The Gun Counter

A good friend of mine has totaled yet another car -- which is surprising since she's done this in St. Petersburg where traffic moves, but at a rather glacial, yet frantic pace...

Any suggestions? She has not provided details, but given the way she drove the Neva she had prior to her Celica, I'm presuming it involved going to the wrong way up a street, and driving down a few sidewalks... (Yes, I know, she shouldn't drive, but... well, Russian public transport has been dangerous, esp. to women traveling alone, and given their economic problems, could get dangerous again.)

I don't think she'd ever drive one -- Bless her, she's always loved sports cars -- but something like a more modern and reliable 1983 MB 240D would be about right...

Old-model Volkswagen Passat or Passat Variant (station-wagon). Ubiquitous, cheap, indestructible. I've had two, one of which my brother-in-law is still driving these many years later.

In St Petersburg, she ought to be able to find plenty of the ones which vanished from German streets...

Volvo.
If she can get an older 240-series, they will run forever, are extremely safe, and easy to fix when they do break down. And they can take quite a few fender benders and keep going.
I've honestly never heard anyone having any problems with any of them, and I know a lot of people that has had them.

Biggest downside is that they are boring to drive, it has that tractor/container feeling.

If she wants a "sportier" car, the older SAABs is an option too, the 900 and 9000 model. A 15 year old SAAB 9000 is a great car, and they are cheap now. (Stay away from the 9-3 and 9-5)
Downside is that they can be difficult to repair, there are a lot of mechanics that dont really understand them, so to be sure they do a good job you need the SAAB mechanics, which can be a bit expensive. But they are more fun than Volvo...

I missed the part of preferring more sportier models first.
And I agree, you wont find a well preserved older Volvo anywhere I know of, they are usually used and used hard.

Diesels aren't that popular in Scandinavia, so finding a used diesel here would take some looking. But since she's not here anyway, and I know there are lots of them in Germany and Austria and probably other countries as well, finding a diesel shouldn't be hard for her.