My dad bought a 2001 honda accord as the "kids" car or third family car when my sisters and I started reaching driving age. This was around the year 2005. It was regularly maintained with zero issues and regular highway and in town driving from 2005-2008, when I took it with me to college. It drove in town, and highway and across 3 states several times a semester. Outside of oil changes and tires, I did nothing for it. I bought the car off of him officially in 2010 when I got married. In 2010 it got broken into -- windows and door damage fixed up fine. I changed a sensor or something in the gas gauge in 2012. DH worked for 10 months at a job an hour away one way during that time and drove it. We drove through several states for trips. We moved, and still drove it for all cross country/state trips. In 2012, we finally put in a rebuilt transmission, for 1200.00. The most money I or anyone else had EVER put into mechanical work....
In 2016, we finally sold it to a local college student. He drives it several hours home every couple of months. It got new brake lines before we sold it to him. This December, the engine blew. 1200.00 (again!) later and the car is rock solid and truckin right along......230,000 miles and 17 years old.
Long story short, that Accord has to have been the lowest maintenance car I've ever known, and has required a tiny amount of money to keep running in comparison to any other vehicle my parents ever owned (I would say, that I've ever owned, but lifetime pool is much smaller). You can get cheap, rebuilt engines and transmissions for it, and most work (at least in the older ones) could be done yourself.
Provided they still have that kind of track record, I don't think you can go wrong with a Honda.