We just got a second car. We've been holding off for a lot of years. It won't get used all the often, mostly for emergencies and family road trips.
Ended up finding a 2004 Mazda 6 wagon, 2.3l, 5 speed manual a few cities over for a cheap price ($2000 USD). Picked it up this weekend and drove the 400km home.
For a front wheel drive it's a very sporty drive. Great steering, nice slightly firm suspension.
Good amount of power (enough to have fun, but not enough to kill myself). I had no problem executing several overtaking maneuvers on my way home. Also has great engine note when you floor it, but is quiet when you are just cruising.
Fuel efficiency was pretty good. 7.0 liters per 100 km on my trip home.
Interior quality is OK, the plastics are nothing special, but the suede trim on the seats seems to hold up well, and feels nice. Seat comfort is on par with my old E34 BWM 5 Serries. The interior seems to improve on newer models 2006 plus. Road noise in the cabin area is slightly louder than I'd like, but perfectly acceptable.
Exterior quality is great, looks nice, factory alloy wheels are good enough. The front/rear bumpers seem to wear more easily than other cars I've owned.
Reliability, well I can't speak from personal experience but it already has 379,000 km on the clock (hence the cheap price). So obviously they can be reliable vehicles. Has a cam chain not belt, so replacement shouldn't be necessary here. Also Mazda parts don't seem to be hard to come by, and are priced well. Also plenty of room in the engine bay to work on the vehicle.
The alternative option was a Audi s4 Wagon, but I wasn't keen on buying a money pit for 2.5x the price.
All up something like this would fit the bill if you need a larger car, if you wanted something smaller then I'd go drive a Mazda 3.
For reference my previous car ownership includes BMW 5, Nissan Silvia (x2), Nissan Wingroad, Subaru Impreza, Lada Niva, and a Fiat Uno.