Best affordable commuter car

[Garandman]

We've purchased two Chevrolet Cruze turbodiesels at work for service staff. They are getting from high 30's in traffic to as much as 50mpg on the highway. Took a trip from Boston to MD and back and averaged nearly 49mpg.

But diesel fuel costs about as much as high test. We may buy a Cruze Eco to see how they hold up as well.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I just purchased a 98 Ford Contour for $3100 with 92K one owner miles...
Had my mechanic check it out and everything looks good...
So far we've run it 8K miles with no issues...
25 mpg to 30 mpg on the highway...
Not the greatest mileage but a friend at my church had one that went over 190K miles with no major repairs...
So far I am well pleaed with it...

 

[mikehaugen]

I had a '96 contour quite a while ago and would never recommend it to anyone. Think it had about 105k and needed brakes... okay- no big deal. Bought it cheap. After repairing brakes the fans wouldn't turn on, wire harness was melted. Looked in junkyard but they were all the same. Found out there was a recall for it. Caused by bad fan motors, Ford replaced fans (kudos to them) but would not replace harness. Finally got it on the road and everything seemed good for about 1000-2000 miles so I was going to take it on a trip, got about 300 miles in and trans went out without warning.

But these are not the reasons I hated it, it had the v6 (2.4 I think?) And it was so crammed into that little car there was not room to do anything under the hood. Not a car you would want to buy with some miles on it thinking you could keep it maintained easily and cheaply.

 

[LD1]

Just re-read this thread. (I am the one who started it 5 years ago)

Still got the saturn. She's up to 170k miles now. Still nothing major wrong. Done brakes once, and a set of front wheel bearings once, and a set of tires once.

Not quite getting 40mpg anymore. Down around 36 now. But tires are a little bigger. That throws the odometer off by 3%, And I am doing about 95% freeway driving now at ~70-75MPH. So those two things in combination with the age/milage now, I am still happy.

The car has long since paid for itself. And I will likely run this til it wont go anymore. It could blow up tomorrow and wouldnt bother me at all. But then will be looking for something again...

A friend bought one of the cruzes when they first came out. 1.8L turbo I believe. He really likes it. Took a trip down to nashville TN and back and averaged 38 or so..

 

[DarkBlack]

Could also be the ethanol gas. You probably had real gas 5 years ago

 

[LD1]

Could also be the ethanol gas. You probably had real gas 5 years ago

Yea, that too.:thumbsup:

 

[Sigarms]

Bought a Totyota Avalon 6 years ago with 72k on it for 9k. Now have 275k on it with no more than 2k in vehicle maintenance less oil changes.

30MPG, decent size car, and still has some umph and still rides nice.

 

[roadhunter]

I'm curious to see how this vehicle does.

American Made
84 MPG
Only $6,800

Elio Motors: Ultra High Mileage Vehicle

 

[Sigarms]

I'm curious to see how this vehicle does.

American Made
84 MPG
Only $6,800

Elio Motors: Ultra High Mileage Vehicle

If I had to drive 4 miles into town for work, sure. Taking that thing down to Charlotte on I-77, no freakin way LOL

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I had purchased my mothers 98 Corolla VE last year. Wow, what a piece of crap car. My mom had it meticulously serviced, parked under an awning most of it's life. At 68,000 miles it was burning about a quart every 400 miles. The paint had chipped off the front of the hood and many other places. The interior plastic was cracking. I had to take off the interior door panels and lay fiberglass inside of them to shore them up. Toyota wants $400 apiece for new ones. They were literally cracking to pieces. It got about 29 mpg. Only 4 mpg better than my V6 Impala.

Whatever you do, don't buy a '98 or '99 Corolla IMO.

The original intent of the thread was aimed at those of us with long commutes. So, if your car makes it over 200,000 with minimal wrenching, please let us know.

Another gripe of mine is the repaving with very coarse gravel on many highways here in Texas. If you have anything to do with this, STOP IT!. You are killing our ear drums.