I love my Ford Escape. I call it my Cheap-Jeep!

I love my Honda Odyssey. I would not buy any other van. Mine has close to 190,000 miles, and still drive like brand new. The up keep is real cheap to.

Honda Element here. It's the perfect dog-mobile for me. Back seats come out entirely, (more room for dogs) and the interior is rubber--you can literally hose it out. I also like the "clamshell" back opening and the "suicide" side doors. It's not the prettiest vehicle on the road, but very practical for a mess of dogs.

http://automobiles.honda.com/element/

Get your Elements while you can. 2011 is their last production year.

Great dog vehicle though. The boxey shape makes it easy to fit crates into the cargo area. Rear seats come out easily.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/10/autos/honda_element_rip.fortune/index.htm

I swear by Toyotas. I got over 300,000 miles on my first Toyota and it was still running great (with regular maintenance) when I traded it in for my second, which I still have. My Mom has had a Camry or two that she put crazy-high mileage on without issue, my sister had a 4Runner, also in the 200,000 mile range when she sold it. That car was fabulous in the winter, had lots of room, and got surprisingly good mileage for a bigger vehicle. My Mom also had a Highlander for awhile that I totally envied

I currently drive a 17 year old Corolla wagon with over 230,000 miles on it, and it is just now starting to need little repairs and have 'old car' issues. If I put about $500 into it, it would be good as new. After 17 years.

The back seats fold down completely, and I have fit two normal-sized dog-crates (or four loose Greyhounds) in the back (My Giant crate doesn't fit). It also gets great mileage.

My first car was a Dodge that died utterly at about 150,000 miles. Since I can't afford to buy cars all the time or have a lot of expensive repairs, it's been Toyotas for me ever since.

I currently have a 2003 Honda Civic but my last car was 1996 Honda Civic with over 190,000 miles on it before it finally died earlier this year.
I love the Hondas but my dream car would be a Subaru Outback in blue of course.

We have in the family several Subarus with >150,000. No problems ever. The all wheel drive can chew on tires, but other than that the vehicle is comfy, totally reliable, and lasts until beyond the time you are completely sick of it. They seem to hold their blue-book value too.

I am a auto tech, the best advice i can give it stay away from anything that is a brand new model, if your buying new that is new models never have any parts available if you were to need one, also unless you hate your wallet IMO no VW, AUDI, Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, SAAB, and especailly NO Land Rover I dont care how good the price is. Other than that it really depends on the size your looking for. Anything Acura/Honda or Toyota/Lexus or even Nissan/Infiniti are great when maintained properly. Hyndai has come a long way as well, if your looking to buy something to drive til its dead and dont care about resale value Hyndai or Kia deffinitly take a look at. If you narrow it down a little bit I could help you some more as far as future maintaince costs. Good Luck

So this would also be an every day drive to the stop & go car as well as a haul car for whatever?
Ahem, what I mean is, you're looking for a cover-alls type of vehicle?
Ya go to the dog club in the morning and can get in to go to the opera for the evening after the afternoon trip to the dump with a side trip to the local knock down drag out.
Or are you looking for a vehicle thats a little more single purpose?

 Quote: randy allen

So this would also be an every day drive to the stop & go car as well as a haul car for whatever?
Ahem, what I mean is, you're looking for a cover-alls type of vehicle?
Ya go to the dog club in the morning and can get in to go to the opera for the evening after the afternoon trip to the dump with a side trip to the local knock down drag out.
Or are you looking for a vehicle thats a little more single purpose?

General Purpose wheels. I'm just getting tired of having to deal with wheels and dealers every 100k, I also Don't want to roll into retirement having a car payment