So my mom has had a 2014 Chevy Sonic RS since new and loves the thing to death. And it is a fantastic little car... When its not broken.
It has had the turbo replaced at least once, the transmission at least once, the valve cover and intake manifold multiple times (stupid pcv system design, we did a fix to it eventually) and finally the engine lost a ton of cylinder pressure on one hole.
Managed to find a cheap-ish lower mileage engine and we will swap it in, but the car has over 200k kms on it now and probably time to go. Between my father and I, we have spent more time fixing that car then ANY vehicle either of us has owned both of our lives.
The folks are partial to GM vehicles, so the obvious solution is a low mile 2nd gen Sonic RS. Are these any better?
And if not, what 2016+ subcompact hatch is good? It needs power to go down the highway (mom is a bit of a fast driver), needs to be big enough two adults can fit in it comfortably to go back and forth to Edmonton/Calgary, and reliable. Hybrids will be considered, I know 1st gen priuses were penalty boxes, but from the ones I drove they weren't bad cars.
Ease of use is a paramount consideration, as my mom is "mostly" tech illiterate. If it has a tech feature, it better be automatic, or have the ability to be disabled.