What car to buy for a long commute

BillyP · Jul 14, 2005

When gas started going up, I bought my wife a work car. A 1995 Geo Metro for 800 bucks. It gets 42 MPG and runs like a top. You're probably looking at new though. I just thought I would throw that in.

slowzuki · Jul 14, 2005

Up here they sell 2 door hatchback toyota echo's for really cheap. Get 50+ imperial miles to the gal, maybe 45 USmpg.

Do you have them there?

Dargo · Jul 14, 2005

My tight *** attorney has one of those TDI VW's. He loves it. To hear him talk, it must make fuel. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif He teases me because I drive a land barge (I go more for comfort than anything) and I tease him that he needs to go feed the mice under his hood. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Apparently he is quite satisfied with his VW TDI, and claims that he actually gets better mileage than advertised.

Oh yeah, one other thing, he doesn't do maintenance. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif He goes for 4 year leases and never raises the hood. I'd not want to buy one that is off lease!

FL_Cracker · Jul 14, 2005

My tight *** attorney has one of those TDI VW's. 

Thanks for the info. I'll bet if your tight *** attorney is real loooooooooooose with the billing pen.

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

reb · Jul 14, 2005

I have owned several small cars with 4-bangers (Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Saturn) and have been able to consistently get better than advertised mileage. The Mitsubishi came out on top for reliability. I always go for the stick shift and minimal options--AC is almost a must, but little else. Cost of ownership and reliability are paramount for me. I would expect excellent results with Toyota and Honda.

Alan L. · Jul 14, 2005

I don't put much importance on those J.D.Power ratings. Problems per 100 vehicles doesn't mean much. Which would you rather have - vehicle A with a shorted dome light, a loose radio knob, and squeaky back seat, or vehicle B with only ONE problem - a bad transmission.

hazmat · Jul 14, 2005

I'm partial to Honda's myself - great reliablility, handling, and fuel milage. They produce 7 of the top 10 fuel effecient cars. (I'm guessing gasoline only).
msnbc / Newsweek honda fuel milage

I just bought an Accord 4 cylinder manual trans. With all the traffic & hills around here + lead foot I get ~31 mpg combined. Epa advertises 26/34. They are coming out with a new civic for 2006 that looks nice if you want to do better MPG.

I paid $21,900 for the car loaded with leather & sunroof, I'm seeing them advertised now for $20,500 /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif But I've saved $500 in fuel already - (7,500 miles) vs my F150.

coveredbridge · Jul 14, 2005

( If comfort is any factor, my 3.4 liter Monte Carlo will get 32mpg if kept under 65mph. I do a 800 mile round trip in it every other week and it gets a consistant 29mpg, I have somewhat of a lead foot though! )

I'll second that. My '04 Monte Carlo LS with the 3.4L V-6 gets about 30 mpg hiway and 22 - 25 around town. Plus it's about the only car in that class that I can actually sit comfortably in (lots of leg and shoulder room) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It's also very reasonably priced, but with only about 5,000 miles on it, can't comment on reliability, except that I've had no problems so far.

gmsssi · Jul 14, 2005

Mine is an 03' with just under 40,000. No problems at all so far! BTW...my dealer had a 05' with 9000 on it for $15,000, not too bad, making the point they can be had reasonable!

rrsquid · Jul 14, 2005

Slightly off-topic...

I get 42-43MPG on my motorcycle and being a sport bike it's no fuel miser. I figure I've saved around 4,200 gallons of gas in the 62,000 miles I've ridden it. At an average price of $2/gallon, not unreasonable here in CA, I've almost paid for the $10K purchase price outright.