Practical and mid-life crisis don't often go hand in hand but there is hope!
The VW GTI has been lauded repeatedly as the most practical "hot hatch" out there. It is fast, comfortable, can carry 4 people or lots of gear, gets decent mileage - many owners report getting 35+ mpg highway. It has a great back up camera for your less mobile neck woes. It ticks all your other boxes as well including price. While reliablity is not necessarily VW's strong suit the Mark VII (2015 + model), is generally reliable. For some reason there are many owners with problems & many without - it is kinda a conudrum. However, the 2018's longer warranty can help mute that concern. Multiple long term reviews by a variety of car test sites have found it to be pretty trouble free over 20,000+ miles. Just google "GTI long term review" and you will get a gaggle of them.
If you like the wind in your hair & can discard the practical card there is always a Miata. A more practical ragtop would be the Audi A4 convert (not sure you can get that for $35K).
http://roving.media/reviews/2016/1/25/life-with-gti-long-term-test-introduction Note in his intro that he & family members have had uniformly good experience with VW/Audi products.
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