In an ideal world, this was going to be my route during the next ~10 years:
1998.5 Contour SE --> E0 SVT --> Mazda 6s --> BMW 325i
However, it's not an ideal world. I want to replace my car now. Not gonna get an Ford for a daily driver, and the Mazda is still out of my current budget. A used E46 BMW is doable but maintenance/insurance is rather high for a kid about to graduate college.
I am looking at vehicles .. found an interesting one that hopefully I can jump on .. but we'll see. Mum's the word till I obtain one.