What kind of car should I buy?

A honda civic. They’re really good cars, easily worked on since they’re super common, and blend in easily. not too fancy, not too crappy.

If I were you, I would look at a Toyota camray or corolla. Great, dependable cars

@FluffyChicken – Civics are good cars, but I don’t think 5 people plus cargo could fit in there too comfortably.

I love my VW Passat. Mine is a 2006 3.6 V6 that I bought in 2010 after my car was totalled. it had 40k miles when I got it and now has 108k and I’ve only had to do maintenance and the radiator went. It fits 5 comfortably and has a huge trunk, plus the rear seats fold down. There is a wagon model, too. The latest Consumer Reports lists my specific model as a poor value, so perhaps I got lucky. This is my 4th VW and they’ve all done well for me.

I shopped for a year and ended up with a Toyota Corolla. So far I’m quite well satisfied.

I just got a Ford Escape and I love it so far.

Mazda 3 four-door. Looks good and is relatively cheap. Not on any top 10 lists of cars to steel. 3 peeps in the back is tight if they are tall, but otherwise it’s ok. Also, great mileage. We avg 32mpg in SF.

Hondas are generally nice… but are also often stolen, usually to break down for parts. Same with Camrys to a lesser extent. Such is the price of a popular car.

I love Corollas, but seating 5 instead of 4 makes me edge away from them. I would look at Mazdas as they are reliable, reasonably priced, and overall decent cars.

@hearkat I don’t trust any VW after about ‘89; too many problems, mostly electrical, and generally expensive to fix. Hell, it costs almost as much to replace the spark plugs on a new VW as it does to replace the entire engine on an A2-series, and the latter doesn’t require special, dealer-only tools/training the way the former does.

Ford Fusion, Nissan Altama, VW Passat, Honda Accord, and Kia has a few options. I think all of these have base models starting below $25k, and even the base models have several options already. Nissan and Honda I have had the best experience with for reliability and overall comfort and logic regarding the dashboard, but I have not owned one in a few years. You might check Mazda also, I am not familiar with their models anymore, but that like my other Japanese cars had zero problems (except a Nissan I owned over 10 years, somewhere around year seven I had to start fixing things). Most cars I own for less than 5 years.

@jerv I have a two year old VW GTI and have not had one problem. I lean Japanese car for reliability as you can see from what I said above, because usually German and American have some problems, but I am pleasantly surprised with my VW so far. Do you think theft for parts is a consideration for newer cars?

@JLeslie Do you know how much airbags sell for? Yes, I’m a bit concerned, especially if SF is anything like it was last time I was there.

@jerv – I’ve had 1987, 1995, 2000 and 2006 VWs. My fiancé has a 2011. My son has a 2008. My mother had a 1986 and still has her 1999. None of these cars had major electrical issues or needed a lot of repair. Because we put a lot of miles on the cars, we got the extended warranty just in case, but only had to use it for the radiator. Fortunately for us, my son is an apprentice technician at an Audi dealer, so he’s been taking care of the maintenance for the past year.

@hearkat YMMV. I can only go based on my experience and that of my VW-owning friends.

yeah… my VW owned me. I loved it to pieces, but it was a money pit

@jerv – does that mean you don’t count me among your friends?

@hearkat No, but if you’ve had good luck with post-1989 VWs, then you are in the minority amongst them.
Maybe it’s that yours never saw a real winter, complete with road salt, in an area where dirt roads are common? Salt water and deep mud tend to make otherwise reliable cars horrible, so I have a higher standard of “reliable”. Also, an ‘02 Jetta cannot go mud-bogging the way an ‘89 Golf can… which made it impossible for one of my friends to even get within a mile of my old house 8 months out of the year.

I love Fiat 500, very nice look and fashion.

@jerv – NJ has bad ice problems on the roads since we’re a coastal state, so we don’t need very low temps or a lot of precipitation in winter, they still salt the roads regularly. Yes, the MkII models were better for mud bogging, but my ‘00 MkIV Golf made it through a flooded roadway that was well above the door jams (a one-way underpass ramp onto the turnpike, I watched a Mercedes go through before I entered; numerous cars were lined-up behind me and there was nowhere else to go). I do find that the standard trans in the MkII-IV was more reliable than the automatics. But the DSG trans in the later models has been a pleasure – the ‘06 Passat is my first Automatic VW.

@fennerowj21 – Welcome to Fluther! I’ve seen the Fiats on the road but never got a close look at them. I don’t have the impression that they can seat 5 and hold much cargo, which the original poster (OP) mentioned as being a necessity.

If you’re going to have 5 people in the car often I don’t recommend a Fiat or any other two door car. As a kid I climbed over the seat many many times, and when we finally got a 4 door car it was like winning the lottery. Right up there with finally getting a color TV.

If you are looking forward a comfortable car to drive it with your family. So, I would like to tell you that Honda Civic is great option. You must purchase this one because it’s an affordable choice for you and there is great features in this car.

I am another voter of the Honda Civic. They are nice and roomy, IMO.

If you are living in SF, beware of large naked women stomping on cars slightly NSFW image with article

In my experience, I’ve found both Hondas and Nissans to have the best mechanical track record.

Chevrolet Cavalier/ Cobalt LAST FOREVER

I have a Honda and I am now a Honda convert. The car definitely costs less to maintain than other cars I have had (which used to be Nissans because I loved Nissans). This car has had minimum problems even though I put a lot of mileage on it.

@norah: What kind of car did you end up buying?