[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

an unmolested Accord from the late 90's.


Nuff said.

Exactly. Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, or later model Ford. Sometimes their luxury counterparts get forgotten when they get older, so also look at Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, and Lincoln.

If your daughter isn't mechanically inclined then she'll be of the mindset to turn the radio up when the car starts making funny noises. Which of course will lead to her broken down somewhere at the worst possible time, and calling you. I cannot fathom putting my daughter into an 24 year old cheap German car.

In regards to this one, you'll want to watch for Nikasil, valve cover leaks, intake manifold leaks, suspension bushings, cooling system, power seat cables, falling headliner, failing instrument pixels, switches, and a variety of electrical gremlins. My E34 540i/6 was my favorite BMW, but I still think it was inferior build quality compared to a similar generation Mercedes.