 My wife and I can afford any type of car made, but we both bought new VW Beetle convertibles late last year, and we absolutely love them.  I have a 2005 turbo, whereas my wife picked a 2006 2.5.  The car is solid! It is amazingly quiet with the top up, and is extremely comfortable (I'm 6'3 and have more head and legroom than I did in my Toyota 4Runner!).  We both get excellent gas mileage and we feel very safe on the interstates.  I haven't had this much fun in a car since high school and college!