Buying A New Small Car

[Ghiadude]

Ok so we are buying a new small car to get me to work, carry family and the occassional large load.At the moment we have a mitsibishi mirage but it has no air conditioning and no back doors which makes getting bub in and out of the back a C&*T of an act BUT HAS OTHERWISE BEEN AN EXCELLENT CAR!! it carrys more than my EL in the back.. it just cant carry 5 people when doing it!! it doesnt go very well, but is VERY economical
It now has to go as baby Lili has arrived and mum needs EL GHIA to travel with baby in climate control leather clad comfort!!!

CRITERIA FOR NEW CAR
1.must be economical
as i drive wollongong to sydney for work 35-40000kms a year
2 must have 4 doors
3 must have air conditioning
4 must have ABS(i refuse to drive a car without it in this day and age)
5 must have cruise control(lots of freeway kms)
6 must go OK ish(big hills on the way)
7 must cost less than 20k hopefullly 16-18k
8 if its 4 cylinder must be manual trans(auto would be 5h17!!)

cars we have looked at so far
toyota corolla new and used(100kw!!)
these are good and i can buy a 04 mod for exactly my price range and if i stretch the extra i can get a brand spanker
but....most dont have ABS!!! (optional) and dont have cruise control in this price range



ford focus current model
no used ones around
new are too expensive
dont have ABS!!!(optional)
but look very nice when optioned up :-(


ford falcon BA (LPG)
this is what im stuck on... a used example xt would tick all the boxes on gas!!! but may require me to stretch budget and also requires me to by 2002 model which could require repairs-thus needing a warranty of some sort


WHAT ELSE IS THERE THAT YOU GUYS CAN THINK OF??
im pretty open to suggestions although KOREANS (incl new holden badged ones are strictly out)