Best fuel mileage car to buy is.....?

[GIT-R-DONE]

I will be looking in the near future to buy a new/used car. What is a good fuel mileage car, 2 or 4 door, that is reliable yet not too expensive? I would really like to get a TDI but dont konw of many people that have them. How about gassers? Are there any good reliable cars out there that get 40-50 mpg and run forever? Links and pics welcome along with prior experiences. Also, are there any cars to stay away from? Thanks

 

[nickleinonen]

that new smart that DC is now importing to NA. in canada a diesel is avalable in it... the size of a matchbox so it should get good fuel economy

It uses just 3. 5 litres of diesel fuel per 100 kilometres - that's 80 miles per Imperial gallon.

 

[Headshot zod]

I'm thinking one of those old diesel rabbit pickups with fwd, or those Mitsubishi Mighty Max/Dodge D50 4x4 diesels might be a decent bargain. But they are old now so I don't know about how easy it would be to maintain them.

 

[barbwire]

I was just reading about a Honda diesel that made 90 mpg. But I do not remember where. I think that Honda has always made a good product,so, I think it would be worth looking into. However, I had the impression that the car was not available in the USA. I hope that someone will know of the vehicle that I am speeking of and fill us in.

 

[Black-Smoker]

The older vw diesels are great the newer tdi's have many probems my dad Ihave owned six of them.

 

[rholcom2]

I have also been contemplating the purchase of an economy car. I did buy a TDI on Ebay a few months back. Seemed to have the normal "peeling" of the interior panels, and the electrical... ... "SNAFU's". But, have recently talked with a friend who is a full time mechanic about the subject. He tells me that Toyota releases more information on their cars than Honda. I really like the looks of the Honda better, but mabye since he can work on the Toyota, it would be more convenient. I dont know if what he says is FACT, but it could be. What does everyone else think? I have been looking on Ebay for a Camry, or an Accord. I like both, they actually seem to hold their value very well. I would like to spend less than 4K, and thats hard to do and get a nice one. I guess this post is just asking which brand is easier to work on???

 

[dodge cummins]

i would go with a vw tdi,they get great mileage. i would go with one of them right now instead of a new hybrid. the hybrids are to new and gotta work out some quirks yet.

 

[Green Machine]

old skool diesl rabbit is the way to go. You can get them for under 1k and they get 45-50 mpg. swap in a 5 speed out of a gasser and your up to 55mpg. Strip the interior and build your own dryer duck air ram and your up to 60mpg. I have had two one 4 door and one two door. bolth got over 50mpg. Not the fastest thing in the world but what I can send up in smoke now , that little rabbit could run for a week.

 

[rholcom2]

I did see my dream mobile the other day. It was a little Black VW Rabbit Truck, had stacks (probably 1-1/2" diameter) coming up above the cab and turning back. Had large mud tires on the rear, and on the windshield it read "GET-ER-DONE". I almost had to chase him down and see if he would sell it to me. If I see it around home here I will try and get a picture of the beast.

 

[EBottema]

I would stay away from any new generation jetta aka Junka or Golf. The interior and everything about the car is cheap. Noisy little things



Old rabbits are good, 3cyl geo tops the list of easy to repair gas cars, they get 50mpg highway!



Erik

 

[scootergmc]

OK, I just went through the same thing in September while trying to get out from under the Infiniti (DOH!), and I came to the following conclusions. My key factory were intial price, mileage, reliability, and resale.



I was looking for a 4 door compact for the 3 of us, wife, kid, me. It needed to be 30+ mpg overall. And under 15 grand out the door. So my choices were somewhat limited, but it made shopping easier.



I looked hard at the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla. Everything else was either out of the price range or reliability just sucked. The Focus was the cheapest and it looked it. The interior is plain and simple. No frills anywhere. It got just under 30 mpg. But the factor that eliminated it was resale. They fall into the toilet at drive-off.



Second came the Corolla. Since I previously owned a 99, I knew it was very reliable and got excellent mileage. However, the things that turned me off were the outdated styling and the mediocre resale-



Which brought me to the Civic, which we now own. Outstanding reliability, styling at least my wife thinks is somewhat cool (I think it brings back the teenager in her), and it holds its value very well. I use it to commute to work and I haven't gotten worse than 35 mpg. Last tank was 36 mpg in mixed driving. Road trips are OVER 41 mpg. The factory sticker rating was 32 city 39 highway. I'm glad I've exceeded that.



We bought a 2004 LX 4 door. It has all the options included in the package, air/cc/pw/pl/cd. Oh yeah, and I wanted a 5 speed. That was harder to find in the LX package, since Honda made most in an automatic, and most dealers only had autos left. 5'ers aren't too popular in the LX and EX versions, and harder to find out here in CA. It's nothing fancy, it makes me happy. And thanks to all the kids tricking these things out, parts and hop ups are everywhere.



Good luck, hope it helps.

 

[scootergmc]

I just realized this was an old thread. And I addressed the wrong person. I am a tard. Oh well. Maybe my info will help someone else.

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

Scooter, I haven't bought anything yet ... ... yes it helps as we have decided to wait for a while ( contracts coming up ) and have yet to decide ourselves. Thanks for the replys..... keep em coming.

 

[Rman]

I have a 2001 VW beetle for sale. I hold my opinions on it till it's gone. hehe

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

I have a 2001 VW beetle for sale. I hold my opinions on it till it's gone. hehe

That doesn't sound good.....

 

[Txredneck]

Well I have a 2001 TDI 4dr. Jetta auto "bought used" and so far I have no complaints about it. The only thing that has happened is the passenger side window would not roll up and that was fixed under warranty. Other than that can't complain plus I'm getting 48mpg with the auto you get higher with the stick from what I hear. It only takes about 11 gallons to fill to the top to.

 

[JLEONARD]

We currently own a 99. 5 jetta TDI. It's fine except the engine circuit is finicky... can't get the check engine light to go out and stay out... something to do with the glow plug circuit... a real pia.

But it does get an easy 44 to 50 mpg... when I drive it on trips I run it hard (80 to 85) and get 44.

Also ran a 1981 diesel rabbitt pickup for a few years. Avg was about 44 mpg. No power at all but was fun as a commuter. I did the 5 speed swap.

Parts are still plentiful. There's a place in Mi called "the parts place" that I bought lots of stuff from.

 

[Rman]

That doesn't sound good.....

worst car I've ever owned... royal pain

 

[rholcom2]

So does anyone have any input on the comment that "Toyota releases more service data on their cars than does Honda"??? I dont know if this is a fact, and was wondering if there is any validity to this. Toyota or Honda??

 

[scootergmc]

Why do you need service data? All you have to do is change the oil. They will run forever...