Help us choose a new car!

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With baby #4 on its way in about 2 months, we're facing a big decision: buying a car that will fit 6 people. We love our 2003 VW Golf, a diesel-powered car that also runs on used vegetable oil thanks to a Greasecar conversion kit. We get 45+ miles per gallon, and we love the compact design. We're so sad that we have to find a new car...and we've been frustrated at how few choices there are in North America.

We've lived in France, where you'll find tons of ingenious sedans or ultra-compact minivans that carry 6-7 people. Almost all come with manual transmissions and diesel-fueled models, giving a fuel efficiency that comes close to our Golf.

But here? There are really only two choices: minivan or SUV. No thanks.

So we need help finding a new vehicle. Here's what we're looking for, in order of importance:

• Seats 6+ people
• Good fuel economy
• Manual transmission (a.k.a. stick shift)
• Not too big
• Around 3-6 years old, $8-10K maximum budget
• Diesel fuel (we can always wish...)

So far, Eric has found ONE car sold in North America that meets most of these qualifications: the Mazda 5. It is the size of a car and looks like a tiny minivan. It seats 6 people and has the option of manual transmission. It gets around 21 mpg city/28 mpg highway, which isn't fantastic but is better than SUVs and other minivans.

Are there any other vehicles in the North American market that meet our needs? Please, please let me know if you find anything else! We only have 2 months left to look.

ps--anyone want to buy our VW Golf? It has 108K miles, heated seats, power windows, Monsoon sound system, roof rack, Greasecar conversion done in 2006 (secondary 13-gallon heated fuel tank for waste VO), and more. You can fit 3 car seats side-by-side: 2 front-facing & 1 rear-facing, or 2 front-facing and 1 booster.