I went into ME field for the same EXACT reason! I wanted to design cars! At first, I realized that if I wanted to design cars I had to move to Michigan (something I did NOT wanted to do). So to tie me over, I started working for industrial automation company (robot design). My first boss happened to be an ex-Ford engineer, who just left Ford after 6 years there (this was back in '94/'94). He was on the modular V8 engine design team (the folks who ACTUALLY designed that engine!!!), which sounded very cool to me!
That is when he introduced me to the reality of "designing cars"... Very few engineers actually design cars! Everyone is highly specialized, so they are all working on components: a hinge, a bracket, or small structure/mechanism. And when it comes down to such component design, does it really matter if it ends on Ford Mustang or the next robot that is going to build that Ford Mustang? His mentor at Ford was PHD engineer who did nothing but crank bolts for almost 30 years (BOLTS!!! and nothing else!!!)
I, eventually, decided to stick to designing robots and did LOTS of car work (wrenching, fabricating, tuning and racing) as a side hobby.
As for specific areas, you better like Michigan if you want to design on cars... (because that is where you will find most of automotive jobs).
New England doesn't have many automotive engineering jobs (there is Factory Five, Callaway, and a few limo design/building companies), but... there are plenty of other ME jobs! So if you are having a hard time find any job, and willing to go into some other field, check out Mass and Southern NH.
Something else to consider, not only automotive engineering jobs are rare, they also do not pay as much as other fields. One of my friends got a job offer at Callaway (in CT) as an FIA analyst. He spent years trying to get into that place! But the offer was so low that he had to pass on it.
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