A Car Guy's Dilemma!

My name is Meyer and I am a car addict. I admit it. The smell of the fresh leather, the shine of the new paint, the footprint of the new tires even makes me happy. Mostly my poison of choice is performance or luxury cars. A new BMW is a great fix for my jones. But, these days with fuel prices so high I find myself more attracted to, well, uh, I hate to admit it. Ok, I'll say it-GAS MILEAGE!! ARE YOU HAPPY!! It's not just the money, I swear--even though that's a huge factor. I really think it's more about not giving more money to the middle eastern oil producing countries. The fact that they have us over a barrell literally, makes me want to do everything that I can to rebel. One of the issues I struggle with is public perception. Are there any others on this forum that feel the same way? Does a new Honda Civic say, "This guy is a very intellingent, conservative person that sees the value in buying economical transportation that conserves fuel," or does it say, "This guy isn't successful enough to drive a big Lexus."

The car I drive today is a Lexus GX470 and it's a great car. But, it's a mammoth. It guzzles gas, handles like an elephant and is hard to park. I didn't feel that way when I bought it because, well, I had a Corvette as my third car and I didn't have to drive it everday. Yes, I got rid of the Corvette. So yesterday I took a test drive in the new Civic and I really liked the car. It handled well, was very spritely for an economy car, had amazing visibility and a cool cockpit and gauge cluster. I love the way the car looks on the outside too. My wife thinks I am crazy and that I'll be sick of it in two weeks and back to the luxury vehicles that I am used to.

Has anyone here made the switch from luxury to economy and been glad they did? I'd love to know. I am jonesing for a new car and want to make a decision that will scratch my itch! It's usually about every three years that I do this so I don't want to be stuck with something that I don't like.