IMO you definitely want to buy used from a manufacturer known for reliability. I’d also buy a modern-ish car for the safety features.

A couple years ago we bought a Toyota Sienna that was 2 years old with 30k miles at half the cost the car was new off the lot.

It’s kind of the perfect generic vehicle. You can fit a lot of people comfortably and the seats come out so you can haul most things, eg 4x8’ lumber. Because we don’t have furniture really, we can move from rental to rental using it as a moving truck.