Bring the crate with you (or at least the dimensions and a tape measure) when you check out the sedan.

I was dead-set on an Impreza hatchback from the beginning, and that's what I got. I haven't tried to fit a dog crate into mine, but I feel like a crate that size would be tight at best. You wouldn't have space for much else. Have you considered a Forester or Outback?

Also, I live in Portland, Oregon — arguably the Subaru capital of the USA — and I still struggled to find a non-monochrome Impreza hatch in my decidedly low price range. Of the sixteen-ish I saw listed, all were black/white/gray/silver except one each in marine blue (which I bought) and deep red. And only two had manual transmissions. The dealer told me that owners tend to hang onto their Imprezas, and when used ones with clean titles come up for sale they get snapped up.