So my little Nissan Altima finally died out due to the transmission, and we figured it was better to just buy a newer car rather than continue sinking money into it. So I'm looking for a used car, roughly 2013-2015 model for $15k - $25k. I'm looking for reliability, safety, and MPG as the top qualifiers first and looks second. Currently thinking about the Volvo S60, seems to cover a lot of what I want. Everyone though is telling me to get a Camry however. There's something about the Camry though that just irks me the wrong way, maybe just how...bad it looks I'm not sure.
Please help me out FP, I'm not too car savvy.
Volvo might have expensive part costs, especially in America, but seems nice
as a volvo owner i say get the volvo.
Accord, Civic, Mazda 3 or 6, one of them is probably your best bet for your qualifiers if you don't like the Camry. I'd stay away from Volvos since you're likely to be out of warranty for something in that price range.
Volkswagon are quite reliable and aren't terribly expensive to repair or maintain. I've a 2013 passat and have had no issue with it (and the 2013-2015 models are basically the same). They aren't too flashy, extremely reliable, and have decent gas mileage (mine gets around 30mpg on the freeway). Jetta are fairly similar, though not as nice of cars, and the Golf is a solid all around car. As long as you avoid TDI and TSI models, there shouldn't be any issue with them.
Volvos are good if you DIY most things, some jobs are bastards and shops will kill you with labor costs.
If it's a nonturbo it won't be sporty but it'll be cheaper to maintain.
Whatever you do, buy it at a shop/reseller that has a fixed address and preferably provides warranty. You want to be able to go back after something breaks
Other than that, if you're not car savvy (like me) you just want stuff to work and drive you from a to b smoothly. Not much difference between any cars then, except price.
I made myself a decision matrix weighing all options mentioned and a few offshoots and then weighing reliability, MPG, cost, and cost to repair. So far looks like it'll be a Honda or Toyota, scoring the highest. Volvo is close second, I'm just too worried about the cost to repair some stuff if anything goes wrong which I can't afford rn. Thank you everyone for input, I'll take all this to my family and see where we go.
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