I’ll be very honest, I bought a 2007 Toyota Matrix 2 years ago at $4400. It has 110,000 miles. It is now crossed over 200k with just over $2000 in maintenance. Granted last month I put on a new set of nice tires and brakes. Before that I was at around $1300 in maintenance. So for over 2 yrs and that much mileage, try and find a cheaper roomier more reliable option that will likely never leave you sit

Pontiac Vibe.

It's actually a Toyota Matrix, but will sell for a lot less than a Matrix.

Depending on your market, an 08-15ish Yaris. In the cities they tend to fetch more money, but anywhere else I see them for cheap. Of course you want to make sure it was maintained religiously, but no one seems to keep maintenance records anymore.

Honestly, the one you can find and that passes a thorough inspection. In most markets it’s hard to find one under $5k, and that might be a Corolla with 250k or a Camry with 300k or a Yaris or…

2010/2011 Camry with lil higher miles.

Check out r/toyota_matrix ! I have an 09 Matrix Xr. She does burn oil, but mine isn’t bad. I love driving it!

Yeah, maybe plan to spend $4750 and give a mechanic the other $250 to do a good long inspection on whatever you find before buying it. Toyotas are built like tanks, but without service history… even a Corolla will be a turd if someone didn’t change the oil for years on end.

Ford hasn’t let me down. Mazda has been great too

Toyota or older Lexus like and ES300 or ES3xx.

The Celicas are known for their reliable if you’re wanting a Toyota. Or a Honda Civic is a good choice.

Most cars are pretty reliable if you stay on top of oil changes.

If you can drive manual a Honda Fit might be worth looking into

Corolla, Camry, Civic, Accord,

This isn't a regional issue, it's an industry issue.

Even Corollas are 30k. And they're not going down any time soon.

This is what led me to a Model 3 in late 22. Got a 23' Model 3 RWD for 27,095 Out The Door after tax incentives. One of the cheaper vehicles you could buy new, without getting a Mitsubishi.

Everything is more expensive now. With these tariffs, used cars are going to increase even more in price. Dealerships are going to start to raise prices as well.

What about your current car is bad? 210k is not a lot for a Camry. Having to change out brakes at that mileage is perfectly normal. No car will be 100% reliable. You need to put money into any car you buy.

If you want a new car well, you'll have to pay for it. There is no such thing as a $5k corolla. It'll have a stupid amount of miles and be clapped out. The cheapest way is to avoid dealerships and buy privately. Look everywhere, if you are ok to travel anywhere, look down south. Rust free cars. It is a gamble, but it can be done. One thing to be cautious about when buying from down south is to make sure the car isn't flood damaged.

Or you can not buy a Toyota and look for other brands. They may need a little more upkeep than a Toyota, but in the long-run the savings are negligible. I rather buy a Nissan with a CVT than overpay for a shit Toyota. Yeah, the transmission will take a dump on me. But if you replace it and service it regularly, they last, and they are usually dirt cheap.

Or hell. If you have a 20-30k budget, buy a brand new Nissan with zero miles on it. Even if you don't do any servicing to it, you'll still get 100k out of it, minimum. More if you take care of it. They improved to CVT in newer Nissans a lot.

Nowadays it just makes more sense to learn some basic repairs and keep the older cars you have.

No car should have a breaking system, that's how you go broke.

What do you mean by affordable?

Toyotas have always been high resale value, they haven't been "cheap" in 20+ years.

Do you drive mostly highway? If so I'd just look for something like this: https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/b5efb569-2112-4e36-aedc-e683a2a00ee9/

If you drive mostly city, I'd buy something like a new Corolla hybrid for $25k. Sure you can buy a used one with 60k miles for $20k, but I think new is a better deal

Go with a Camry or Corolla hybrid. On my second Camry - average over 40mpg. It has 140 k / never been in the shop / my first one my son drives has 300k runs like a champ. You cant go wrong -

For the sake of argument, let’s say any Toyota will reliably last 200k miles. The Prius is more than a quarter of the way there. It also has no warranty. My opinion is that the extra 3k you’d spend on the Corolla is more than offset by the longevity and peace of mind that comes with a new car. The reliability of pretty much any Toyota product is high, so I wouldn’t expect the Corolla to be less reliable than the Prius.

