<prompt> Human: This is actually for the gf, she earns about 1200 a month and wants to want to finance a car above 15k.Shes looking at Dodge or Volks, Avenger or Jetta respectively.Would it be smart for her to get a pre owned vehicle worth 15 or something cheaper but reliable, like used Honda. She makes the case that a newer car will be cheaper due to less maintenance, this is mostly an opinion formed after she bought a badly treated 03 Altima that always seems to need shop time. Any help or insight is appreciated :Also, she HATES Hondas, saying theyre terrible cars; any owners care to rebute?  <response>: Your girlfriend seems fairly uninformed about cars, unfortunately. Heres a couple points Id like to make. Most of it comes from Consumer Reports annual auto survey for reliability but also some is personal anecdotal: As a current driver of a 2012 VW CC, I can tell you that VW makes a nice car. However, anytime there is a problem with it the cost is about 2x as much as any Honda Ive owned. I put their repair and labor costs up there near the other German brands Its a company car so I take it to a VW dealership - Im sure if she does her own labor or goes to a local shop cost would be offset some Any DodgeChrysler vehicle gets abysmal reliability marks from Consumer Reports. I would absolutely avoid it. Not to mention the Avenger is probably the worst car Dodge makes. I literally cant think of a single great thing about that car Why does she say Hondas are terrible cars? I drove an 02 Civic for 10 years without a single issue. My wife had a used 97 Accord for 5 years with no issue. I also purchased my wife a 4-year-old Honda Pilot. It had 1 main issue with the Catalytic going out around 60k miles, however Honda had a recall on it so they covered the repair. I love Hondas and plan to only buy Honda or Toyota for my wife in the future.A couple of additional information - Consumer Report traditionally says that the time-tested Japanese cars are most reliable. Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru. Avoid any luxury cars due to repair costs. Your GF doesnt need a BMW, Mercedes, Audi right now American cars may not be most reliable but Ive had good luck with both Ford Taurus and Chevy ImpalaMalibu as company cars. Repair costs are more in-line with the Honda and Toyotas out there. Have your GF rethink her finances. She shouldnt be financing a 15k car but I think youve realized that already. I was making 4-5x what your GF did and paid 14k cash for a 07 Honda Pilot. Anything higher than that would have made me uncomfortable. 