My "opinion" is not to spend a lot of money for your first. You sound as if you have an ideal setup, yet without ever using a dash camera it's hard to know what that is. So maybe I can help you narrow it down.
Wide angle or a more of an SLR view?
Wide angle allows you to see a wide FOV yet will make cars and objects seem further away. So maybe when you say he just missed me, the wide angle will make him look not that close. On the other side you can see things that happen side to side at an intersection. Narrow will give you a fender to fender view and cars will look as close as you see them. So tailgaters look as close as they are and license plate are easier to read. Disadvantage is you can't see things as wide at intersections.
Indicator lights?
I prefer my cameras to have recording indicator lights. This helps me to see that the camera is in fact, recording. Now with that said some have none and some have them in a location that isn't natural to see while in your normal driving position. So far my favorite is the Mini 0806, with 3 lights informing me of 3 settings working perfect, which helps because it's in my rear window. The Mobius has a nice rear light which is to see while driving, while the M10 forces me to stop and really look because it's on the top.
Locking files
How easy is it to reach is the button to lock files? This is important, especially the first few months when you will save every mistake everybody else makes to show how good you drive and then post those videos here. It's normal, most people do it. Look it as evolution, gaining experience and sharing. So is the button to lock the file prominent and eay to hit while driving and how does it save that file. Does it save 30 secs, a whole clip or 2 clips. I had a situation that happened at the end of a clip so it only saved part of the incident.
Mounting location
Where will you mount it and how often will you take it with you. Of course with your weather, you will want a capacitor camera yet how often for theft reasons or other reasons will you remove it? For example I remove mine a lot because it's a battery cam and I use it outside the car. Mine has a metal tripod mount which spins on and of easy so no problem or fiddling. The Mini 0806 has a mount that the more your remove it the looser it gets, so consider that. Try to find your perfect mounting location and which camera fits it well.
Parking mode
How important is parking mode to you? If it's very important you will need to hardwire the camera to a circuit that feeds continuos power when the car is off. There are two types: Simple Motion Detect and Pre Buffer. Both use motion detection, yet the pre buffer will include some video before the actual motion was detected so its a much better system if you plan to use it. Also keep in mind that MD is useless for catching a vandal or thief, especially if he takes your car. I've used MD with success yet the MD in most cameras will activate for so many things like leaves, wind and light changes so you film a lot of useless stuff so I don't use it much anymore.
Ok I hope that helps. I didn't mention video quality because of course you will get a good quality camera, this was just to help you narrow it down. It's not perfect peeps, so no need to correct me. Oh wait this a forum, so nevermind