Thanks for your responses.
They are all in line with what I had in mind.
Driving this 2.0/ CVT match-up isn't so bad.
I depress the accelerator a little to get rolling then then once moving I depress about 1/3 to 1/2 full throttle and there is a good steady response of acceleration.
This car can catch up off the line to 50 mph in good time.

She can cruise on a highway at 65 to 70 mph all day.

“Quite honestly, if you expect only to do about 100k miles on a new car, it can be almost any car“
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Not sure about that, Dan. A lot of warranties (non-luxury vehicles) run out at 3 year/36,000 mile for bumper to bumper and 5 year/60,000 miles for powertrain. I wouldn’t be caught owning many of these vehicles outside of warranty, including for example GM, FCA, and Hyundai Motor Group products.
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100,000 miles may not seem like much but, sadly, a lot can still go wrong between when the warranty expires and 100,000 miles.

@DayWalker,
For $18k-$20k almost all new cars are decent, the really bad ones are usually more expensive then that.
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There's no doubt that the Corolla is the best you can get at this price,
The following is just examples of how most cars at that price are decent:
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For example, the $20k Nissan Kicks, we're talking about a Renault H4M (Great engine, routinely put on "best 2000s engines" lists) mated to a refined and much improved Jatco CVT (basically the 3rd generation of their worst transmission, but these seem to last just fine) - if you change the transmission fluid frequently these last.
I mean OP has got 160k miles on his Dodge with the unreliable Jatco JF011E, he shouldn't have any issues getting 100k miles with the improved more reliable version.
I'd suspect these would have minor issues here and there but that overall they'd be more than decent (for owners who drive them as you should drive a CVT)
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Another good example would be the $21k Hyundai Kona SE - It has a NU-series based 2.0L MPi engine that should be great, (in most cases) mated to the good old proved 6 speed automatic. That's a car that does above 30MPG in city and still delivers 150 horsepower.
This configuration is unpopular, most people buy the fancier ones - but the basic ones probably can be decent cars.
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I have owned Hyundai MPi+AT cars out of warranty and they have been great, It didn't age as good as others and it was quite mediocre - but it was cheap and it didn't have major mechanical issues.
As a matter of fact I own a new Kia product (a European spec Stonic) with a MPi engine mated to exact same 6 speed conventional transmission (A6GF1) that the Kona MPi comes with, and mine came with an unlimited milage bumper-to-bumper 3 year warranty - and I often see these used as delivery cars, corporate cars, driving instructor cars, taxies, and pretty much everyone who'd wear out a car in 3 years and most of them still have the original engine and transmission after 150k+ miles.
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And, another really nice car at $22k is the Ford EcoSport has a 2.0L DuraTech engine (These are very durable, shares about 90% of parts with the ones as Volvo and Mazda used to use in their sports coupes), mated to a 6 speed Select-Shift transmission (It could be a 6T?? but it's probably an Aisin, either way all SelectShift 6 speed Ford small conventional automatics are alright)
Again, this car probably won't be flawless but it's defiantly decent.
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I can't think of many brand new $20k cars that are bad.
The Renegade is a bad cheap car but it's 25k.
The Jetta isn't great at all, but all automatics are above $25k.
If it'd had to pick two BAD $20k cars, I'd say that the Chevy TrailBlazer, Ford Maverik Hybrid both have the potential to be terrible, but that's not verified yet.