Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron O
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I'd vote 2 previous generation Civic sedan, if the leg room is okay. 2007-2011. If you can find a later model with 50k miles you'll probably see 200k miles, based on what I've seen. My brother has an Si with almost 190k miles on it, he lives in the boonies, drives it like a utensil and not a show car, it's gotten scraped in the parking lot, etc.
Low maintenance. Nothing weird that I know of. Easy to park, short overhangs. Fast enough, Si is actually fun.
Another would be, pending room, a newer Elantra hatch or the sister Kia hatch. 100k drivetrain warranty. With certain engines it'll be powerful enough (175-200 hp). Hatch really shortens length (our Golf hatch was 165" long, Jetta wagon 179" long, our new Civic sedan is 184" long?). Hatch also makes it possible to load bikes/etc.
I'm assuming no need for passenger room because a tall person in a small car means rear seats have zero leg room, so the hatch means you can fold down the rear seats and have a ton of usable storage. Only drawback is that it's visible from the outside, if doing street parking.
Every car has some weirdness; the trick is to try and figure out which ones aren't weird where it hits you. For example the new Ford Fusion, if you need to replace a headlight bulb, labor is in the $200 range because you have to remove the bumper to get to the bulbs. Some timing belts are super easy to do - older 1.6 liter Elantra, 45 minutes (book time 3.8 hours?), which is quick/easy. Etc.