Thanks for the advice. Dodge has a weird logo on the grill now. Even makes the Charger look bad. I was looking around at Kia, I must have missed the Fortes. The Honda Accords, have a stupid grain on the cloth seats. I can see his son getting crumbs, in every possible cranny. Those and the CRX are a bit out of the range we could negotiate. I like those smaller cars, but I don't drive. My partner is a hulking barbarian, and wouldn't be comfortable.
I fully understand - the place I work has a large amount of large people (which vary from the overweight to the Vikings, like your partner) and I hear all about how they like small cars. It's a shame they don't make them more adjustable (but then again, I'm pretty sure that insurance has some stupid policy which makes it hard to implement without the intended customer base being buttfucked by skyrocketing rates). But yeah - if you ask me, maybe you should wait and save a little to build up a slightly bigger budget, because most cars that sound like would be ideal for you are out of your current one. Unless it can't wait because it's essential work transportation? If it is - you might want to look into older/used models (though it's almost guaranteed they'll have a worse fuel efficiency - the last few years were very productive in that regards)
I have a story about the Fit. I'm a big, wide guy, and I have long legs. I test drove a Fit, twice, and barely fit into the car. I ended up buying a Scion xA and love the stupid little thing. The xA won't win any races, but I can eek out 38MPG if I drive like a grandma. My telescope easily fits into the xA, but will not fit in the Honda, despite the Fit being slightly larger. I'm happy that you like your Fit; hopefully they make more 5-door hatchbacks as that is my favorite car style. The next car is either going to be a Ford C-Max, Mazda 3 5-door or a Prius V. Hopefully the current car holds out for a few more years as the plan is to roll into a dealer at exactly 200K miles and get a new vehicle.
When we were looking, there were no xAs that hadn't been ridden hard and put away wet. It seemed like a nice little car but there weren't any specimens available that weren't beat to shit. Not so with the xD - lots of hard plastic in the wrong places. I was physically incapable of getting into the passenger seat without banging my knees on a dashboard that had no excuse to protrude as far as it did. We were looking for a used Fit but because Honda had brought them to the market so late, and discontinued them 9 months later, the delta between a used 08 and a new 09 was less than a thousand dollars. New it was. What's your scope? Back up in WA I've got a 10" Coulter f/4.5 Dobsonian and it will fit in a... Fit no problem. Of course, I can easily see the problems an equatorial mount would engender.
The xD is awful. The engine compartment is bigger, the passenger compartment is cramped, there is less cargo room, it is a heavier car, it gets less gas mileage than the car it replaced, the xA. The xA was originally a mini delivery van in Japan that they "youthed" up for the US market and targeted at first time car buyers. I got mine for about $12K and don't regret the purchase at all. As young first time buyers were the target of the car I'm not shocked that you saw so many used in bad shape. There is also an incredible after-market and tuner community around this and the xB. The xB is just something that I cannot see myself driving; if I need something like that I'll get a Mazda 5 minivan. The main telescope is a 14" Orion Dob that I use for myself and for outreach events. I also have an 80mm Stellarvue on an iOptron mount that I take images with (poorly). Both scopes, camping gear, laptops, batteries and supplies for a few days out in the middle of nowhere fit easily. Like I said, I'm gonna miss this little jerk when I have to trade it in.