[gman26]

I drive a 40 mile commute each day, and it's getting to me. I'm moving closer to work at the end of the year. But for now, I'm thinking of getting something better on gas - doesn't have to be a truck, but something like an SUV would be nice.
Any suggestions? Vehicles you own or have owned?

[wytnyt]

depends to what extreme you want to go to
a moped is quite fuel efficient

[poncho-mike]

They're pretty ugly, but I really like the Saturn Vue.

I drove nothing but Suburbans and second gen Firebirds for years. Five years ago, I changed jobs and had to begin driving 55 miles per day round trip. I started looking for something that got at least 25 -30 mpg.

I looked at a lot of different cars, and liked the Saturn Vue with the Ecotec 4-cyl and 5-spd manual tranny. I bought an 02 with 50K original miles. Five years later, I've got 149K miles on it, and it still runs great.

The only thing I've had to replace on it was a ABS sensor at about 75K miles and one battery cable due to corrosion at the battery. Other than that, I've changed oil every 4K miles, replaced the spark plugs at 75K miles, and flushed the entire coolant system at 100K miles. It has been the cheapest car to maintain and operate that I've ever owned.

The regulator on the right rear window broke about a week ago, and that will cost me about $100 to replace.

It gets about 26 mpg in mixed driving, and 30 mpg at highway speed.

I liked it so much I bought a second Vue with 44K miles to replace this one once I wear it out.

BTW, the Ecotec has a timing chain, so there is no timing belt to replace at 100K mile intervals like most 4-bangers.

Mike

[sleepy]

Why not keep the truck and get a car for the commute? If you don't have kids or a bunch of crap to haul around a late 80s early 90s vette should get 25+ mpg, cost around 6-9K and will have enough power to get out of it's own way (and show up all the ricers).

[gman26]

Insurance on the vette will be expensive, I think I would rather go with an SUV type vehicle. Maybe even something older, 60s, 70s, 80s?
How are jeeps, like the CJ5 and CJ7?

[Colin]

I bought a new VW Jetta TDi a couple months ago. Love it.....
Driving to work and back, which is stop and go, Im averaging 37 mpg. Highway averages 44. It would probably do better if I could keep my foot out of it. I did average 39 mpg on my work commute one week but that was driving like granny. I will give up 2 mpg for some spirited driving.......its a lot more fun. I never run less than 70 on the highway ......usually 80. If I would keep it at 65 Im sure highway mileage would be more like 46+.
A lot more fun to drive and cheaper than a new Prius......looks better too.

[Txbobcat]

Corvette insurance is no more than any other car.

[02Hawk]

Run a spread sheet based on capital costs vs operating costs...if your present vehicle is paid for and you are going to trade and pay a loan....10 dollar a gallon gas would be cheaper....just saying

[sleepy]

The insurance on the wife's Honda Accord is more than my vette.

[69goatboy]

Originally Posted by gman26

Insurance on the vette will be expensive, I think I would rather go with an SUV type vehicle. Maybe even something older, 60s, 70s, 80s?
How are jeeps, like the CJ5 and CJ7?

SUV's aren't much better for gas mileage. My '08 Explorer (4.0 v6) gets around 15-16 if I feather it, 14 if I don't. My '99 F-150 (4.6 v8) got around 17 no matter how I drove it.

My .02:
Keep the truck, find a mid-to late 90's Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, VW Gulf, etc.. to beat on back and forth to work.

[mechanickeith]

Got my wife an 07 Vibe. No issues at all. gets 26 in town & 36 on the highway.

[gman26]

I'll probably just keep the truck, it's paid for. Maybe pick up a small car.

What about Jeeps, CJ5 & CJ7 - pretty crappy gas mileage, even with a 4-cylinder?

[b-man]

If you want to deal with 4 to 5 dollar gas, get a 4-cylinder econobox.

No Jeep is going to get much more than half the gas mileage that a small 4-banger powered passenger car can get.

I drive an '06 Civic 4-door as my daily, it has a 1.8 liter 140 HP engine and a 5-speed manual trans which is rarely optioned in these days of mostly auto-trans cars. Always gets 30 to 33 in the city and 40 to 41 on highway trips, pretty hard to beat those numbers for a conventional 4-cylinder non-hybrid car. It's not a small car either, has a 106" wheelbase and weighs over 2700# with plenty of room up front for a tall driver.

[mrrat1]

Originally Posted by gman26

Insurance on the vette will be expensive, I think I would rather go with an SUV type vehicle. Maybe even something older, 60s, 70s, 80s?
How are jeeps, like the CJ5 and CJ7?

not good on gas for sure, better to stay around 2000' or newer! forget the jeeps

[poncho-mike]

What do you consider crappy mileage?

I believe the 4-cylinder jeeps get in the upper teens for gas mileage, not much better than the sixes do. I looked at one a few years ago and ruled it out because it didn't have the versatility of a truck and gas mileage wasn't good enough to justify buying for a commuter.

In my case, I bought a Vue and kept the Suburban.

The diesel VWs get great fuel economy. I know several people who own those and are extremely satisfied with their decision.

The first thing you need to do is determine what range of fuel economy you need in order to justify buying a new commuter car. That will dictate your choice in vehicles.

Mike

[Blackcat]

Get a late 60's early 70's Volkswagen bug. Their pretty cheap, easy to maintain and get great gas mileage.

[b-man]

I used to drive the '60s VWs daily, pretty much exclusively until I was 30 years old.

As long as you don't mind not having A/C, sitting in a cramped narrow interior and putting up with a poor heating/defrost system and so-so stopping ability they're fine. By todays (and yesterdays) standards they're pretty much a death trap in an accident.

I never got more than 28 MPG out of a stock 1200 or 1600, 25 was about the average. They also need constant but simple maintenance. Unfortunately parts are no longer inexpensive for the old Bugs.

[77 TRASHCAN]

My daily driver is a 98 Buick LaSabre. Got 27.5 MPG on my trip to Tulsa Saturday, to the Pontiac event there. It got 30 MPG last fall when we (3 other Pontiac enthusiasts)
went to Wichita event.

Yeah, it's a stink'n Buick. It was my mom's, got it from her estate when we lost her in 06. I was thinking when she bought it, wished I'd been able to be w/ her when she was car shopping, might have been able to steer her to a Pontiac dealer....LOL...no conceivable notion, I'd end up w/ the Buick...bla bla

I don't care for the "grandma" appearance of the LaSabre at all, but they ride and drive VERY nice, tons of them out there.

I drive my other MPG pigs when needed or for pleasure....

[pontiak]

I'm driving a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix LE 3.1 ltr with 4spd auto. I never did try to figure out the mpg, but I can get almost 400 miles out of a tank of gas on flat-land highway driving. (not sure if it's 16 gal or 18 gal tank). -Not so good in-town mpg. This car is heavy enough to be a comfortable road car, but nimble enough to mix in with traffic and parallel park. I've owned it for 12 years with very minor fixes beyond normal maintanance. I would buy another one.

[GT182]

Find ethanol free gas stations to fuel at.... if you can. Your fuel mileage will increase, not a lot but it can gain 3 to 4 miles per gallon. And it's better for your fuel system too, unless you have a Flex Fuel vehicle.