Car under $25,000 (and request for general new car buying advice)

[JaredL]

Unfortunately, my and Mrs. L's car was stolen from across the street of our apartment on Saturday. For those familiar with Pittsburgh, I live in Squirrel Hill which I can say fairly confidently is the least crime ridden neighborhood in the city. Apparently the 1998 Dodge Neon was irresistible.

If it isn't found in the next few weeks we'll need to get a new car. We were hoping our car would last until I finish grad school next year but it looks like that's not going to happen. Since I'm not balla like some here, we're looking to spend less than 25 grand, preferably somewhere in the 18-23 band. We would much prefer to get a new car to a used one.

Before getting into specific vehicles, this will be my first time buying a car. My wife bought ours used about 4 years ago when I was in Pittsburgh and she was in Oregon. Any general buying tips would be great. We have already secured a loan at 6.2% so unless we get some special deal we're good to go on financing.

The primary use of the car is for my wife to use for work. She works at multiple preschools around Pittsburgh and does a lot of city driving. For this reason and because we're hippies, fuel efficiency is more important for us than the average person for whom it matters little. Reliability and overall performance are important as well. I'm not looking to race or anything but don't want a total slug.

The first car we'll probably look at is a Honda Civic sedan. We are also considering getting a Mini, which I suspect I'll take [censored] for. We have a friend that has one so we're somewhat familiar with them and I'm familiar with Hondas as my parents have had a couple Accords and I know a few people with a civic. People seem pretty happy with them. Having looked at random reviews the Mazda3 looks like a possibility as well.

What other cars would you guys suggest?

Any and all comments appreciated.

Jared