Need Help!! High MPG car needed

[avsfan]

Hey guys and gals- I just bought a 2000 Montero Sport with 54k miles on it. At the time, I drove 3 blocks to work. Well, I was just transfered and now drive 50 miles each way. Should I sell my suv? I am planning to and need a high MPG car. I want to spend under $10,000 USD and want some style (no geo's and saturns). I also want the best mpg available for the money. What vehicle would you recommend? Should I consider diesel? Is there a reason to keep the suv?...I am looking for all suggestions. Thanks...as Cartalk.com was no help :banghead:

[nismodrifter]

Get a TDI VW:thumbsup:

[Konj]

TDI passat if ur a family guy :)

[davidI]

The depreciation on the SUV may be pretty brutal already...I'm not sure about re-sale prices in the States but it seems like 2nd hand larger vehicles have been getting a lot cheaper since gas prices have gone up.

Look at any economy cars...4 cylinder engines. I doubt you'd be able to get any hybrids for 10k and I dunno if you'd even want to so maybe stick to the typical Honda's, Acura's, Toyota's and other sport compacts. I don't think you should buy a vehicle solely on it's fuel efficiency so the other factors are completely up to you!

[xrayvsn]

Gas/electric hybrids have high mpg too, but styling is a bit dodgy. Can't say that I'm crazy about either the Toyota Prius or Honda Insight. Toyota lists the Prius as having an estimated fuel consumption of 60/50/51 mpg (city/highway/combined). But these will be well over $10k, so likely out of your price range.

Other than those, I'm with the other two about TDI VW's.

[avsfan]

Family situation = 3 kids...12 yr old step child....2.5 yr old....9month old = 2 car seats...thanks for the replies so far!

[T5_X]

Jetta TDi wagon. Do they even make a Passat TDi??

Honda Element maybe be a good choice, or maybe a Scion.

[A2VR6]

Originally posted by T5_X
Jetta TDi wagon. Do they even make a Passat TDi??

Honda Element maybe be a good choice, or maybe a Scion.

Yes they do make a Passat TDI, it'll be here starting this year. I would either go with a Passat TDI or a Jetta TDI wagon like T5 said.

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by T5_X
Jetta TDi wagon. Do they even make a Passat TDi??

Honda Element maybe be a good choice, or maybe a Scion.

You are correct...there is NO Latest gen Passat TDI as of yet, the only TDi passat you can get is the older ones (old boxy style...) and his price range is under $10k US so a brand new passat TDI would be out of his range anyways

TDI wagon might be good for you considering your family situation, you also might consider an older (90-95..) Mercedes E-Class diesel, its a bigger car than the TDI if you are wanting some extra room.

[barmanjay]

i dunno, being a family man myself, I have a 93 plymouth grand voyager, and I think it's absolutely fantastic. I wouldn't neccessarily choose a dodge, but if you're a family guy, a mini-van is the ultimate multi-purpose vehicle (make sure you get one that has fold-down seats or removeable seats. If you can find one that is longer like the grand caravan vs a reg caravan, you'd be able to fit 15 sheets of 8x4 drywall in it, or 20 5 gal pails of drywall mudd, or the whole fam damily (2 built-in toddler seats or fold in to 2 person bench + 3 adult bench seat and 2 captains chairs for front driver and pass with even $300 worth of groceries, and I've done it all too)

I love my mini-van but it's time to get rid of it, got close to 300000kms on it now, and all it's ever needed was cv joints and throttle body clean, and ofcourse routine oil and tranny fluid change.

I think I'd really like to get one of those honda mini-vans, I've always loved the looks of them, and I bet the gas economy is great vs the dodge mini-van. Of-course I'd need a little utility trailer for my tools and material, but tha's ok, it'll save the interior of the van. You really never know it, but construction tools for renos and developements, can really put the destruction in a van. lol (broken rear quater window, cracked windshield, busted interior panels all over, tears and rips all over the roof, 6 flat tires - not including all the bangs on the outside, lol)

[Ducati]

Any old but mint Mercedes turbodiesel. They last forever, are as reliable as a boulder (no jokes about them being about as fast as one please - unless you have been chased down a mountain by boulder) and will hold their value. The 124 model is the nicest ride, the 190D is the most frugal and most fun to drive, and the venerable old 123 is the cheapest to buy and own, as MB made 4 million of them, parts are plentiful and cheap. These cars can be repaired by an amateur handiman owner. They arent that bad looking with a Euro headlite conversion, and are definitely one of history's most reliable cars. They suffer from small annoying but easily repairable glitches like vacuum lines cracking and fucking up stuff like door locks and stuff, but the fix is easy. Also, you have to keep the body drains clear of crud or they could rust.

