I'm a bit of a Euro snob, and know Volvo and VW fairly well. Criteria would be something that can comfortably and reliably handle our 70+ mile round trip daily commute, and return ~30 MPG highway or better. Prefer something <10 years old, <70K miles, 4+ doors, automatic, with creature comforts (heated seats at least) for <$10K.
I typically keep cars for a long time, so whatever I get I should be able to reasonably expect it to make it to at least 250K miles with little more than normal maintenance/wear item replacement.
That's not too much to ask is it?
I'm typically Korean, Ford, Nissan, and Mitsubishi adverse, so most of those need-not-apply.
If a wagon can meet all of that criteria, it's a real contender.
Currently considering, N/A V50 and S40, I've done the Volvo thing for so long now, it might be nice to branch out. Also Saab 9-3 and Sportcobi, E91 328, some 2.0l VWs (2.5l I5 is a nonstarter).
Really like the Bimmer wagons, but they just barely achieve the MPG requirement, the AWD ones sure don't.
If only the Skyactive Mazda3s had been around long enough to fall into my price point.
I've done filtered searches on Autotrader, Cars.com, and Fueleconomy.gov until I'm cross eyed.
Any other suggestions?