grand-ams for instance, have timing gears made of a composite kind of like a fiber board, and they can and often do, fail suddenly and without warning. I found that unbelievable when I encountered that in my daughter's car. It was a costly repair. All this because they saved a few bucks and didn't make the gear out of metal. Since then, I have encountered several people who had the same experience. No mor G.M. products for me!!
Depending on your lifestyle, Honda makes a SUV kind of vehicle that is very dependable, gets great mileage, and if you hunt, fish or raise dog etc., you can hose it out. Rubber floor instead of carpet. Almost any inline engine will be very dependable. Electonic fuel injection and ignition sees to that! Four cylinder cars can be suprisingly quick, and they don't have enough torque to be hard on the clutch or transmission. A ford escort in 2 wheel drive gets around 28-30 mph once broken in, have plenty of room and are peppier than you might expect. Look around and drive a little of everything because a vehicle that fits me like a glove might be uncomfortable for you.

ONE LAST THING: CHANGE THE OIL RELIGIOUSLY! i HAVE USED cASTROL GTX, AND i BROKE DOWN MY SON'S ENGINE TO DO SOME HIGH PERFORMANCE MODS TO IT, AND EVEN AFTER 200,000 MILES, THERE WAS NO SLUDGE BUILDUP IN THE ENGINE...........NONE, NADA.....ZILCH..........ZERO....GOOD OIL WILL PROTECT YOUR ENGINE AND MINIMIZE WEAR. bAD OIL OR INFREQUENT OIL CHANGES WILL COST YOU A LOT. iF YOU DO GO WITH A fORD AND GET A V-6, MAKE SURE IT IS NE WITH AN OVERHEAD CAM, NOT THE OLD PUSHROD TECHNOLOGY. bY THE WAY, IT IS NOT THE ACQUISITION OF BMW THAT IS EXPENSIVE, IT IS THE UPKEEP, AND IF YOU LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN OR A RURAL AREA, GETTING A COMPETENT MECHANIC MAY BE HARD, AND WHEN THEY SEE A BEEMER OR MERCEDES, YOU CAN HEAR THE CHA-CHING GOING OFF IN THEIR HEADS. GOOD LUCK, AND REMEMBER THAT ADVICE IS WORTH WHAT YOU PAY FOR IT!! ADVICE HERE IS FREE, SO THAT KINDA MAKES MY ADVICE QUESTIONABLE. EVERY ONE HAS AN OPINION. WHEN CONSIDERING A CAR, I ALWAYS ASK A MECHANIC OR MECHANICS FOR THEIR OPINION ON THAT MODEL'S RELIABILITY. WHEN I DRIVE BY A CAR REPAIR SHOP, I LOOK TO SEE WHAT MAKES ARE ON THEIR LOTS AND WHICH ARE NOT. SAME THING WHEN I AM DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND SEE A CAR BROKEN DOWN. THAT GIVES ME A ROUGH IDEA OF RELIABILITY. WHEN BUYING USED, TAKE IT TO A BODY SHOP AND PAY THEM TO CHECK FOR PRIOR DAMAGE I HOPE THIS HELPS. GOOD LUCK, I HOPE YOU GET A REDICULOUSLY GREAT DEAL ON A CAR. TRY TO NEVER BUY BASED ON EMOTIONS, AS THAT CAN BE A VERY EXPENSIVE APPROACH :-)))