hey, if you want a good car that you can afford and take care of, buy a used
one that was taken care of, in good shape, and dont pull out a loan. A loan
just sticks you with years and years worth of car payments and high interest.
My old shop teacher owes 18,000 on a van that is now only worth 9,000. The
value depreciates faster than u can pay off the loan. Pay in cash and just
maintain it. Its the bast way to go and will save you money. No more car
payments now. I bought my 86 mazda truck for 100 dollars and only needed
minor repairs every now and then. other than that, if you want a bran new car,
go for a chevy, like a impala, or a monte carlo. a pontiac would be just as
good too. Imports are way to expensive to fix when they break down because
they have to import the parts to fix it. Go domestic. good luck

1989 Ford Escort, 4 cyl., stick.
In a recent crash test an 89 Escort did not have any damage in a front
end 5 mph crash.  A 07 Pontiac G6 had several thousand dollars damage.

Check the Consumer Reports Automobile Annual.  They give a rating on
reliability for all models, and even charts for older (used) ones.

Woops! Red flag....if you dont maintain your cars, then reliability is your
own problem.

Every American car company specifies oil changes up to 7500 miles or
so...If you dont want to do that, get a mule.  They are low maintenance
and make their own gas.

They specify filter changes, etc, and again, do it or accept the
consequences.

Now, if I have misunderstood you, please pardon me... Most of us want a
car that could win at LeMans, costs $5000, and never costs a penny in
repair or maintenance.  Only Matchbox comes close.

This is just my opinion, so it's worth exactly what you paid for it -
if you want a "runs forever" car that doesn't need a whole lot of
maintenance, you don't want to be looking at newer cars.  Old iron is
where it's at.  I would personally probably look at a late 60's or
early 70's MoPar A-body with a slant six or "LA" (273/318/340/360)
V-8.  Those would be Darts, Valiants, Dusters, Demons, early
Barracudas.  Also I've had good luck with mid-80's A1 and A2 chassis
VW's (Rabbit/Golf, Jetta, Scirocco)  any car will require maintenance
the key is to find a GOOD mechanic and stick with him, if you don't do
your own PM.  VW's do require a little more periodic maintenance than
other cars but will run until the heat death of the universe if taken
care of.

Other people swear by Toyota Corollas, but I have no experience with
the Japanese cars other than with my GF's old Sentra which to be
honest, I didn't like all that much although it did serve her well for
several years.

Low operating cost, sadly, seems to be mutually incompatible with
"cool" and luxurious.

nate

Find an old Toyota with a 22R motor. Rebuild it. Spare no expense. Abuse the
hell out of it for 150,000 miles,or do reasonable maintenance and go 300,000
miles. Mercedes
5cyl. Diesel. Same thing, except just change the oil every 3k, go 300,000
plus,Adysthemic

Best car for low maintenance - none.  There isn't a car made that will
run for long on low maintenance.  They all require regular upkeep to
stay running.

I'm not sure what you mean by fuel efficient.  A vehicle could be very
fuel efficient if it carried 10 passengers but got 17mpg  compared to
a car that carried two passengers but got 40 mpg.

Best car for low history of problems would be Toyota, Honda and Nissan.