New car for an upwardly mobile young professional

I'm not up to date on US pricing, but if you seriously need this car then take that last $5,000 and put it into a rainy day account. If you need to rely on your car you do not want to be caught out with repair bills. A friend of mine made that mistake and it drove him into debt for years because he couldn't afford repairs, but he couldn't live without the car.

You'll be buying new, I assume, so luckily you will have a year/mileage warranty to aid in maintenace and repairs that may come up. I would recommend (for you) a toyota or new hyundai.

Don't buy new, $20K isn't going to buy you anything you will want to drive for 5-8 years, unless you like the idea of driving a raggedy 2011 Elantra in the year 2019 that will be worth zilch. If you are truly to become an upwardly mobile professional as you say, then an econobox will not cut it; get a 2001 BMW 525i off ebay with low mileage for about $12K and drive it as long as you can stand it (that might be 3-5 years) and then sell it for something, maybe $5K, and re-up on a car like a 2008 528i, which will be $12K in 3-5 years.

I am sorry but what does information like you being "upwardly mobile" have anything to do with advice on a car? You want a reliable car? There's a shocker. Who doesn't? And it needs to last you 5-8 years? What car won't last that long? Do you care about styling? Does the car need to somehow fit in with your "upwardly mobile young professional" look? Honda Civic Honda Accord Toyota Camry Toyota Corolla

2011 Hyundai Elantra:

You're clearly not a car guy, or you wouldn't be asking this question here (nothing wrong with that). Thus I pronounce: current generation Accord Coupe. It's handsome, reliable, and all the car anyone could need. Get the four-banger with a manual.

The coupe doesn't make any sense for a long term, daily driver.

4 Door yes.

The 2011 redesigned Elantra would have my eye if I were buying new, with that budget, and looking for something to last 5+ years (100k mile warranty I believe).

+1

And don't get it new. Get recertified cars.

With all the interior plastic styling in this car, it'll look old in 2-3 years.

Go used.

But it depends on your personality. Do you like SUV's or Car's or Convertibles?

Personally I'd like to get a convertible, and I'd probably go with a Used 3 series Convertible or a Nissan 350Z Convertible or a Saab 9-3.

Mazda 3 seems like a nice car. Or a Toyota Camry is reliable, but kinda boring. I've thought about buying a Prius to save on gas.

Really depends on your personality and what image you want to project. Im a big fan of BMW, I could never afford a new one (at least right now). But parts and repairs cost quite a bit for BMW's. I don't like the "Im a prick" image BMW has, but I like how their cars handle.

I know you can pick up a nice used Porsche 911 for $20,000. I'd love to own one of those. They have really good reliability I hear as well.

I had a BMW with 200K miles and it ran great. I now drive a Nissan with 115K miles, and will probably use it till 200K miles.

What an hideous and odious combination of words: upwardly mobile young professional.

If you're going to be traveling upward a lot I recommend getting an automatic.

buy a 370Z and finance the difference