As a suggestion you might want to look at Accords, Camrys, or Cavaliers. These are very much available as automatics and get good fuel economy. They're very reliable vehicles (yes, even the Chevy) that seem to fit what you want. I know some people soup these up for racing but they do that to pretty much any small to midsize car these days. There are also good minivans out there like the Nissan Quest, Honda Odessey, Ford Windstar. I rode in a Windstar rental when I was in Chicago last year and it impressed me. The Windstar is discontinued and replaced by the Freestar but at this point you won't find a Freestar for under $10,000.
You should look for something within 2-6 years old and possibly off lease. This is usually where you can find good deals on vehicles since they have already depreciated in price enough and still have 70,000 or less miles and plenty of life left. Some vehicles will even have the remainder of the factory warranty left.
I bought a '97 Toyota Camry LE in 2001 with 46,000 miles on it. It was an off-lease vehicle (I will never buy new, since you will lose several grand just driving it off the lot) and it currently has over 81,000 miles on it with no problems. It's also great on gas with it's 4 cylinder. My previous everyday driver, which I still own, is a '87 Chevrolet Caprice Classic 9 passenger wagon. I went through 4-5 tank fulls of gas a week with that so the Camry made a big difference in that department. The Caprice has a 8 cylinder (307ci) with currently a tad over 167,000 miles. We also have 3 Saturns in our family which have been good cars.
The main thing to remember is get something that YOU feel comfortable with and like. We can, and should, only give you suggestions and ideas. Look around and see what's available with the options you want, in your price range, and meets your needs. Test drive a few different vehicles and see how you like them and you may decide that a certain model or class of vehicle isn't for you.
Good luck in your search
Jason
Oh Wait! One last thing. If you get a wagon or van just be prepared to be asked by your team to "chuffer" the robot around to different team events.
You will be amazed at how many times I've used my Caprice wagon for the team!
