Good dependable transportation

I bought my 1993 Acclaim brand new. Throughout the past 8 years and 250,000 kms, it has been the most dependable, economical, worry-free car in the family.
I shopped for my car for over a year, reading carefully about the safety, reliability and cost of different models in my price range. I test drove comparably priced models by all the major auto makers (Sunbird, Cavalier, Tercel, Mazda) and noticed that all the cars except the Acclaim in this price range featured unattractive, spartan interiors. The Acclaim was the roomiest and best-appointed of all the cars which I drove. The crash test rating of the car was as good as any of the others; it came with a standard driver's side air bag.
The car, with bucket front seats, comfortably seats 5 which is not true of most cars in this price range. The dash is logically laid out and controls are easy to access. The heating system is very good. At top speed the fan is noisy but it really pushes the air out. Even on a frigid February morning your car will be warm in no time. Most of the time I operated my fan on the lower speeds as they are very adequate for maintaining a comfortable temperature.
The car handles very well. It is driven year round
and the front wheel drive maintains control on icy, snowy, wet or dry roads. The ride of the car is quite good. It does not, of course, compare with my parents' Intrepid but then, their car cost over $10,000 more. Compared to other cars in its class, this car rides very well. There is some road noise on the highway but less than most small mid-priced cars. If you're used to much more expensive cars, you will notice it but I commute to work on the highway every day for 2 hours and find the car comfortable to ride in.
The automatic transmission is smooth shifting and has proved very durable. Gas mileage from the 4 cylinder engine is very good.
The only fault with the car, which has been present since it was purchased is a slight tendency to a small creaky noise in the front. This does not affect the ride and has never led to any maintenance problems.
The best part of owning this car has been its durability. It has required only two major repairs, both the result of accidents. The first was quite innocuous seeming, I curbed the car hard enough to blow the right front tire. There wasn't a mark on the car. It turns out I damaged more than the tire; the front alignment was affected and the car would not hold an alignment for as long as it used to after that. It still rode well but I seemed to be aligning it more often. About a year after this accident, some darling soul partly slashed one of my tires (the front right again) so that it blew going full speed down the highway. I got the car to the side of the road and even drove home on the spare but the axle was cracked and had to be replaced. Since then, the car holds an alignment perfectly and is as good as new.
My experience with the smaller accident and seeing how it affected the car certainly makes me shy away from used vehicles. You could never tell the car had had an accident but it was affected by it until major front end parts were replaced. From what I have read, this is not particular to the Acclaim but is what happens to the cars of today when involved in even minor accidents.
Apart from the expenses from these two accidents, the car has required only routine maintenance. I am careful about my oil changes as I find the car runs less smoothly if I let them go at all. I have, of course, had to replace brakes etc as they wear out but, given the mileage, that is to be expected.
The only real drawback about this car is Chrysler no longer makes it. I plan major purchases years in advance so I have started looking around to prepare myself for the dreaded day when my car can go no longer. So far I can find nothing to compare with my Acclaim.