Fuel efficient family vehicle with some testosterone

Take a look at two Subaru's - the Forrester and the Outback. AWD, heated seats, a lot of safety features but not all you are suggesting to keep it in the price range, they will meet your fuel consumption needs and are all around long lasting, great vehicles. To get Nav in either, you will exceed your price threshold so good on Garmin and smartphones. Also, with Bluetooth you can download Google Maps on your phone and turn by turn directions will transfer to your car speakers.

If onlyl Passat were selling a wagon (I had one with AWD). That would more than solve the back seat room issue for your son. If you could find a used one with low miles and in good condition, you would have to consider it. Yes, Maintenance cost will be a little higher for the German mantra, what a comfortable and safe vehcile on the road. Don't rule it out. The Jetta Sportwagon TDi will exceed 40 mph but back seat is tight.

Good luck with your search.

I'd agree with the previous responder that you sound like you have some Subaru-ish requirements. The Mazda CX-5 may also be an option. Its various trims hit a lot of the stuff on your want list, they handle well for as tall as they are, and they are generally reliable. The Honda CR-V and Toyota Rav-4 don't get as good road test scores as the Subarus or CX-5, but they have a lot of your features in or very close to your price range coupled with great reliability.

If you do want the safety features, then it's going to be a Subaru. Nobody else offers as comprehensive a safety package in your price range. Unfortunately, these are in short supply, so you'll probably have to pay close to sticker.

Jeep offers about as many features on the new Cherokee, but you have to buy more other things to get them. So while the Cherokee might be worth looking at, I'm not sure you can get one with the features you want at a price you'll like.

I feel the most helpful safety feature is forward collision warning, followed by blind spot warning. You can get the first on the closest thing to your current vehicle, a Chevrolet Equinox. The Equinox also has a huge amount of rear legroom. It is a dated design at this point, and lacks some of the latest features (such as passive entry), but this should also make a big discount easy to come buy. So you can probably get one with all the features you want within your price range.

I haven't reviewed an Equinox recently, but did review the related GMC Terrain last year. The Terrain has a bit more testosterone than the Equinox, but also costs a bit more.