[uwJzsM8t]

Girlfriend needs something that requires very little maintenance and gets good gas mileage. This is not a thread about buying a luxury car. Its a thread about buying something that is functional, gets good gas mileage, and will have a very low cost of ownership and low insurance cost. She's looking to buy used, not determined a budget yet but somewhere between $10,000-$15,000 probably.

MUST
- Be a compact car or a midsize (IE like a Civic/Corolla or Camry/Accord) NOT a subcompact (Scion xA, Mini Cooper, Honda Fit, Toyota Matrix/Yaris are NO)
- No Audis, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Volvo, these are mostly luxury cars and NOT what she needs.
- No Pontiacs or Saturns, sorry
- Have good gas mileage
- Have low repair cost - She is a girl and won't do any maintenance herself
- Have a good enough engine for road trips (130 HP or better)


I am wondering specifically about the quality of a Hyundai Elantra/Sonata or a Chevy Cobalt. Are these quality vehicles in comparison to maintenance costs of a Civic or Corolla? What about a Nissan Versa? I don't know about the quality of these brands.