| Author | Message | ||
     Pkforbes87 |
Long story short.. I need a vehicle that will commute 80-100 miles a day for the next 3-4 years with as little cost per mile as possible. That includes both fuel economy and maintenance costs. I've been looking at a little bit of everything. The only common thread being that I'd like to find something with a manual transmission. Haven't had one in a few years and I really miss driving them. I've mostly been looking at cars, but the Ranger/B2300 really catches my eye, so may be willing to trade some economy for extra utility. The Uly is more than likely going to top any vehicle in both fuel economy and maintenance costs, and I do plan on riding it whenever possible. Unfortunately, Missouri weather won't allow me to ride year-round so I'm gonna have to find something with more wheels. So.. suggestions? FYI: want to find out how much you really enjoy riding? Go one summer with only motorcycles! | ||
| Reepicheep |
The older style Saturn SL1 / SC1 give a stupid high bang for the buck. The SL2 / SC2 also, but they are a little more expensive. The other Saturns, not so much. I put 160k miles on an SC2 with only minor work (exhaust, idler pully, cam cover gasket, coolant temp sensors). It was still running strong when I sold it. I like the Saab 9-3SE I have now as well. That will be a little pricier to get, and it may be a bit of hobby at times to keep happy, but they are long term reliable cars that are WAY undervalued on the market. They get better MPG than the saturn, and can haul ass when you want them to. Gotta love that turbo. I'm at 150k miles on mine, and it feels like it could be a 250k to 300k mile car. If you go the Saab route, PM me and I can tell you what gotcha's to look for. | ||
| Notpurples2 |
You could probably find a nice used civic for that price. Small truck isn't a good idea. Putting down those miles will make you regret it everytime you have to fill up. I love my truck but I only drive it on the weekends. I was driving my old raider to work ~80mi round trip for a while but got rid of it for a nice avalanche to just ride on the weekend and helped my fiance get a used civic under the condition that I could use it to commute to work when I didn't ride and she would use my avalanche to go to nursing school (only a few miles away). The civic averages around 40mpg without trying. The best I could do with the raider was 20-22 and cruising slow. The civic actually is a better economical ride than my XB which gets around 55mpg of premium and goes through tires about 5x faster. | ||
| Guell |
Used civic or corolla. I wouldnt look at any small pickup, even with a 4cyl. Plus a 4cyl ranger is going to be slooooooow. I have a 4l 4x4 ranger that i daily drive and i cringe everytime i have to fill it up. | ||
| Romanrider |
+1 on the older Saturn. We had a 92 or 93 SW2 wagon that was an awesome small sport ute wagon. It looked pretty decent for a station wagon, and with the twin cam engine and 5 speed tranny it was economical but also had plenty of pep for what it was. We put 4 Blizzak tires on it for winter and used it to tow our 2 place snowmobile trailer, and it did great! I still see it around town from time to time, with the plastic bodywork it still looks good. | ||
| Zenbiker |
I second Reeps reco, as my wife has a cheapo saturn (we have owned 3 between us) and I have had 3 saab 900/93s in the past (currently a 93 Viggen), all but the Viggen had over 200k miles on them when I sold them. If I keep my foot out of it, I can get 36 mpg on the highway and high 20s in town. I once drove to detroit from milwaukee, filled up after leaving the Skyway and averaged 34MPG at 75MPH with the top down on I-94. It is about time that everyone is moving to turbos. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Drooooool. Viggen. Drooooool. Honda's are great, but (at least here in the midwest) they seem a bit over valued for what they are. People that don't know any better and want a reliable car just figure "buy a honda". Not a bad plan actually, its a fairly safe call. But it drives up their cost on the used market. The opposite happens with Saabs. People here horror stories (which are often related to people running to a dealer to solve minor problems, and paying dealer rates to have them solved, or occasionally rated to a few already factory updated design defects you just have to put in, or maybe the fact that a little high boost turbo punishes you worse for being stupid on oil change intervals than a whimpy non turbo motor). People are also probably afraid because they are "out of business". So Saabs seem to be going far lower on the open market than they really should. IMHO. I bought a 93k mile loaded to the gills 2000 Saab 9-3 for $7k several years ago, which is about what a similar civic would have cost me, and the Saab is laugh out loud better (and I've owned and liked a civic before, I'm not a hater). (Message edited by reepicheep on July 13, 2012) | ||
| Reepicheep |
Oh, and Saab / Saturn / Buell guys... LOL. That's a bit predictable.  | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I will put my vote in as well with Civic or Corolla. Older models have smaller/cheaper tires. There is a reason that there are so many of the damn things out there Things that enhance cheap: Manual tranny ugliness broken AC Stinky stained interior Assume any used car bought will require a brake job and tires seems to be a rule. | ||
| Xdigitalx |
I drove a saturn once for 2.5 hours... was ok...for short people and or short distances i guess, I am 6ft with long arms and had problems finding a place to rest my arms while driving on the highway... you know... left elbow out window ... resting on door with hand still holding steering wheel... the armrest is placed back too far... uncomfortable for me. Some vehicles... you can reach the turn signals with arm in that same position... others you have to move it. I hated the UI design of the saturn. HAHA. | ||
