Buy a Toyota Camry and put the extra money into the stock market.
I agree. I am on my 3rd Camry V6 (leased) and have never had a lick of trouble. It's a great value car as well.
My parents were always "Buy America" when it came to cars, but even they got sick of the poor quality and value of GM products. (That's what you get when both management and labor are socialists).
Get a Lexus ES330! Great resale value. Or better yet buy a certified Pre-owned ES330. Great value and still great resale plus a great warranty. It is a Toyota Camry with all bells and whistles. Reliable, economical and will impress clients. A small step down would be a Toyota Avalon.
I love my Toyota Corolla, and I agree that the Camry is a wonderful car (I've driven them as rentals), but I also recall reading an article that the Camray is one of a number of cars that has a serious problem with engine "sludging." This is where over time, a buildup of sludge occurs, eventually blocking the oil pickup, pretty much killing the engine. The way around this is to use an engine "cleaner" at EVERY oil change!
This is a known issue on older cars, and it is NOT limited to Camrys. I do not know if it's still a problem on the new Camrys, but I'd be very careful if I were to buy one. Things like only getting my oil changed (every 3000 miles) at the Toyota dealership, rather than the nieghborhood Jiffylube (which, frankly, is where I always get my Corolla oil changed.)
Mark
My husband drives a LOT. He takes colleagues/ clients around some, as a consultant. He wanted a car that had good mileage, was comfortable, well-built. He and my son looked at EVERY car within 50 miles (haha)for the last 6-8 MONTHS!! He just got a BMW 330i. Last years' model, so they wanted to get rid of it. He LOVES it. It is engineered well, beautiful, well-built -- just a dream car.
And I quote: "The 3-series is lower-end, price-wise, but elegant. Everything is designed in an elegant but minimalist way; good power, smooth ride. Good 'driveability.'"
You might take a look.