I get 10.3 kilometers per Canadian liter of diesel fuel, or about 33 mpg US.

The Jetta TDI would be a good bet, however I am leery of them considering the slagging the Jetta gets by Consumer Report and Lemon Aid, and my nephew has a 1998 1.8 gasser that is a money pit

Personally, I am also looking for a new car for the girlfriend, that will be a utility vehichle. I am waiting until the Scion xB is available here in Canada, as it looks to be a good car, and I rather like the fugly square styling.

$10K you say? Hmmm - better look for the nicest old Benz turbodiesel or 190D that you can find.
I have also heard that Volvo made a great diesel, but I know next to nothing about them.

[Texas]

Go for the Ford Excursion/Cummins Swap....Cummins are great for power and yeah they have good mileage :D

[CKY]

Originally posted by T5_X
Jetta TDi wagon. Do they even make a Passat TDi??

Honda Element maybe be a good choice, or maybe a Scion.

element :barf: :barf: :barf: and i didn't know they were so cheap? under 10000USD?

[T5_X]

Originally posted by CKY


element :barf: :barf: :barf: and i didn't know they were so cheap? under 10000USD?

lol, yah they're ugly, but they're really good cars.

If he wants a brand new car, he's not gonna get anything but a j body or low end korean car, but 10 grand is a hell of a downpayment if he wants one of the brand new ones ppl listed.

For a used car, the Mercedes suggested are great choices. The Volvo diesels are actually 2.4L 6 cylinder VW engines. With a turbo and intercooler they put out 122 HP, acelleration is 0-60 in under 13 seconds in the 740, which is really good for a diesel of its time. You can even get a 4spd + OD.

[Konj]

full tank of gas in a TDI golf u can go to edmenton stay drive around and come back to calgary in one tank of gas :)

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by Konj
full tank of gas in a TDI golf u can go to edmenton stay drive around and come back to calgary in one tank of gas :)

lol that's nothing :D

Filled up in Calgary and drove to vancouver (at high rate of speed ;) ) and still had gas to spare :D TDi OWNS JOO

The 300SD also performed the same way, we filled up somewhere in Vancouver....drove 110-140km/h most of the way home (flooring it to get up hills...) and it made it all the way to 37th street by the glenmore reservoir where it started to sputter. There was a redlight and we stopped...car started shakin madd crazy, took a left on 37th...went to esso with car still running...NO DIESEL THERE :eek: so quickly jumped back in the car and made it to the next station which had diesel :D If it had just a LITTLE more fuel in the tank (15 minutves worth..) we would have made it home...and mind you this is in a fullsize sedan which weighs 3700lbs and you truly have to keep it floored most of the way if you plan on getting up the hills

[1badPT]

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/index.htm

[Ducati]

Closer call, Nismo - have you ever run out of fuel with your SD? When that happens its off ya go trudging to get diesel, and then when you do pour it in, it isn't as easy as pumping the gas and turning the key. I'll bet you know this.
Priming the injector pump is easy, but still you have to carry tools, and diesel is evil stuff to get all over your hands - and you will with the priming process.

Still, despite this drawback, the benifits of a diesel outweigh the detractions.
I just keep a jerrycan of diesel in the trunk for those moments when I am getting low. It wont go flat and useless like gas. It lasts forever.
And in the future, we will be able to burn the juice if rotting leaves, bark mulch, and even decomposing corpses.
In Europe there is a "Biodoesel" plant that makes fuel out of rendered dead animals.
Problem is - can you get "Mad Car Disease"?
Oh well, there is another excuse for Road Rage.

[Hakkola]

As much as I love old Benz's you should go get yourself an old Volvo 740GL, should be able to find one for about 2.5-3 grand American, probably cheaper, and it will live forever.

If something goes wrong with an old benz it's still expensive to fix, if something goes wrong with a 740GL it's still cheap. (I think, nothings really ever gone wrong until recently with close to 300 000k and me driving the shit out of it for 2 full years + 2 winters), and we're not fixing it.

[nismodrifter]

Originally posted by Hakkola
If something goes wrong with an old benz it's still expensive to fix, if something goes wrong with a 740GL it's still cheap. (I think, nothings really ever gone wrong until recently with close to 300 000k and me driving the shit out of it for 2 full years + 2 winters), and we're not fixing it.

see thats where you are wrong......nothing ever goes wrong with old diesel mbz's so there is never anything to fix :D :D :D :D;)

[GTS Jeff]

if u liek the elements mpg and versatility, but not the styling, then u should look into a crv. same car..

