An old man is planning for a car change which will be an upgrade. He has ideas of what he wants but he respects my opinion.

I know his needs better than he thinks he does so i will mention some. He has a good maintenance habit when he can afford it but will totally rely on Kazeems who will usually mess up things further. He is not rough. Most importantly, he cant afford high maintenace since he is retired.

His current car, Mazda 323f was a bad deal right from day one buy has proved to be a strong car. No ball joint has ever been changed nor tie rod ends. Problems were engine, struts and availabilty of some parts. Eg clutch cylinder could not be found locally, piston rings, brake bads were expensive and unpopular at his location.

His 2 previous cars were Honda, so he was relieved of ball joint issues but has faced shocks (struts ptoblems) with mazda.

He desires Toyota, Avensis Verso or Corolla Verso. Both i think are above his 2m budget and not readily available to plan on a good used one.

I have in mind for him, 2006-10 Mazda 5, 2007-10 Toyota Camry, Corolla, Rav 4, Matrix or Vibe, or 2008-10 Honda Accord, Civic or CR-V. With that budget only the Mazda may be toks. I know all of them are not in the same class but the budget is of concern.

Apart from budget constraints, maintenance cost is of utmost importance.

Mazda is reliable but its engine is not while parts availabilty and their cost are a huge disadvantage.

Toyota is reliable too but my findings in comparison to Honda of same class is that, Camry engine is more expensive to accord. Camry has very expensive shocks and gear problems than accord. Mechanics have testified to more failed camry trans than accord of this age bracket. Accord has a leather seat problem. Corolla is a thief magnet.

Corolla and Accord i think are top contenders.

I would love to see constructive criticisms of the listed cars.

GAZZUZZ:
why not do a toks Matrix 2003-2006 instead?

Pure water. I really do no like pure water cars. Apart from the fact that it suites the female gender more, his wife wants that so he has to go for something else or higher hence 07-10 Matrix or vibe.

He thought of Yaris but i hate the centralised instrument panel.

I would have loved an engine capped at 2.0 but 2.4 could serve if in good condition

But you can get a 2009 downwards Nissan sentra tokunbo for that price or a very good Nigerian used for way lesser and that car is solid.

Well I vote a second generation Toyota avensis not a robbers magnet and still solid.

For a retiree he should be looking at a small jeep. Or even suv. 2005 Honda pilot, Acura mdx or Toyota rav4 are top choices. He's not going to have much use for a small car. Certainly not when he meets fellow retirees at the rotary club. Remember he's not going to be changing vehicles frequently so he'll need a ride with a Lil bit of everything.

I'll suggest the common vehicle (max of 2.4l engine) in his location which fits his budget.