SchnookoLoly

My Mom drives a Honda CRV, bought it in 2002 and it now has 245,000 km on it. Still running well, Mom will be getting another CRV when that one finally dies. Great for space, holds an absolute truckload of stuff, and basically is a small cube van when you fold down the seats. I love driving my mom's CRV, it's a 4-cylinder and built on the frame of a sedan and thus drives like one, but has the height and space of an SUV. Perfect hybrid car IMO.

My cousin wanted something a bit more spacious than the CRV and needed more seating, and so they bought a Honda Pilot - she bought hers in 2003 and replaced it last year with the newer model, I think it had about 175,000 km when they traded it in.

Japanese is definitely the way to go in my opinion.

cheeky_monkey

After much going back and forth i managed to secure my new Audi a4 for virtually the same price i would have paid in the states...i got within $700 in the end..in fact my payments are $50/month less than what i was paying for my Ford Edge

Oakvillian

Given that the OP has a stated preference for a sedan, I can't see that all the recommendations for Honda CR-Vs are all that helpful.

Depending on what sized vehicle you're after, look at Honda Civic or Accord, Toyota Corolla or Camry, Nissan Sentra/Altima, Mazda 6 for the Japanese contingent. All will be North American-manufactured, in the US or, for the Corolla or the Civic, in Ontario (Cambridge or Alliston, respectively).

For US brands, look at Chevy Cruze (though only for the last couple of model years, Cobalt before that) or Malibu, Ford Focus or Fusion. Or you can pick up good bargains on the "former" brands that got shut down in the crunch, a Pontiac G5 or G6 for example.

Your $6-9k should get you a half-decent example of any of the above with 5-7 years and a hatful of miles on the clock, but still plenty of life left in them. Don't forget that, even for a private sale, you need to add the provincial vehicle sales tax (effectively the same as HST, currently 13%) to the sale price.

If it were my money, and given your requirement for your OH's commute and fairly regular journeys of a few hundred km, I'd look for the best bargain I could find on a Honda Accord.

Piff Poff

My daughter has a 2003 Chev Malibu, its an amazing car, she has been in a ditch, rear ended someone, reversed into something and through a puddle that saw off bigger cars than hers and its only got a couple of cracked bumpers. If you want a tank go for one of these.

As an aside, any one model that seems strangely high priced in comparison, to other similar vehicles usually means they are sought after, because they are good.