Since it came up, get a CRV and drive it until the wheels come off. Seriously. Not bad prices used, won't hit 30mpg (especially when the wife drives) but won't bankrupt you either, easy height for kid seats. I had one. I do think it was the most "useful car" I've had. Yes, the Fit has an amazing ability to swallow cargo and I'd take the flat floor over a few more cubes; and the Fit saves nearly $10k on price (new or used). The CRV wasn't perfect and I complained sometimes, but I seriously cannot imagine very many people owning one and being dissatisfied.

The Impala has a gutless V6 in the base model. For the price, you can do better. Comfy, though. "Get an Accord" is the answer there :P

A lot of other cars mentioned I could comment on, but you really just need to drive a few that you like yourself. You will either love how a Hyundai feels or hate it (and if they haven't perfected their "feel" across the lineup then different Hyundai models may feel different!). Same for Honda. You can get 70% of your evaluation done within 30 seconds, and 85% in two minutes; not a big time sink