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I have been considering replacing my current car for quite some time although have been having difficulty finding a replacement car that I like that has less that can go wrong and can accommodate me (I am over 6ft tall). I have looked at the Toyota Mark X as a potential replacement, although wondered about the fuel efficiency and reliability. I have also considered VW Golf's, although have heard bad things regarding reliability and costly repairs for European car models. Also, many imports from Japan seem to have CVT Transmissions, which from research can be unreliable in older cars.
I would like to spend around $8-10k if possible.
I would also like to know if purchasing an imported European car from Japan (such as the VW Golf) made in 2006-2008 would be a bad move.

Could you please help? Is there any recommendations you could give?

Hi there,
Japanese imports can be a mixed bag at the best of times, and how they are treated/ serviced over there is often unknown. This is potentially why European cars from there can give issue, as Euro cars like to be serviced and often required a higher grade oil when serviced which brings the cost of servicing up. Where as a Japanese domestic vehicle may last a bit longer if the servicing schedule has not quite been followed to the letter, and are often cheaper to service and would moist likely have had some servicing carried out.
The MarkX is a relatively recent model of vehicle to be a popular import and not a vehicle on the mind of a lot of AA members minds who call us. So not much is known, but going by the general Toyota reliability trend, they wouldn't be too bad. Becoming more popular with the younger generation who want a tidy looking car with a bit of power.

Thank you for your reply!
By the way, what is your opinion on VW Golfs in general?
Are there models/years that should be avoided or models\years that would be best to buy?

Golfs in general are great cars, there are a few years/ models that were more prone to having some issues. The 1.4 TSi was considered highly strung and some had issues. And some models with the DSG gearbox, although the transmission is great it can be expensive to repair should it go wrong. I have heard that the 2.0ltr FSI engines were the pick of the bunch from around 2007. That's about as much as I know so far. Maybe look for later ones 2010 up?.