240D owner seeks daily driver, again

[rstl99]

Hi all. I've owned my 240D for over 8 years now. Rust-free southern car (I live in the north-east), it's my summer car and garage queen. Since I commute to work and need a car for winter and general all-around driving, I've always owned 2 cars (3 now, if I count the 92 Land Cruiser diesel wagon I bought for occasional off-road driving).

For the last 4 years I've driven a 92 Volvo 240 station wagon and it's generally been good to me, though it needs occasional TLC. It's starting to rust and getting up there mileage wise, but I'm hoping to get another winter out of it. Should it fail, I will be needing another car (the 240D sleeps in the garage all winter, and I don't plan on driving the diesel Land Cruiser either).

I'd want something comfortable in town and long highway runs (I'm 52), easy to get in and out of (don't like Honda cars because I find them too low to the ground), dependable and reliable (I do enough wrenching on my diesel vehicles!), versatile, able to get 25mpg+ highway, fairly rust-aversive since I'll be buying one from around here (North-east), and would have about $8-10K to spend (maybe more if I get a 2-3 year old car). I'd prefer gas engine so I don't have to contend with issues of driving diesel in the winter.

I have a bias against N-A cars, so am leaning toward Japanese or European (though am a bit put off by reliability, black-box nature and maintenance cost issues of certain cars of recent years). I'd want something that can last me a good 4-5 years before I have to consider something else. Some cars I have considered or been recommended in the past include:
- Honda CRV/Element (pricey on used market)
- Toyota Camry wagon (good specimens are rare 95-)
- Toyota Cressida (getting long in the tooth, and rare to find)
- Subaru wagon (preferably 2.2L engine, but they are getting old 96-)
- Older Lexus car

With the fluctuating price of fuel and uncertain economy, additional criteria and opportunities may come into play.

Suggestions?