We’ll have had our Corolla for 9 years come October. It’s been incredibly reliable and hassle free and gets fabulous gas mileage (35 to 41 on the interstate).

However.

Since we only have the one car, we’re thinking it’s time for a new car. (We have no interest in having two cars.)

Our top two are the Corolla and the Jetta: Standard transmission (5 or 6 speed)

We’re considering doing a lot of traveling in the future, so comfort and reliability are extremely important.

One major disadvantage of the Jetta is that the closest dealer is almost an hour away, which makes those free maintenance checks a PITA, especially since we’ll have only the one car.

Disadvantage of the Corolla–it’s getting harder and harder to find manual transmission engines on Toyotas.

Any comments or suggestions?

(Don’t even suggest a Ford or Chevy–we want something that will be reliable AND worth something for trade in later–our 9 year old Corolla is still worth $3 to 6k according to the blue book.)