| Fb1 |
Honda, Toyota, Nissan, probably in that order. Next question? | ||
| Hughlysses |
During your search for this car, prepare to be frustrated to near insanity by craigslist. Searching is difficult because people can't spell the name or model of their car correctly, the subject will be something like "THIS WON'T BE HERE LONG!!!!" with no indication WTF "THIS" is, the "firm" price will be 2X the book value for a perfect car even though theirs is a POS, they won't accept e-mail but won't answer calls or texts either OR they will ONLY accept e-mail but won't respond to it, if they DO respond it'll be ~4 days after you e-mailed them, and the response will tell you someone's already supposed to buy it a week from now, etc. DAMHIK  | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Oh yeah and stay away from any moron that would put a fartcan or stupid wing on the car. You can get 250,000 miles out of any of these japanese cars but not if the previous owner convinces himself that it's sick racecar for driftin'. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
Civics around here have all been molested. I'm glad to see Saturn mentioned, I hadn't even thought to look for one. Looks like quite a few are around in good condition with relatively low miles. Any opinions on the Ford Focus? What about a Jetta TDI? I can't believe I found one within my budget but I'm guessing that means there's something wrong with it. | ||
| Guell |
vw parts are going to be expensive. A tdi is going to get great milleage though. You can find unmolested hondas. It took me 2 minutes to find a 99 civic hatch, for 2600 bucks. | ||
| 7873jake |
I have two guys who work with me and both have Foci with over 180k on the clock with no major repairs. One is a 2000 and one is a 2002. Another one that lurks under the radar on the used car market is the Pontiac Vibe (aka Toyota Matrix...IIRC its essentially a Corolla platform wagon). | ||
| Whistler |
I use a yellow '08 Hyundai Accent 2 door with 85,000 miles as a run around car. Great mileage, easy maintenance. I like it, my wife hates it. Same story with my gas guzzling 310,000 mile '94 V8 Dakota work truck. I love it, she can't stand it. | ||
| Dwardo |
My Focus (2002) is approaching 280,000 miles. I drive it on my daily 125 mile commute, and I beat the snot out of it. It's truly beat up and noisy but shows no signs of quitting. I'm going to buy another one. | ||
| Fast1075 |
My ole Ford Ranger has been a really good reliable truck, but it only gets 24 mpg on the highway. It is a 2.5 four banger. It has ample power. My neighbor found a Geo Metro somewhere. It looks like fido's ass, but he claims that with some care, it gets 45 mpg. But no A/C, a complete must in Florida summers. | ||
| Luftkoph |
I'll throw a curve ball on ya here,I have found the buick le sabre and the olds 88 with the 3.8 gen11 engine,are ultra reliable, plenty of room inside, a real trunk, plus I've gottin over 30 mpg on cruise, and they don't do to bad around own 21-23 mpg, just find an old timer thats selling one they usually have low miles,did I say roomy inside,ya you can stretch your legs out in comfort almost as good as an ultra classic. | ||
| Slaughter |
Sunny and I have a Saturn SC1. It will still pull a 1-rail moto trailer and when we run LA to Phoenix it still gets 40mpg. We have 327,000 miles on it. Yeah it's a little small but it's served us well. Not fun like a 2 wheel moto but almost same mileage | ||
| Cityxslicker |
VeeWee dunebuggy screw practical. | ||
| Guell |
Some fun cars to drive would be a first gen Toyota mr2, they get great gas mileage. Also a bmw e30 318is would be fun and practical | ||
| Xb1200rick |
We have had 2 of the Saturn SL's with a 5 speed. Great gas mileage in the high 30s . The first one was t boned , the second ran forever with little work . I think it was close to 300k when it slung a rod . | ||
| Reepicheep |
For reference (if anyone cares), the older Saturn SL1/SC1 and SL2/SC2 cars had pretty much the same bottom end, but the 1 series had a single overhead cam and the 2 series had a dual overhead cam. I think the 2's had twice the valves as well. I got an SC2 first. Ran like any other sporty econobox. Then we got an SL1. The step down from a 2 to a 1 was not really that significant, and the 1 series motors were indestructible and economical. Kinda like an XB12 versus XB9 thing... The power of the 12 is nice, but if you don't have it, all the other virtues of the 9 probably actually outweigh the loss of power. | ||
| Slaughter |
By the way, we are looking for a lower mileage SC1 to replace ours when it finally dies. We gotta be cheap in order to be able to afford all our bad habits. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
While browsing for an MR2 (mostly only gen 2 and 3 available around here) I spotted an otherwise clean Fiero GT with a sloppy supercharged 3800 swap. Must ignore. I have a soft spot for Fieros. My first car was a POS '84 SE. This is a long shot, but if anyone has a car that fits the description of what I'm looking for, I've got a smartly farkled '04 DR-Z400S to trade  Right now definitely looking hard and leaning toward an SL1. The price, reliability record, and efficiency potential all have me pretty interested. | ||
| Guell |
a gen 2 with the 5sfe would be a very reliable car since that was the camry motor. | ||
| Court |
I've got a sweet 2012 Focus Titanium for sale . . . :-) | ||
| Guell |
ill buy it for under 4k |
