Electric Cars: Chev Bolt seems to be the first practical one.

IslandTractor · May 12, 2017

houstonscott said:
That whole argument is based solely on moving one or maybe two adults with the most basic performance for a short distance in minimal comfort. Something all but first time buyers in the car market are willing to tolerate do to minimal resources. Cheap and efficient are not the same. And efficiency has to measured against capability. You could say a scouter is cheaper basic transportation over a Civic, to get my point.

I get your point. However, forgetting all the fancy gizmos that we have all become attached to in our modern cars, if you measure simply the efficiency of getting two or three people from point A to point B in the heat, wet and snow with a modicum of safety and comfort, I'd still say that the Corolla type ICE vehicle is going to give you the greatest bang for the buck and reliability. There is a reason that Corollas (and knock offs like Civic etc etc) are the most popular cars worldwide and serve in more taxi fleets than any other worldwide too. Cheap, efficient and reliable. Hard to say anything negative other than boring.

houstonscott · May 12, 2017

IslandTractor said:
I get your point. However, forgetting all the fancy gizmos that we have all become attached to in our modern cars, if you measure simply the efficiency of getting two or three people from point A to point B in the heat, wet and snow with a modicum of safety and comfort, I'd still say that the Corolla type ICE vehicle is going to give you the greatest bang for the buck and reliability. There is a reason that Corollas (and knock offs like Civic etc etc) are the most popular cars worldwide and serve in more taxi fleets than any other worldwide too. Cheap, efficient and reliable. Hard to say anything negative other than boring.

I agree if the argument is limited to USA, otherwise you'll learn those world wide corollas you are referring too are diesels.

aeblank · May 12, 2017

The Civic is extremely boring.

California · May 12, 2017

OP here. I'm still researching various alternatives.

I saw a current thread on Hybrids that had evolved to discussion of Prius reliability so I posted over there to learn a little more. Prius v (the mini-wagon) and Ford C-Max Hybrid discussed there, seem worth considering in addition to / in contrast with the vehicles in this thread. A poster there linked to a Prius board where owners of Prius v are getting over 300,000 to 400,000 miles (messenger service) before problems. That looks attractive. Possibly that model with a lot of miles on it already would be inexpensive and not too much of a gamble.

I wish my 18 year old Outback (photo) got better than 23 mpg, I would keep it forever.

The search continues ...

IslandTractor · May 13, 2017

Consider buying a used hybrid off lease. We bought two CMax Energis with low miles, a year left on factory warranty for less than 50% of original sticker. $16k for fully loaded vehicles with less than 20k miles that originally listed for $37k. Low gas prices dropped the bottom out of the hybrid market so returned leases can be had for cheap money.

I'd say the Prius is likely more reliable (because Toyota) but that's partly because it is so basic. The Ford is much more powerful and fun to drive as it is a European Focus at heart. And, it has much better entertainment/nav/Bluetooth etc. But, it's not a Toyota.

IslandTractor · May 13, 2017

I was originally looking for a used Prius V but they were $4-5k more and as noted earlier much more boring. Excellent but neither cheap used nor fun. I'd still choose the Prius if I wanted to keep it for more than 250k miles. Very happy with the CMax though.

RSKY · May 13, 2017

aeblank said:
The Civic is extremely boring.

Saw one at a dealer today that had a 212-hp turbocharged engine. In that light car that doesn't sound boring. Of course with four grandkids we are looking at a minivan. Now that IS boring.

RSKY

California · May 13, 2017

IslandTractor said:
I was originally looking for a used Prius V but they were $4-5k more and as noted earlier much more boring. Excellent but neither cheap used nor fun. I'd still choose the Prius if I wanted to keep it for more than 250k miles. Very happy with the CMax though.

Thanks. This got me looking around here (Northern California) at the CMaxs on Craigslist. It looks like only $12,000 (and up) for a decent used 2013 or 2014. Nearly all are the Energi (plugin) version but I think I want the simpler Hybrid since I need the trunk space.