All of the cars have been Fords because I always heard they were generally dependable and cheap to repair/upkeep, but so far they have all failed me.

I personally would never buy another Ford for many reasons, reliability being one of the main ones. Actually, after all the bad experiences with cars I have had, I would probably never buy another American car unless something dramatically changed.

Toyotas or Hondas are what you want if you want reliable and cheap repairs. That said, they hold their value very well because of their reliable reputation, so even getting a used one is still going to be quite expensive. My wife and I bought a used Toyota Corolla 5-ish years ago and couldn't happier. We've needed to make the occasional repair, overall the car has not cost us much.

I've never been failed by a Toyota Corolla

Honda Accord. I'm currently driving a 98 with 240,000 and looking to hopefully get 300,000.

I would recommend pretty much any Japanese vehicle. Look closely at Honda or Toyota. I have had good experiences with Hondas, personally.

I want to be that person posting a picture of the odometer hitting 300k miles.

I am at ~280k in my Honda Insight, my dad is ~320k in his Accord, and my mom is at ~400k in her Odyssey. My husband is at ~186k in his Civic, but he doesn't drive much.

America doesn't make reliable and dependable. 3 Chevys have taught me that. Go with something from Toyota, Subaru, Honda or Nissan and you will be so glad you did. I'm never buying American again if I can avoid it.

I’ve owned 3 Subarus over the last 15 years. Drove the first two for years with 0 issues. 75k+ on both. First was a lease then buy out and was offered a great deal on the second to trade in. Only got rid of the second due to a change is need for a personal car. When I had a need again I got a third which I’m only at about 60k on but plan to drive this one as long as it’ll go. Only thing I’ve done so far outside oil changes and other routine stuff was brakes. Which I consider routine.

Another reason is swear by them is AWD in a very snowy climate without SUV gas mileage.

I know I'll get shit..I bought a 2004 Subaru Impreza new..and ran it for 15 I years..it never missed a beat. I put 110 thousand kilometres on it in that time. I loved driving it every time. Had it serviced when it needed. I sold it because I pivoted around a cement pole in a parking lot. Bit of damage to a door. Moved onto a WRX after that.. again, it has never missed a beat. No issues whatsoever.

Miata is always the answer.

if you're looking for reliability and repairability and depreciation you simply can't beat the car that keeps going up in value: the Honda Element

Where I live (we don't get most US models) Ford isn't really considered super dependable. Not the worst, but certainly not comparable to Toyota, Honda, Mazda.

German cars. Not because they're great, but because I swear whilst being in the same physical location as them. I've owned a handful of VWs/Audis and they are rather annoying vehicles to work on. Though half of them I've owned lacked any major issues. Just expensive... Fairly expensive.

Joking aside, Toyota is always a safe bet for reliability.

My Toyota ran for 25 years until it got hit N run by a Jeep

Honda Fucking Accord