First car, new buyer. Are these good cars?

Hi, I'm 21 and I will mainly use this car to commute to school and go to work. I'm looking for something low maintenance and also relatively affordable for the common folk lol. I'm in college so I don't want to spend too much on a car.

I'm looking at:
2014-2015 Hyundai Veloster Turbo
2006-Newer Volkswagen Jetta
2007-2013 Ford Fusion
2011-Newer Hyundai Sonata

I don't really know anything about cars and makes. I just picked these based of style. Are Hyundai's good cars? The Jetta is my first choice, but the overall cost compared to the othre cars I listed is more than I want to speed

I'm buying used.

In your case, keep it simple. The more options you have on a car, the more it costs to repair. Stay away from turbos and such. Big bucks to do any engine repair, even if it's not turbo related. Get the base motor. Also, stay away from touch screens. That's another big ticket item if & when they fail. And they control so much that when they go down, you loose many features, like the radio, heater, navigation, etc. Don't overlook a Chevy Cruse, or Malibu. Or a Dodge Dart. And don't be scared off of a car brand because of recall headlines. Go and check out how many recalls Honda, and Toyota have had. One more thing, take someone with you that knows & works on cars if you can.

Check out the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Ford Focus or Mazda 3. I'd lean towards them because they have one of the highest resale values amongst their class. And if you're wondering why the hold their value more, that is because they were historically one of the most dependable cars on the road and there's a high demand for them, esp in the used car market.

I'm partial to German cars as I only buy European, but I'll admit that Volkswagens are somewhat expensive to repair. Other than that they have a solid build quality and the TDI models are good. I personally wouldn't buy anything American unless it's a Ford, they have the worst resale values and they are still riddled with quality issues, I have friends with 2011+ models who are already suffering problems.

Go for the Volkswagen, German engineering! German cars are considered the best cars! I owned a Ford Fusion and its a pretty decent car but it had a few problems with the A/C and once a bit of debris came off a car in front and the car got wrote off, looks good but you'd think it's made of cardboard based on the damage inflicted. Not sure on the Hyundai, sounds a bit like a boy racer car.

Please answer my question

Volkswagen Jetta

  • Why would people buy older foreign cars instead of brand new American cars? I see it all the time, people driving 7-8 year old Mercedes or BMWs that they paid probably paid around $20,000. They could of easily gone out and bought a brand new Ford or Dodge, but they didn't. They bought a Mercedes with over 100k miles. All worn and torn on the inside. But aslong as they're shining on the outside I guess.
  • Which car should be my first one out of these? 2006 Hyundai Elantra GLS 2006 Mercury Milan Premier 2004 Toyota Camry LE 2004 Ford Taurus SES 2005 Hyundai Accent GLS
  • Good first car for new driver? I'm almost 16 and my parents want your opinions. Would a 2005 Ford Mustang (not a gt) be an okay car for a teen? Or would there be too much power? Also if you have a mustang: How fast do they go? Any reoccurring problems linked to mustangs?
  • First time car buyer: need advice? I would like to buy a car with the following conditions: safe, good gas mileage, easy for me to move seats down in case I move (I don't own much but two furniture pieces I have to put seats down), certified preowned. My family runs within the Toyota, ford and Chevy business but I'm willing to look beyond those as long as the cars aren t notorious for being a lemon. And how much would be good to put down?

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