What's a nice cruisermobile, newerish, $15k-ish, for daily driver work?

I liked my E36, not the nickel dime stuff with no local parts availability.  30 year old car is a no...  Loved my daughter in law's Elco, but again, don't want that old.  My friends V6 Mustang is nice, but,  eeeeh, it's 13 years old.  Been in a Challenger, not my thing.

Prefer something maybe 8-10 years old, for cheap(er)ness.  Hopefully something I can throw some wheels & springs on to make it a little cool.  So a little nicer than just an appliance.  Also something reliable, hoping to get away with pretty much just gas & oil.

Are any of the Lexus IS cars or their Infiniti counterparts nice to toodle around in?  Any v6 Hondas, or anything?  Truck-ish is ok, too, but small, want some milage.

I assume they'll keep me in the new job, and it's a couple days a week down at the office, 35-45 min away, d.o.t. 

Looking for a nice place to spend a little time in.  

I just had a proverbial driven to church on Sundays by grandma car fall into my lap. It's a 2007 Toyota Solara convertible. The ride is somewhere between floaty and boatlike. It has body roll for days. The automatic transmission is fine but uninspiring. 
 

But it looks good. It is among the easiest cars to drive that I've ever driven. My wife can drive it. My mom can drive it. It is really, really good at being a car. And the top comes down! It is an '07 SLE, and the luxury appointments are right on par with my MIL's '02 ES and '13 RX. 

If you're ok with FWD, automatic, and big, it is really hard to go wrong with a Camry variant.

Otherwise, I've really liked every RWD Lexus and Toyota that I've driven. A hybrid GS is high on my list of potential cars. 

Used 3rd/4th gen Avalon for sure.

Hyundai Genesis? No stick shift option in the sedan, but it feels like a knockoff Mercedes in a good way.

Page 2 of this recent thread will give you some chatter about the big, rwd Koran sedans that might be helpful. 

The SUV is king and sedans are dead.  Some of your best "values" will come from overlooked sedans.  

Lux and good fuel economy are usually a rare combination. One that comes to mind and was sold in significant quantities is the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid.  I have no personal experience with them but might be worth a look.  PS: Lincoln depreciation is real. You might find the MKZ for cheaper than the Ford Fusion Hybrid chassis-mate.  

Kia Cadenza, Hyundai Azera and the Genesis Sedan are all fantastic bargains that make an avalon look like buying a civic type r.

bobzilla said:

Kia Cadenza, Hyundai Azera and the Genesis Sedan are all fantastic bargains that make an avalon look like buying a civic type r.

Interesting. Gonna start looking these up because my mom's '05 Avalon has 288k miles and may need a replacement soon.

Your criteria scream Lexus to me. I'll also echo Avalon if you skew towards the more appliance-y end of the scale. Pretty much any v6 accord, though I remember the 9th gen being particularly lauded. 

I love my 14 Acura ILX, 6 sp manual, K24. Basicaly a nicer civic si of the 12+ gen. The premium is fully loaded and the only way to get the 6 speed version.  

Review: 2014 Acura ILX Premium w/6-Speed Manual | Subcompact Culture - The small car blog

If I was looking Id be hard on the hunt for one of these 18+ Honda accord 2.0 turbo 6 speed cars. Think type R engine setup in a nice sporty 4 door thats not a racecar 

Tested: 2018 Honda Accord Sport 2.0T Manual (caranddriver.com)

For this use case, I'd also be considering a third gen Mazda 3 or 6 along with what others have mentioned.

Sweet chassis, nice MPGs (high 30s on the highway even with the 2.5), nicer interior than you'd expect on the grand touring trims. The 6 is quieter and still handles well. It can also be had with the turbo 2.5 in later years, though the price might be too high then.

I think it might check a lot of your boxes.

The choices with the criteria you listed is almost endless, you're going to get an overwhelming amount of different responses.  Narrow it down some and then start test driving.  I'd go Honda or Acura, but there are 20 other answers that would be good too. 

