Looking to buy a 2-4 year old car for about $12000-13000

[Batman1980]

I need another car soon but first I need to get into a better place financially. Cars I am considering in my price range -
2013 Volkswagen Jetta
2012 Nissan Sentra
2014 Nissan Versa
I want a car that will be economical to maintain and will last me(with some good maintenance and a bit of luck) about 10-12 years. It's the biggest reason I keep saying no to that 60,000 mile 2006 Lexus my sister is trying to sell me. Really leaning towards the Jetta, my father's insistence that the car costs as much as a Mercedes to maintain is giving me pause.