Try looking at Hondas - Civics or Accords. Functionality is pretty high in them, of course reliability is also very good. Problem is, if you're coming into such a car from a 535, it's going to feel cheap.
We used to have a 94 Lexus ES300. It was a wonderful car, very comfortable, simple controls, everything worked (all the little stuff like window switches, power seats, etc) right up until we got rid of it at close to 200K km (125K miles). The oil thing I ever remember having to fix was a crack in the brake line. Not expensive, but made for a scary trip to the shop with very weak brakes
I miss that car.