Just because now I can’t get this out of my head:

You mentioned V6 Mustang, I liked mine but it needed better shocks before it was fun to drive. I changed the springs and shocks, then it handled well. It was a premium so that gives you some nice options.

 My daughter has an IS 250. It is a nice place to spend time in. It now has over 200k miles on it. All we have had to do is maintenance and driver inflicted injuries. An IS 350 is supposed to be the more trouble free option. Some 250s have DI issues

For me the best Lwxus RX you can find in budget. They are tanks and man are they wonderful dailies.  

The Lexus you mentioned is a great option. Reliable and reasonably fun. Nice looking too. 
 

The equivalent Infinity is also quite nice. 
 

Drive them both 

I'll take a look at the Genesis cars and probably a Mazda 3, the 6s don't do it for me.

Seems like the Lexus IS is a consensus, kind of what I was thinking might be a good choice, we'll check 'em out and see what's next.

IS are nice, I've owned multiple copies of every flavor. 

Things to note: The early IS250's get carbon buildup and need the intake cleaned periodically. They also feel pretty gutless but get better MPGs. 

The IS350's don't suffer from this, and have +100hp. I think we got 26mpg combined from our 350. For me, these are the sweet spot. Unfortunately you'll find 10 IS250s for every IS350. The dashes and door panels become soft and gooey in hot climates, Lexus offers a free replacement but only once per VIN.

Also consider a Volvo as an overlooked, undervalued gem. I picked up a high mileage V60 at the height of the pandemic for $11k. It's been trouble free for 25,000 miles and is a very comfortable place to spend time.

I have a 2019 Ford Fusion I bought new.  I'm at 110,000 miles and so far all I've done is change oil and put tires on it along with a $6 shift linkage bushing.  I've been really happy with it, the interior nice with quality materials, not just hard plastic everywhere.  I drive 100 miles a day for work and the adaptive cruise control has changed my life.  IMO is looks pretty cool too as far as 4 door commuter cars go.  Steeda make a few things for it if that's what you're after.  Lowering springs, spoilers, etc.

May not be Lexus reliable, but you could get the Lincoln MKZ (Fancy Fusion) with a 3.0 Ecoboost and AWD. 400hp/400 lbs-ft in a sleeper, luxo-cruiser doesn't sound too far off the mark for what you're seeking.

Autotrader has a handful inside of your budget

Patientzero said:

I have a 2019 Ford Fusion I bought new.  I'm at 110,000 miles and so far all I've done is change oil and put tires on it along with a $6 shift linkage bushing.  I've been really happy with it, the interior nice with quality materials, not just hard plastic everywhere.  I drive 100 miles a day for work and the adaptive cruise control has changed my life.  IMO is looks pretty cool too as far as 4 door commuter cars go.  Steeda make a few things for it if that's what you're after.  Lowering springs, spoilers, etc.

I love the Fusions and was tracking prices on the Fusion Sports but after totalling my BMW I wasn't in a place to buy one so had to get into a cheaper car.  I'm liking my new-to-me BMW replacement though.  2007 328xi wagon had 86k on the odometer when I bought it for $10k.

In reply to Patientzero :

I saw some of these last night as I just looked at cars within a certain budget.

I drove a Fusion of similar vintage as a rental, and I quite liked them.  My old Focus 5-speed was similarly bullet proof, added to the list (and, nice to know Steeda has a couple things for them).

In reply to STM317 :

Less luxocruiser than a neat to drive feeling.

A few of the Mazda 3s somebody mentioned, but for that I'd want a manual, I think.

The mention of the Volvo is interesting too.

In reply to ГУЛАГ мальчик УР следующий :

I haven't driven one. And what I consider "luxo-cruiser" may be different than what you do. Like any car, you wouldn't know until you try it.

But it's a Fusion in a tux. So pretty safe bet that anything suspension/brake/wheel/tire that would fit a Fusion would also fit the MKZ if you're considering those upgrades anyway. I think the rear dif was shared with the Focus RS even, so there may be even more options for parts bin or aftermarket upgrades than I'm aware of.

I have seen a couple Genesis G70's with manuals just above 20K

2019 Genesis G70 2.0T Sport RWD