As I tell my friends, “I owned a Volvo… ONCE!”.
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What about the Subaru Impreza?
Now, you’re comparing apples and oranges, because the Impreza is a small economy sedan.
If you want to compare things on a more level playing field, you might want to consider a Subaru Legacy sedan with the bullet-proof 3.6 liter six cylinder engine. This is roughly equivalent in size to the Accord, and the six cylinder engine–though relatively rare and potentially difficult to find–provides acceleration in the same class as a BMW 5-series, but with reliability that is far superior to any European sedan.
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Things I would stay away from myself is turbos, CVT trannys, non switchable stop/start function . Your imports can have very high repair costs . The only one on your list for me would be the Accord. Though I think even they have CVT’s in them now . I would check into the scheduled maintenance and costs for that unit before buying .
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How about the Lexus IS, it looks like you’re only going to find IS250’s for your target price and mileage but they’re more reliable than the european’s.
Just curious, since you do all your own work I am surprised that Audi lets you come to their service waiting room to drink coffee, watch TV and use the wi-fi. My toyota dealer had all that plus free fruit and would shuttle you to any store or restaurant in town but I haven’t been back there since the 2 year free service was up. I am already paying for wi-fi and TV and my coffee is better than the dealers and costs me much less than a 30 mile round trip.
The car had a recall on it for a faulty electric coolant pump. The first trip to the Audi dealer was to order a physical owners manual book for the glovebox. The seller paid for that since the car didn’t have one.
While we were there, we scheduled the interim recall fix. I returned to drop off the car and they gave me a brand new loaner to drive. I had an expresso while waiting for the dealer to finish the free car wash. Of course I noticed the snacks, TV and wifi.
When the recall part was available, my wife took the car in and waited for the service in their “quiet” room where she read her book and had a cup of tea. They would have given her a car, too, but she decided to wait.
Great service and amenities. I was surprised they didn’t try and recommend any service since I know the brakes are near the point of replacement.
Under $20,000? Under 40,000 miles?
You’ve really hamstrung yourself with this particular short list. Some of your best options are not even being considered.
Looks like a case of champagne taste on a beer budget. Best of luck!
CSA
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It seems that most people who go to a vehicle forum asking for help in choosing a vehicle make it a lot more complicated then it needs to be.
I was just having a little fun with you because it struck me as funny that you said in the same reply that you do all your own work and also said how nice the service waiting room was. Feel free to ignore me when I am being snarky.
Now, you’re comparing apples and oranges, because the Impreza is a small economy sedan.
If you want to compare things on a more level playing field, you might want to consider a Subaru Legacy sedan with the bullet-proof 3.6 liter six cylinder engine. This is roughly equivalent in size to the Accord, and the six cylinder engine–though relatively rare and potentially difficult to find–provides acceleration in the same class as a BMW 5-series, but with reliability that is far superior to any European sedan.
Ahh, gotcha! For some reason I was thinking the Impreza was a bit bigger? It looks bigger than its rivals the Civic and Corolla. I will definitely add the Legacy to the shopping list though.
Things I would stay away from myself is turbos, CVT trannys, non switchable stop/start function . Your imports can have very high repair costs . The only one on your list for me would be the Accord. Though I think even they have CVT’s in them now . I would check into the scheduled maintenance and costs for that unit before buying.
Great advice. Thank you.
Under $20,000? Under 40,000 miles?
You’ve really hamstrung yourself with this particular short list. Some of your best options are not even being considered.Looks like a case of champagne taste on a beer budget. Best of luck!
CSA
You are definitely onto something here and I love your analogy. This is definitely the case. I want the best car I can get for the money and I happen to like the refinement of the Euro cars. I’m realizing this isn’t ideal though and I’m rethinking my approach after the great advice I’ve received so far from this forum; so…I’d say yes I’m looking for the Miller High Life of cars. 
But really though I just want the best car to fit those parameters. I thought maybe I could get a little bit “nicer” car since I pick up clients from time to time and I like the euro styling; hence the list with the luxury cars on it. We’ve also got a newborn so that is where these limits are stemming from. Under 40k miles because we need reliable. And under $20k because we will be throwing $10k down at it and we need an extremely low monthly car payment.
How come you didn’t offer up some of the “best options” that you speak of? Seems like this is less of a “common_sense_answer” and more of a “condescending_answer” or “least_helpful_answer”?
It seems that most people who go to a vehicle forum asking for help in choosing a vehicle make it a lot more complicated then it needs to be.
How so? I gave a list of parameters and a list of vehicles and asked the forum to pick a car or offer up other suggestions. Most picked the Accord. Others gave suggestions. Everyone has steered me away from the Euros.
Not sure why this is complicated?
So far it has been a great help.
Furthermore, what better place to ask a car question than a car forum??? I don’t get your point about making this hard? There are dozens of sedan choices with hundreds of options. Just looking for a bit of guidance and the opinion of others on what CAR to get on a CAR forum? I’ve driven the same SUV for six years. I thought I had it narrowed down but through this forum realized I need to reconsider some things. That’s great for me and hopefully anyone else who’s in the same boat.
You have 10000.00 to put down ? Then you should only be looking at new and I assume you also have a good FICO score so you should get really low interest rates. New will give you a warranty and possibly free service for a year or more. Besides it really hard to tell one car from another these days so brand is not that important.
Thank you for your response. We considered it. We got half of the down payment when we sold my wife’s Corolla and we’ve been saving the rest. We want to keep the monthly under $200 because the little one is starting daycare and it’s not cheap. Since we want the low monthly payment we thought a new car would be out of reach.
Have you not used any of the build your own features on most of the vehicle web sites ? You can see the different trim levels , options and the sticker prices. If the payment is a major factor then think how big of a factor it would be if you had to replace a transmission in a used vehicle that was out of warranty.
I got it @oldtimer-11 ! No offense taken!
And the local Audi dealer is in no way unique here! Most of the higher end (read expen$ive) brands here compete with that. The coffee at the Ford dealer lacks latte or expresso, and is pretty poor coffee with even worse snacks. I had my airbag warranty done there, 3 times!
You make a dam good point. 
But I’d be getting less car to keep it within budget. I think we could probably get by with a $250 mo. payment but I’d rather not push it on the monthly so something’s gotta give somewhere?
Besides if I went this route according to this website I should be buying a Volkswagen. https://www.motor1.com/features/253277/comparing-new-vehicle-warranties/
So I’d be stuck with a new Volkswagen Jetta. I think I’d rather have the used Accord. 
Actually, that was stupid. There are plenty of good warranties listed on that site. I’m just going to have to make a decision on what matters most. Thanks.
A late model Versa sedan would be perfect for you! 
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That good sir certainly does not look like the “champagne of cars”. Lol, now hold my snifter of beer while I spontaneously combust.