I agree with rabbit, in the US Hondas and Toyotas, both the car itself and parts/service, are going to be cheaper than any of the German options. I've had friends that have had bad experiences with VWs but that was a few years ago. My friends who have Subarus love them, but again they are more expensive to buy and service because of the four wheel drive and jazz, so if you don't need that and you're trying to minimize costs I don't know if it's worth it.

I test drove the Mini Cooper before I bought my Insight and although it was cute and decently made, I just couldn't get used to the dash layout and how i felt so cramped inside. It's actually not that small so maybe it's just that I'm tall? I was bummed, because they're such cute cars and I know BMW makes a quality product (but then I've never felt comfortable in BMW interiors either - there's no space to put anything!).

I hesitate to jump in, as car recommendations can get pretty subjective. What one gal 'loves' won't matter a whit to the next person. My BF has had a number of demo cars these last months for work. He was very unimpressed with the ride of the Toyota Corolla. Felt rickety at high speeds on the Hwy. We are both pleasantly surprised with the Nissan Juke he's had this last month. I would have dismissed it out of hand, had I not actually rode in (and now driven) it first. The Mini Cooper is not as comfortable a ride. The newer VW Beetles are very rough. The best ride was a Cadillac coupe, but a bit beyond budget.
We are in the market for a car ourselves, and BF is taking his own sweet time about it, to get the right one. We have 4WD as a first and foremost factor, so our search may not matter in your terms. Subaru and Audi are at the top of our list. The Audi S5 is just a bit too much $$ but we are hunting for the perfect gently used year or two old one to knock down that cost.
Good luck in your hunt!

I took the Smart Car out for a test drive x2 and drove my buddy's once; and was a passenger once.

I guess I'm comparing it to my own solid tank

Anna, that sucks! The Golf I just sold was still on its original clutch, at 155000 miles. And don't you commute on public transport?

http://community.cartalk.com/d.....ting-minis

ETA See first comment

http://www.cartalk.com/blogs/t.....use-clutch

The dealer said it was my driving habits that killed the clutch. Drove with a mechanic after replacing clutch at less than 30K. He said it was not my driving style.

However I do live in Seattle proper. Top ten worst traffic in the nation and lots of big hills. But yes I commute by bus, except when on call.

Next car is going to be a Subaru

Thanks, Lyn. It's all relative, right. xo

Greg drives Audis. I think he's on his 5th one? It will be interesting to see if he changes to another brand of car.

Subarus are VERY popular in Seattle. They are ideal for the terrain and weather here - to Anna's point. That's also why I love my VW Golf. A solid, well made, reliable and practical car for hilly and wet Seattle that looks fun too.

So I also don't drive a lot at all - because I do not like driving. My seven year old car has 34k on the clock. It has never had anything wrong with it. It's serviced every 10 000 miles and that's it.

I drive a Subaru forester. Not so good looking but I do feel safer when I am driving in rain or snow. But of course the trade off is it suck in more gas coz the four wheel drive system...yea angie i agree with u....I miss the days when my ex husband was driving while I was doing my make up in the passenger seat~

34k on a seven year old car - that's impressive! I thought I was doing well with 155 on a 17 year old car:)

100 on a 14 year old car here

We bought our Honda Fit about seven years ago because it could hold 500 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I'm short with short legs, and my biggest complaint is that the driver's seat doesn't really adjust enough for me, but I believe they changed it the year after we purchased.

Have you looked into the Ford Focus? It gets better mileage, and the hatchback holds more in the back than other small cars. We don't like to expose anything we're carrying (so have that shade-like thingy for both Fit and Focus) to lessen the possibility of break-ins. The hatchback Focus, even without the seats down, holds much more than most trunks. If you shell out for TOTL Focus, it has the laser beams and parallel parks for you. We never considered it, but I wanted to get a demo anyway!

I was hesitant to recommend mine because it seems to be a love it or hate it style but a few others mentioned it so what the heck.

I bought a Juke two years ago. I got the model with the moonroof, heated seats, and climate control. I drove the mini too and liked it but when I got in the Juke it felt like home immediately. It is peppy as can be and fun to drive. Mine is red and has a 6 speed manual. FUN.

I will say my VW - I've 200K+ on it, and have only had to do routine parts replacement (after the first month, when the starter died straight off the bat while I was on a country road and the VW service that came with the car, the folks had no idea how to find me on a country road - I was very lucky my mum was with me and had Triple A).

BUT I serviced the car faithfully every quarter up until last year. By all reports, you don't do this, and the engine falls out of the car. I did nothing for my Hondas. Nothing. Maybe an oil change once a year. They all ran beautifully forever, and I never once sold a Honda because it was starting to go. Also, my Passat is premium gas only, which is demoralising at the pump.

On the third hand, the VW has torque. Hondas, by design, do not focus on delivering torque.

You may ask why I have a VW Passat: An ex-boss made me. He said I was cramping his style, and he was very serious about it. The VW was a compromise, because I can only go so flash in a car.

I am on my third toyota corolla, ten yrs. old and 100000 miles. The first one was seven years old and over 150000 miles, and the second was eleven years old and 120000 miles.i only ever had to replace brakes and tires. I'll probably buy another one, too. My husband had a scion xa that he loved...it was manual and little and peppy.

I really don't like driving. My last car was nine years old and had 54K on it. I just bought a new car last year because now that Vix is in school, I couldn't rely on biking or the bus any more to get home. I was especially tired of bike commutes in the thick of winter (had a couple crashes pre-kids). So I have driven more this year than ever before.

We got an Escape last summer, and so far I am happy with it. Our other car is a 4 year old F150 Supercab (we traded in my old car and Chris's old truck for a new truck). But apart from short commutes, heavy errands, and kid lessons (10-30 mins) we try and walk everywhere we can.

Another vote for a Nissan. My parents have a small Nissan as a second car (first is Peugeot), the Nissan Micra. Not sure if that one is available in the US, but I love that car. It's really small and you have no problems with parking, I love driving it and it's so roomy for a car that size. Grown persons sit very comfortably in the back, you wouldn't believe it looking at it. And there's enough room in the trunk. This is the look from five years back though, I think the design is a bit different now. It's not a diesel engine though (the Peugeot is). Other than that a VW Golf is certainly nice, although more expensive in comparison to other models.

May I recommend Hyundai Elantra? I love mine (5 years) very much, it's fully loaded AND has manual transmission, which was a must-have for me. My husband chose the Elantra Touring - that's the hatchback version - and loves it as much as I love mine.

I'm not the best at recommending cars as my method is to buy one new and keep it for 12 years (when it starts to need very expensive repairs). I just replaced my 2002 Subaru Outback Sport with a 2015 (yes it's negative 6 months) Subaru Forester. Before that it was a 1989 Mazda 323. I had a great experience with my last Subaru and I'm hoping for many happy years with this one. It will likely be my son's first car (he's 9 - so I may get a new one in 7 years this time!). I like the all wheel drive, I like the handling and the visibility. It feels solid and holds a lot while getting decent mileage. I had 114K miles on my last one and it finally needed a new clutch (Anna) so I traded it (too pricey a repair for a 12 year old car). I prefer manual for the control and am not much into lots of extras, but I only drive to and from work mostly and my commute is 20 minutes each way.
I do think it's a personal choice as to what you like the looks of, what meets your safety, mileage, comfort criteria and of course price range. I used Truecar (a buying service through my work) and it was quite painless. I did all my homework, knew what I wanted, how much it was and I handed a paper to the salesman with the negotiated price (confirmed a good deal on Edmonds). He asked if I wanted green or blue (BLUE of course!) - I knew what he had on the lot already.