$15k budget. Thinking about a Volvo or Mazda sedan

I have been driving my first ever car, a Jetta 2008 2.5L with 130k miles, for the last 4 years. It is at 180k now and I got it for 3.5k initially. I treated it pretty badly and it has been giving me constant headaches over the years with constant breakdowns. On the upside I learned how to do my repairs on my own to some degree. It is pretty much a beater now though with its cat converter stolen and replaced with a pipe, vacuum leak I have been driving with for the past few weeks, and beaten down outside frame.

I spend 2 hours a day on average driving so I’d like to get something comfortable now that I make around 70k a year. I was aiming for a comfortable 2020s model car that isn’t gonna give me huge troubles until it is paid off. What’s the general consensus for a mazda3/6 and Volvo s90? I’d be willing to go up to 20k-25k if it is gonna be better in the long term but I’d prefer to keep my monthly car expenses under $500