PC, there are some car rental places over near the Oakland Airport that sell rental cars after X,000 miles. Several people at work have bought cars there and been very, very happy with them. Course, most of them bought Camry's or Corolla's. Toyotas are very good, speaking as someone whose owned 2 of them. Or, there's this guy who only sells used Subarus up near Santa Rosa: [link] I love my Forester.

Camrys are also the cars that get stolen the most.

Heh. In that case, buy you a Ford goddamn Tempo (the car that is responsible for my own lifelong grudge against Ford). Ain't nobody going to steal that thing.

I guess the Camry theft makes sense statistically, given the sheer numbers of ownership.

My dear departed Camry (Sherman) was a 1991, and I drove it until 2000, so it was old enough that I never thought of it as thief bait.

Toyotas are very good, speaking as someone whose owned 2 of them.

Totally! Toyota won me over with my old Camry, and Spud the Echo is continuing the trend. I fucking LOVE my Echo.

I'm one of the freaks who knows that Toyotas score so high but I've never liked their interior designs and am not partial to their ergonomics. I feel the same way about their Lexus brand.

Not that I'm in the market for a new car, but when my trusty Accord dies (my fourth, two inherited from parents and two bought used), I'm tempted to look at a Honda Fit.

(That should've been "who's")

Honda have terrific back support, the best, I think. I miss that in the Sub. The seats kind of suck, but at least they don't send me to the chiropractor the way certain Volvo station wagons or Mitsubishi Monteros do/did on older models.

A friend bought a new Fit and she loves it. It's adorable! She says, though hasn't demo'd it to me, that the seats fold completely flat, so it actually can haul around quite a bit of stuff.

Interior design matters. I love our Saturns because I can reach and see everything. They passed the crash test by being great protection in a accident. And they didn't lose that much in value. And they work pretty well for the conservative driver ( me) and for the driver that likes to find the edges of the car ( DH). If you are a more careful driver -- the easier it fits you from the beginning the better.

Ma~~~ to Aims mom.

when my trusty Accord dies (my fourth, two inherited from parents and two bought used), I'm tempted to look at a Honda Fit.

I adore my Honda Fit. I got mine last year, and I haven't regretted it for a minute. It lives up to its name, too—I've stuffed skis, arm chairs, and lots of other things into it. Mine got 44 mpg on a road trip last fall, and consistently gets 35 mpg in town. (I drive stick, which helps with the mileage.) It's not a speed demon and I hear more road noise than I'd like when I get above 70 mph, but that's not really its niche. It handles highway speeds fine, it's just a little louder than I remember my Grand Am being. I also got the base model—the sports version might be better there. I'm 5' 8" and it feels very roomy for me inside. My 6' 4" nephew found it a wee bit cramped. Still, I fit 5 people, including myself, in mine for a bit of in-town driving, and no one ended up crushed or unexpectedly engaged at the end of it.

The rental car I am driving right now is a Toyota Corolla, and I've found much to dislike about it.

The car I rented for my trip to the Keys a couple weeks ago was an Accord, and it was merely okay. My biggest gripe was the huge B and C pillars -- whenever I looked back and to the side for traffic, much of my view was blocked. Very nervous-making.

My folks bought a used Kia Optima several years ago, and liked it so well that when my littlest brother went off to college they gave it to him and bought themselves a brand new one.

My Mom just got a Scion and she loves it. She test drove a bunch of cars and only tried this out because my brother recommended it. She did it to humor him.

Turns out it was her favorite. I know it's not what P-C is looking at, but just don't be afraid to test drive something that's no on your list because it may be the one.

Mom is tall with long legs and there is plenty of head room. The only problem is the cup holders in the console between the front seats, there are two and 1 is slightly above the other and it's slightly smaller so you can't fit two large drinks. Which is a very minor issue.