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Most all Toyota’s are reliable vehicles and are the first manufacturer to develop and fine tune hybrids.
I believe the Prius is tops for the most reliable vehicle so if you are comfortable with the size of the car, that might be your best bet.
I could make a few other recommendations but would need to know more about what exactly you are looking for, a sedan or SUV/crossover and what size vehicle, sub compact, compact, etc?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jmking
Subaru Outback. Not a large car, safe, reliable, affordable, economical.
Right before my wife retired, we bought her a 2020 Outback, and she loves it. A good friend of hers also bought one prior to retiring, as did my sister-in-law. Around here it's become a trend for women. . .buy an Outback before retiring.
want a car larger than the smallest, that's called sub compact?
No need for large capacity.
I see you plan to keep the car for awhile, so thinking ahead 15 years - a lot of older people (including myself these days @ 63) find a modestly raised vehicle easier to get in and out of so they don't need to climb up into it when getting in, or climb up out of it when getting out. Crossover or small SUVs (some will pick nits and call these CUVs) give you that modestly raised height. They also give good cargo capacity - whether that's for carting something bigger back from the shop, holding gear for a roadtrip, or a place where the family dog can ride.
A Subaru Crosstrek is a smaller sibling of the Outback and worth considering. You'll save thousands on the purchase price, and although the dimensions are modest, it's surprisingly big inside - I think that's worth looking at.
The Hyundai Kona is smaller, but the next generation model - coming out this fall I believe, will be slightly enlarged and should be improved as well.
Toyota and Honda both have solid reputations for reliability - which will be more important as the years go on, though with your modest annual mileage plans - you'd only put on 75k miles in 15 years, so probably a little less important for you than someone putting on 15k miles (or more) per year.
G3 Prius, 2010 to 2015. It's very practical, 48-52 mpg. Also slow with a very hard plastics interior.
They just came out with the new Prius. It's a bit less practical, gave up a good amount of the headroom and cargo space for aesthetics. It's a much better looking car, better use of higher quality interior materials, no longer slow.
I'd look at the Civic and Mazda3 as well.
Another thing is as people get up there it's sometimes easier to go to the small crossover height as there's less drop in height. Even a small difference like a Subaru Crosstrek versus Impreza or Mazda CX-30 vs Mazda3.
You may or may not want to go up a size even if you don't want the extra size. The midsize sedans or standard compact CUVs CR-V, RAV4, etc are tuned more for comfort, slower steering inputs, softer suspension. Just preference. I much prefer the smaller cars.
Thanks everyone!!! a lot of new terms and things for me to think about. will not consider Honda since my last two cars are Honda.
First will check Subaru dealership for Crosstrek and Outback....
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