I like horse power but I don't want to give up reliability. My 2012 9.0 RS Scion xB fits the bill. ( By the way they only come in Hot Lava color ) Bought it two years ago, and since then it's never failed to start & run. I always keep it well maintained, and I've had three dealerships offer to buy it from me, ( so they can sell it for thousands more) it has 135k miles which is just breaking a Toyota/Scion in. My only complaint is: I wish Toyota put in the 180hp 2.5 Camry motor in it - it has the 2.4 158hp motor stock. I can chirp the tires off the line, it's so quick down low, but mid range and up high its average. Lord Willing I plan on keeping it. Next car will be as reliable and a little faster. Hard to find anything better than the xB in that regard..

Flat out the most practical vehicle ever. Perfect for family, student, heavy load., surfer car, great stereo , this is the perfect car. Got about 22-25 to the gallon forever, had all it soil changes and services up to 90,000 miles

OK, so I use this car more like a work truck for several several rentals. Super cheap to maintain means I have more cash for more rentals. This can easily tow my 4x8ft utility trailer which sees use about 3x/week. The heaviest load was 1600lbs of plaster debris (you weigh in/out at the landfill). 2.4L is a LARGE 4 cylinder. One of the biggest in any car, so lots of power for a small car. I wanted this as I was towing A LOT. Trash, yard waste, demo debris, new cabinets, drywall, flooring, anything. Super low maintenance and I work this car really REALLY hard. Use it weekly to cut grasses all over town. Bought it at $6k w/110k miles back in 2017 and now have 165k miles on it, Sept 2020. Only do oil changes every 10k miles (full synthetic). I have the cheapest insurance and put the cheapest gas in her and she always is up for the day's work. Or i could have blown $50k on a truck that would be much harder to maneuver in the city when I cut grass. I know this is true cause I bought a 2019 F150 last year. It's great but I do more work with this car. The truck means more in gas, more in insurance, more in tires, more space in garage, more more more more!! Wait until you're really established to buy one of those. It literally sits in the garage about 4 days/week. I've thought about Ubering in the winter but it's really dirty on the inside currently. Haven't cleaned it since a huge 400sqft Attic finishing job, complete gut of kitchen and bath at a different job, and a big 2nd story deck job. If this car were clean it's the perfect Uber car. Mods, $250 stereo with Apple carplay, satellite radio, trailer hitch. I used to own a 2005 xb and I think I liked that more, only cause of the better MPG. I used to get 32mpg always, now i'm about 27, 24 with the trailer. Seems ok in the snow. In mid-michigan we have about 4 days a year where I can't drive this, or well, shouldn't try to drive it.