Agree, Corollas are the energizer bunnies of cars and a great balance of affordable/reliable/safe for young drivers.

Agree with looking for a Civic or Corolla. For less than $8K a quick search on cars.com is showing a 2008 Corolla with less than 50K miles on it. There's a 2009 with less than 70K miles, too. My first car out of college was a 2006 Corolla and it was a great car.

My MIL still has her 2009 Corolla with 200K miles on it! It's a base model and seriously drives and sounds like a go-kart, but it won't die!

The Prius may need a battery and they’re expensive, the ford is unreliable. The accord or Camry. But, I would honestly keep searching for a bit longer.

for me it would be a toss up between ford and prius. just on newness of the vehicles.

mileage on the prius is a bit worrisome, but if you figure the gas engine only has 50-60K on it. cab companies are using the pruis and getting 200k with zero battery problems.

I have a 2013 ford cmax with 70K on the clock and it has had zero problems.

both vehicles are out of warranty. it would come down to price and what options each one has.

Of the ones you posted, I would go with the Ford Focus because of year/mileage. We have a Ford Fusion which has turned out to be a really good car with close to 100K miles on it.

But for a reliable car that you want to hang onto for 6 years I agree with those suggesting to wait and save a little longer for a Civic or a Corolla.

Another problem with used Prius is that you might have to replace the battery which is expensive.