Buying a new car. Part 1

My wife has given me the green light to buy a new car in the next x months.  This is a double edged sword as I do love cars but feel their expense is disproportional to the value they add to my life.  Like past posts, the decision to buy something (especially something so technical, sp expensive and so style focused) is a very complex process these days.

I've been thinking of ways to make the decision, but what would the decision tree look like and where do we start ?

So here are the major decision points to consider.  These are quite specific to our needs and wants but should be translatable to others.

• Budget ?  Do we lease or buy ?  How much can we afford per month and for how many years ?
  
  
• Type of car ?  Do we want to continue with station wagons (estates as they say in Europe; and the last 3 cars we've had; but very little choice in Canada) or move to an SUV, compromise to a quirky crossover, or squeeze back into a sedan ?
  
  
• Size ?  Can we downsize a little ?  Time to consider a smaller SUV or open up the search to a vast number of sedan choices and top it with a roof storage system ?  Or do we stay with a full size car or more likely an SUV as our children are ready to get behind the family vehicle ?
  
  
• Manufacturer ?  We've had European and Japanese cars and I should add my very first car I partially owned with my dad was a Pontiac (Firebird). So now the choices are Korean, Japanese, European (German and Swedish) and maybe American.  But it's not just the origin (as cars from multi-national manufacturers are made all over the world), but it's the style, the feel and quality of the choices today, better warranties versus pedigree versus value versus handling and performance.  

So, darling, where would you like to start ?  And don't say colour.