Most people need a recommendation for something more current, from people who work on these modern cars daily. The reputation of 25+ year old models can be misleading.

Another source of good recommendations could be insurance companies. Cars with low reliability or very expensive fixes probably need more expensive insurance. But I don't know if this data is public or if you can tell apart the reliability from the repair cost.

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semi-extrinsic 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

If you're in Europe, you can consider Dacia. A lot of their stuff is old Renault parts that they've bought a license to use/manufacture. Get a pre-2023 model with the 1.6 non-turbo non-hybrid petrol engine - it's actually a Nissan HR16DE, which has been in use since 2004. Very reliable and low complexity.

	▲	kristjank an hour ago \| parent [-]
		And parts are ridiculously cheap and widely junkyard-available.

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lionkor 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Most people need a recommendation for something more current

Bless them, I would rather buy 10 shitboxes than one modern car (and that cost is about the same).

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TylerE an hour ago | parent [-]

I’d rather not die in a very survivable crash.

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kristjank an hour ago | parent [-]

Crash safety has become grossly exagerrated because the standards have been sharply rising last few years. Most 15yo cars will keep you safe just fine in a median crash.

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TylerE 44 minutes ago | parent [-]

A 15 year old car currently is going for 5 figures - not a shitbox. Not unless it’s a shelll of rust held together by bondo. Then your crash standards or whatever year are meaningless as the chassis may have 25% or less of its design strength.

	▲	kristjank 42 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Sorry for asking, are you in the USA? That might explain the 5 figures thing.

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jabl an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

At least over here where we have mandatory inspections you can find statistics on percentage of cars broken down by brands and models which fail the inspections. Toyota seems to consistently place in the top.