I got a 2004 Camry XLE with all the bells and whistles (2.4L) with 55k miles for 6.5k from a older couple a few months ago. Zero accidents, tons of services records (both paper and online), great condition all around. Reliable, Comfy af, spacious ( i am 6ft 5') and great mpgs (i get 32-34 reallife mpg, good for 600mi per tank!)

Just look for private sellers online in the suburbs, usually the cars are well taken care off and go for less than market price.

I just bought an 07 Mazda 3 for 1800 bucks and put a thermostat in it. About a half hour job.

If you want cheap, forget SUV's.

Don't buy a car that is priced high because other people think it's great. Buy one that is under valued by the market. Not a car everyone says is great, not a car everyone says it terrible but one no one talks about.

That’s the way to go. I bought a 2009 Lexus RX350 with 112k for $9200 near Charleston from a little used car lot. I’ve wowed some mechanics up here in NY with how little rust it has.

So glad you didn’t buy it either. I don’t trust easy so I rather buy a new car and stay with it till it dies. We work so hard for our $$$$

You can possibly get cheaper with private sale vs dealer, just make sure you get carfax and check their maintenance and accidents to find the right car.

I leased my kids cars because I want all the safety and reliability of most new cars. Roadside assistance and warranty with new batteries, tires and brakes? I’m in. Also, I watched my nephews and nieces treat their beaters like beaters. They were junk and they treated them like junk. My kids had massive pride in ownership (even though it’s a lease) and it was a great life lesson.

I broadsided a brand new Malibu years ago because the teen driver ran a stop sign.

I was going 55mph, fortunately everyone ( 4 passengers in her car) walked away with bumps and scrapes.

Gen 3 Camry, 1992-1996, 5SFE 4 cylinder. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to repair, incredibly reliable and super simple.

Corolla. No question.

I've heard the mid 2000's corollas are supposed to be practically one of the most reliable cars ever.

Toyota Echo,

Is200

Scion tc also fun to drive

Solara and Celica seem fun to me

Tacoma X-Runner.

Mr2

mr2, sera (jdm but super cool), v6 camry wagon, sc400 (Lexus)

The Corolla, or a Matrix, which is basically a Corolla wagon/hatchback. I have a Matrix. It's excellent, plus really easy for city driving since it has a slightly shorter wheelbase (tighter turning radius + fits in smaller spaces). I'm at about 188k miles on my '05 and it's basically fine if you pay attention and do basic maintenance.

I also had wonderful luck with 4runners - I've had both a '97 and '03. I would be driving one today if I could have afforded it the last time I was in the market for a vehicle.

Camry is good too.

Not sure how old of a vehicle you are looking for, but you can get a pretty good deal on a used Pontiac Vibe. Pontiac Vibes were a rebadged Toyota Matrix. Since they have the Pontiac brand name, you can normally get one for less money. The were built in a factory in California thats main product was the Toyota Corolla. The reason a Toyota was sold as a Pontiac was because that factory was a joint venture between Toyota and GM.... Unfortunately, the factory and Pontiac Vibe were casualties of the GM bankruptcy.

Corolla

Conusumer reports magazine can tell you what car and what model and year to buy and which ones not to buy based on actual data. For used or new cars. They publish this every year.

I picked up a 2015 Avalon a while ago and find that it’s pretty peppy with the 2GR-FE. Gets 30 mpg on the highway and still has plenty of pickup.

I know it’s big.. but maybe it’s worth looking into.

Toyota 86

Tacoma is smaller, uses less gas and can be fun offroad.

Ft86

Just for reference:

I just picked up a used 2010 Toyota Highlander with 117k (insanely clean, 1 owner looks new) for 10k.

I’m insanely happy with it. It drives great but I’m not driving it for fun, but to not spend stupid money on a car that gets me from A to B.