FYI, I am a Ph.D. not a MD.... and my Ph.D. is in transportation planning. FutureDoc name comes from marrying into a family of "doctors" that are really DVMs. This process has been 18+ months for me. At the end of the day, I rather have a GT car. I have the no-compromise sports car... this is something that I can flog when I want, be a good long-distance 1 person cruiser, and not be illegal to transport the kid(s) in.
If Subaru still made the Legacy 2.5GT it would be a done deal. I looked around for them (hard to find) and did not find any decent options (ie low miles or unmodified). I would be arrested in a WRX with my pink socks, wingtips, and a decent credit score... as they know I stole the car.
Baby is 11 months old. Gymnastics is not an issue (despite being 6'3"). I will always take some inconvenience (see the MR2 1.5cuft of storage space) for other attributes. I have transported him in my older Subaru a total of 14 times in those 11 months. If we drive him around, it is always the newer outback. I have driven him in the MR2. Twice. It was in not-really-semi-emergency scenarios. I am selling the older subaru. 95% of all my trips are by myself. Thus having two family haulers is redundant and an automatic is killing my soul.
I was planning to drive the older Subaru 10% of the time and that was the case before the kid (and new work schedule), now it is about 70% of the time compared to the 30% MR2... or less. Safety is a concern as there was a nasty wreck involving a Gen 1 Outback on my road (t-bone) that has pushed the decision forward a few months. I also just paid off the newer Subaru, Mrs and I got a 7K pay increase, and I will have 5.2K in teaching coming in the fall.
FiST vs FoST. I did look at the Focus ST. If the ST was AWD or the RS was cheaper, then it was a better candidate. I am looking for car that is a little less "I am going to torque steer you into the tree if you sneeze". Some parts of that were fun but I wanted a bit more "calm" for the price. It is nice but I liked the FiST better and it was cheaper. I also had to buy two new Fords for work and it has not gone well.
I did look at a CPO 2 series (most likely the 228i). Mrs/baby was not with me but it would be tight. Price is the other issue. Although, we could easily afford 30K and a bit over, I am keeping it to 25K (or as close to it) OTD. Gen Coupe is 25.5K OTD and I can keep it to 48 months with very low financing (sub 2.5%). Did the math and I am taking the $1000 over the 0.9 as I pay back early (normally in 2/2.5 years). Another option was a 2009-2011 Audi S5 with the 4.2. However, my wife does not really care for it (she says I am not there yet). She "does not see me in it". She said "no" to the 2006 911.
Infinit knocked out for price if new ($6K premium for the manual). Used are "ok" but finding manuals are harder. Also, I am not crazy about the styling.
Accord Coupe: Brother had one so it is off the list.
Did I cover everything?