Several winners here. Mazdas are generally speaking less expensive and better to drive than a Toyota or Honda, with comparable reliability. Any model of Protege, 3, or 6 would be a winner. The 5 is also a cool mini-minivan thing, but that's not everybody's cup of tea. Also no timing belts is an advantage over some of the other Japanese makes.

If you even look at a Volvo or BMW you are smoking some good stuff out there in CA. It's hard to find a European car for $14k that won't need some work, but $4k.......please. If it's for your wife get her a nice practical and reliable appliance and call it a day. Or just ignore the mechanic that is trying to rip you off and drive the Versa.

Ok, so you asked about Volvos... I am one of those Volvo fans, but the short answer is that it depends on your level of OCD, and also your tolerance for DIY maintenance.

My personal opinion is that the P1 and P2 Volvos (years vary by model, but generally spanning most of the 2000's) are the used car market's best kept secret. They depreciate like rocks, but are actually much more reliable than their European luxury counterparts.

Are you open to any size? The P2 platform (V70/S60/XC70) are great cars and are probably a little nicer. But if you want something with good MPG like your Versa, you're probably looking at the S40/V50. For the latter, I would look at 2004 onwards - the redesigned platform is a lot better. The 2.5T is a peppy engine but can be pretty thirsty around town.

One reason for their low value is that the era was plagued by Aisin transmission problems. If you shop for used Volvos, you MUST verify that the transmission is ok - this means a) a lengthy test drive where the car gets fully warm, and b) documentation of either transmission replacement or religious fluid changes every ~30K miles. They will make it to 200K easily if taken care of, but have a high failure rate if not maintained.

Other than that, they are pretty bulletproof and are great bang for the buck. Just understand that like any luxury car, there are some bells and whistles that may degrade with age. My XC70, for example, has an alarm with a sealed NiCad battery in it that long ago bit the dust, and now flashes a warning message on the display after startup. It's harmless, but if you want an appliance, stick to more basic brands.

Suspension is the other thing that should be carefully noted when shopping. Like the German equivalents, bushings and shocks tend to wear out and can be expensive to fix.

For something a bit more "fire and forget", the previous Mazda suggestions are good bets. 1999-2006 BMW 325, 328, 330's are the E46 models that were referenced - also great cars, but they suffer from nickel-and-dime syndrome much worse than the Volvo's do.

Ok, so you asked about Volvos... I am one of those Volvo fans, but the short answer is that it depends on your level of OCD, and also your tolerance for DIY maintenance.

My personal opinion is that the P1 and P2 Volvos (years vary by model, but generally spanning most of the 2000's) are the used car market's best kept secret. They depreciate like rocks, but are actually much more reliable than their European luxury counterparts.

Are you open to any size? The P2 platform (V70/S60/XC70) are great cars and are probably a little nicer. But if you want something with good MPG like your Versa, you're probably looking at the S40/V50. For the latter, I would look at 2004 onwards - the redesigned platform is a lot better. The 2.5T is a peppy engine but can be pretty thirsty around town.

One reason for their low value is that the era was plagued by Aisin transmission problems. If you shop for used Volvos, you MUST verify that the transmission is ok - this means a) a lengthy test drive where the car gets fully warm, and b) documentation of either transmission replacement or religious fluid changes every ~30K miles. They will make it to 200K easily if taken care of, but have a high failure rate if not maintained.

Other than that, they are pretty bulletproof and are great bang for the buck. Just understand that like any luxury car, there are some bells and whistles that may degrade with age. My XC70, for example, has an alarm with a sealed NiCad battery in it that long ago bit the dust, and now flashes a warning message on the display after startup. It's harmless, but if you want an appliance, stick to more basic brands.

Suspension is the other thing that should be carefully noted when shopping. Like the German equivalents, bushings and shocks tend to wear out and can be expensive to fix.

For something a bit more "fire and forget", the previous Mazda suggestions are good bets. 1999-2006 BMW 325, 328, 330's are the E46 models that were referenced - also great cars, but they suffer from nickel-and-dime syndrome much worse than the Volvo's do.

I tried to make that point earlier. I would be all over a nice 4k e46 in this situation. But I'm working on it. If you are complaining about a 2k service to a Nissan you will just love the bmw bills. You can get a good e46 and keep it going to relatively cheap $$, but that means you are turning wrenches most if not all of the time. Usually straight forward work but you have to do it.

Yup. I couldn't afford anything from Europe if I was paying a mechanic. The corner mechanic will work on anything from America or Japan, but if you try to drop off a BMW he'll probably decline. Nope, that's a job for the dealer at $180/hr or an indy at $100/hr, and those are KS rates. Oh yeah, and parts costs are 2x+ online, and exponentially more at the dealership. There's a very good reason that most European cars depreciate like a brick thrown out of an airplane once the warranty is over, and it's not their stellar reliability.

I'd go for a 4-cylinder Mazda 6 or, if you just want comfort, a Chevy Impala.

Taurus is a cushy ride.

IS300. Inline 6, RWD, 5-speed, LSD, they don’t break down and are actually fun to drive. The trick is finding one that hasn’t been owned by a kid. I always recommend these as great sub $5k cars

I have found the neighborhood online classifieds have much better deals to snatch up than craigslist/ autotrader/etc fwiw

Good post. I had a beautiful, well-maintained 2001 S60 2.4T years ago that had the transmission problem. 2 flushes and it was 98% for 20K miles. It was a great car but you would have to find a well-maintained car and do the work yourself. Even the one I had I was always doing something to it. Top motor mount, there's a particular oil solenoid that goes bad, rear suspension bushings, broken shifter button, cupholder door... Easy jobs, and cheap for the most part (brand new center console with cupholder was $125 I think), but I would expect these jobs to be quite pricey if I had a shop do them and more. But the interior was wonderful, car drove beautifully though I thought this odd, it was tinnier than my 94 E320. I expected more from a Volvo.

My ex hit a guy stopped to turn at 45 mph in our leased 2002 S60 with my infant daughter in a car seat in the back, they both walked away.... pretty damn safe cars.

Well the walked away and carried my daughter...being an infant and all.