And by best I mean reliable, spacious, and just a nice car. I hear great things about Toyota Camry and Corolla, and I know someone who has a 2008 Ford Focus, 130,000 miles and still going strong. I like Ford because they're an American company, but people say Toyota's are really nice. What about you guys?
Honestly, a Prius. They're profoundly slow and mediocre to drive, but they're cheap, more or less invincible if the hybrid battery has been replaced, get 50mpg, and are practical.
Well, that depends on country. For example, where I live these would be the best options for daily drivers: (pictures put doesn't apply to the specific generation on them, but on models as whole, for models with multiple generations) Also, why I think these are the best choices. Well, all of these cars are quite numerous, there are many mechanics who know to work with them, parts are pretty much readily available, taxes aren't quite high (for certain engines), they can be bought for decent money, fuel consumption isn't really high (for certain engines, too). And why I chose Zastavas for best daily drivers? Well, they are very cheap, parts are also cheap and widespread, you don't need a mechanic to repair them (if you have certain mechanic knowledge and that applies to basic maintenance) and bonus - these cars have charm and awake nostalgia.
This bad boy right here, I love the Toyota FJ Cruiser, it may not get good gas mileage, but still it has an incredibly low depreciation rate and it could last forever. Any FJ fans out here?
The Civic would be one of them (there is no single best daily driver). Easy to get parts for, efficient, cost effective, and handles collisions pretty well from my experience. Main downside is lack of acceleration (honestly not a big deal), and they don't do so great in the snow. I have a 2014 Civic and have been happy with it for the 6 years I've had it.
A 2012 VW Jetta GLI. It's reliable, it's fast, (sometimes, you can get downpipes and a tune and get 290+hp ez) and imo, it is a good looking car. It's spacious too. OR, a BMW M3 F80. 430hp, 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and it's a sedan. Do I need to say more?
Depends on your needs. If I lived in the city and had an office job I may think differently, but I don’t. For me I wouldn’t want anything other than a truck. Sure, gas mileage usually sucks, but I find them more comfortable, I like sitting above the other traffic, feels safer. You have the ability to tow or haul when needed, try fitting a new couch in the back of your Honda Civic. Around where I live, we get enough snow that 4 wheel drive is almost necessary, although there are still plenty of idiots trying to drive their Civic in the snow, usually ending up in a ditch. My 21 year old GMC does everything I need it to do, the only thing I don’t like is the fact that it gets 11 mpg, but I can live with that. A newer truck would be more reliable, but I prefer older vehicles.
It depends on what your lifestyle is. I recently bought an i3 and that's pretty much covering 90% of my driving. Not the most complete car I ever had but does the daily job very well. Everyday use, 75km per day or more, needs to carry 2 people, can put backseats down and have my sports gear in it, easy to park, turning radius is insane (relative to what else I drove for the last 20 years) cheap to run (got free chargers around me) and acceleration under 80km/h is pretty damn good. No snow where I live so I don't need to worry about the pizza wheels on it (btw...they look....ridiculous....even worse than the photos). I do get a lot of idiot comments on it though. However, the one car I owned for 5 years which has started all day any day every day is the 06 Honda Legend (Acura RL). That thing did everything I wanted for 5 years. Carried any load I wanted, got thrown around in corners (awd with the real torque vectoring not the brake-based ones), had some amazing road trips with it and got me out of some pretty crazy situations on the road. I never got out of it with back pain even after driving 700km non-stop. It got me to work and back every single day with comfort. Never regretted getting it over a 535, E300, A6, Skyline (G35) or the Legacy/Liberty 3.0R. The car is still with me and is used for road trips. So you can see that daily drivers can be wildly different but still be suitable. Daily driver doesn't need to be small, just needs to do the job and do it well. And what suits me doesn't need to suit you.
Depends on what you need. For example, I'm looking for a car that would be cheap to run, automatic and good for both city and highway driving, so I'm shopping for a compact that wouldn't be an Euro-market Civic or Corolla. So for me it'd be something like a mid-00s Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Lancer, or whatever turns up in the classifieds at a good price.