So after looking at four door sedans a few things came into play. I would have bought the Porsche in a heartbeat except the gas mileage kills that for me as a daily. I am not a Mercedes guy at all, everyone I know that has them hates them and I've never driven one I've liked. So then it came down to BMW, Audi, or Alfa. Audis are great cars, I've driven several, but the interior is way to cheap VW now. BMW was a bit faster, but the Alfa won me over for handling and looks. It's also the most comfortable of the choices I drove. The reason you are seeing a surge is because of the prices of these cars, they have dropped to sub 25k levels for a used one and it's honestly the best value for dollar on the market.