Newer car purchase Options

[Taxiwardance]

Anybody have any experience with either the Mitsubishi Lancer ES (2004-2006) or the Nissan Sentra 1.8 S (2003-2006) I am looking to buy a car on Monday and have narrowed it down to the two. I can get the Sentra for 13,990 brand new off the lot or the Lancer 2004 for 10K with 30K miles. Both are autos. I drove the Sentra and it seemed OK but the ride wasn’t that great. Haven’t drove the Lancer in about a year but I drove stick when I took it for a test drive before. I have the wife and 2 kids and just looking for a cheap get around car with 4 doors and great gas mileage. Any opinions, will be buying first thing Monday so I can make a cross country trip and I can’t make up my mind. Any other cars I should be considering, under 13K if possible. Insurance is cheaper on American cars but I can’t find anything that gets good MPG and doesn’t look like a piece of ass (Aveo)!

[AWD DSM 1]

We used to own a 99 grand am v-6. Best car we ever had. 3.4 is very peppy. We got 34mpg out on the highway and 28 around town. My sister actually owns an alero (same car under the olds name) and has 50k on it, only repairs have been brakes. Very solid, handles nice.... plus they can be found pretty cheap with a feew miles on them.