[Ducati]

Nismo and I actually own old Benz's, so we have the bills to compare to any other car out there. Does anyone want to back up their argument that an old MBz is more expensive to fix or purchase parts for, and support their claim with something more substantial than bullshit? Perhaps between Nismodrifter and myself, we have service bills for some work to support our claim that the Benz is actually an Economy Car...that is, even if a given part on our old extremely high mileage cars cars has even broken.

What, specifically, about the Benz is expensive? Anyone know what they are talking about? What, specifically about the Volvo - as good a car as it is - is Less Expensive to repair or replace?

Here is a fact: The Mercedes Benz diesels and turbodiesel with the 4 or 5 cyl engine (turbo or not) are almost certainly the most durable passenger car engines on this planet. Ever!

Can anyone prove different? Challenge us - Nismo and I will open up our folders of repair and maintenance invoices. If we are proven wrong, then congratulations.


I spend less money keeping my ancient Turbodiesel running than my next door neigbor spends keeping his wife's 1997 Toyota Tercel running. Kilometer-to-dollar, the MBz is less expensive. I have the proof. Any questions?

[nismodrifter]

eek what has this turned into, a war between mbz owners :eek:

Ducati: THe 300sd is long gone now...haven't had it for a few months now, was totalled and was not worth fixing...sold to a fellow mbz diesel owner who has the time (and for some reason wants to spend the $$) on fixing it and making it roadworthy. Also, I don't "own" the car...I'm a student...the car is my parents and it's been in the family since I was in ECS and as of late I was the primary driver.

As for repair bills, repair work is cheap when labor (me and my dad) is free....I feel for the people who have to take their cars to "mechanics" to get repaired for little fixes. Also, it helps to get parts from places where all the shops get theirs from :D (won't mention the name because its stupid to have a swarm of stupid people going there trying to buy stuff when they are not allowed to...)

In the last 2 years of ownership of the 300sd the repair bills were as follows:
- 2 window track guides (plastic pos things were a common problem..): 2 x $12 = $24
- Valve cover gasket: $9.70
- 2 glow plugs: 2 x $19 = $38
- Oil filter housing gasket - $couple of bucks
- Ignition tumbler and steering lock assembly (finally after 300k this decided to break..)- $100
- Locknut off of the tranny spline came loose..drop the exhaust/driveshaft and retighten the nut - $ 0
_________________________________________
Total over 2 years: ~ $170 plus regular stuff (oil/filter change etc..)

Labor for all of thsi stuff would probably be near $1000 or something (to rip apart the dash etc... to install the new lock/tumbler assembly I have heard of people getting charged like near $400-$600)

IMO it's pretty good for a 23 year old car with near 300K on it...
Thank god that my dad is a diesel doctor and we are a family of car nuts with the skills to fix pretty much any problem...other wise labor bills would have been worth more than the car itself :D
For a car that has 300K as you can see the fixes are pretty minor, in most cases no new parts were required...just a simple fix which might take a few seconds to a couple hours and the car is running like new again. In the long run, the amount of $$ yu save with diesel and having a car that will last you till the frame breaks in half because of rust I would say these cars are well worth the $$ spent, especially when you can pick up a used one for quite cheap these days.

[Ducati]

No arguments there!

Too bad the SD got hit. Good thing an enthusiast got the carcass.

For cheap, I recommend an 81 to 85 300D 123 chassis, with the 83 being the best of the lot. Not the most beautiful car, but with a set of European headlights it is a good looking car.
It is definitely a guys car tho. W123 turbodiesels are not chicks cars.
A good 300D W123 OM617 5 cyl 132 hp. 3 litre turbodiesel can be found for around $5K.

Is there a more reliable vehicle on this planet? And fuel mileage in the mid thirties (of diesel) to boot.

[dogmaiwli]

VW TDI, GOLF / JETTA,

But I'm Biased :)

[Hakkola]

I own an old Benz AND an old Volvo, and the benz has been very reliable, but a year and a half I had to replace some shit and it cost me over 3 grand. That's more than we've spent in the 14 years we've owned the Volvo.

Mind you my Benz is not a Diesel, you can't really go wrong with either. I'd rather have a Benz turbodiesel than a Volvo, but in my experience owning both brands, Volvo parts are a bit cheaper and labour IS cheaper.

[Ducati]

What year and models are the two cars?

[Hakkola]

94 E320, 1990 740GL. They've both been pretty much bullet proof except for the one big trip to the shop with the benz. The volvo just died a couple months ago, engine mounts wearing out etc, but that's because I drive it through snow banks etc with my Nokians and try to see how much damage it can take, whenever I drove it, I drove it as hard as possible. 300 000 war torn kms.