You guys are coming up with some great suggestions and questions that I dont know the answer to yet. Dave, you brought up some good points, and thank you for the quick reviews.
Honestly, I think what I want is some form of sport luxury. Ideally, a new cts vsport has my attention, but is out of my range. I have always had 'sporty' cars so the firm suspension and engine/exhaust noise would not be a deal breaker. Rich, thanks for the suggestion regarding the dealer pep cars. I have put a few calls in to some dealerships to see what they have - unfortunatley nothing I am interested in, but the cars they did have had an attractive discount.
I drive more than average for my job which averages 30-40k a year, so I think I need to be a little more mature about my choice and consider something awd and good in the snow. a CTS V would have hurt me pretty bad with the winter we had here in Michigan.