Looking for a car with good mileage, any recommendations?

[trucku]

My 5 year old got accepted into a TAG Young Scholars school in Manhattan, now I have to drive every day back and forth 2 times.

I have about 2k to spend on a commuter car.

Oh yeah my friggin truck is getting like 10mpg with this kind of driving. City driving sucks. I have no clue why the mileage sucks ballz so bad.

I have been on craigslist I can honestly say I have no clue what would make a good commuter with some decent mileage, because every other ad claims great mileage...lol.

If you have any suggestions on what kind of car to look for, it would be appreciated. I was trying to stay in no earlier than '95. It would be nice if it was an American car, but does not have to be. Oh yeah it needs to be safe.

Thanks
Vishant

 

[Maniak]

One issue is that the value of high mpg cars has gone up.

I picked up a 2000 Honda Civic HX a few months ago for $4k.. Now I see mid 90's civics going for the same.. and 2000 HX's are going for closer to $6k...

Some other cars I looked at when I was looking for this DD were the following..

Honda Civics
toyota Celicas
Acura Integra
dodge neon (< 2000)

We had a 1995 neon and at 305k miles I gave it away... It had the SOHC motor with a manual trans and on the highway I could get 35mpg at 75mph.

I was suprised at how well the neon held up.. I had to replace the fuel pump once and I went through 3 CV axles BUT My guess is that I lost the CV axles becuase the car was lifted 2" and I would drive 40mph+ down the dirt road (rally car style ).

When looking for our currnet honda I was also looking at Neons but I wasn't able to find a 1999 with a manual trans that I felt "good" about.

~Mark

 

[trucku]

One issue is that the value of high mpg cars has gone up.

I picked up a 2000 Honda Civic HX a few months ago for $4k.. Now I see mid 90's civics going for the same.. and 2000 HX's are going for closer to $6k...

Some other cars I looked at when I was looking for this DD were the following..

Honda Civics
toyota Celicas
Acura Integra
dodge neon (< 2000)

We had a 1995 neon and at 305k miles I gave it away... It had the SOHC motor with a manual trans and on the highway I could get 35mpg at 75mph.

I was suprised at how well the neon held up.. I had to replace the fuel pump once and I went through 3 CV axles BUT My guess is that I lost the CV axles becuase the car was lifted 2" and I would drive 40mph+ down the dirt road (rally car style ).

When looking for our currnet honda I was also looking at Neons but I wasn't able to find a 1999 with a manual trans that I felt "good" about.

~Mark

Awesome thanks.

I know all them little cars have gone up and all the suvs are being given away...lol.

A buddy of mine had a neon and he still claims today this it was the most reliable little car he had.

I will see what my area has.

Thanks again.

 

[ExplorerBus I]

A '95 - '99 Neon (manual trans) without a doubt. I used to have a new '99 Neon R/T with the 150hp 2.0 DOHC and it would get about 40 mpg all day if you took it easy!

 

[aspitaletto]

i had a 98 VW, 2.0L 5speed. got 37 MPG on the highway alll day long, with the AC on. also had a 1994 Ford Escort LX, that thing was over 40MPG on the highway, AC on, and it was an Auto !

 

[Turdle]

I moved this to the "other makes and models" sub forum--

Our daughter has a neon, it hasn't been a bad car other than the insurance is way high.

 

[section525]

I think I bought my '96 Jetta for about $2k. It gets 38 mpgs and has been a great runner.

 

[joekd]

I have this chrysler 300M for sale, damn comfortable car with heated leather seats, sunroof and all the other goodies, got 25-26MPG on a road trip I took last weekend

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/838700612.html

 

[Ge4orce]

I've seen a lot of late model Toyota Corollas ('95 - '98) going for around 2.5k - 3k in local cl listing most have higher miles but they are imports you can get a lot of life outta them with care

 

[Joe Dirt]

BAH! Go older...



Now THAT'S mileage! Gee- we've come so far...

 

[Maniak]

BAH! Go older...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5czISjXgEs

Now THAT'S mileage! Gee- we've come so far...

I couldn't find the epa (new rating or old) for the older escorts..

but how about these...

1985 Ford Escort
Manual 5-spd
4 Cylinders
2.0 Liters
Diesel
36 city, 46 highway (31/39 in the Calif. version)

1.9L gas (manual 5 speed) only got 23/34 (new ratings) on the 1985 escort..

The older ones got better mileage (1981-1983 IIRC)

~Mark

 

[joekd]

I have this chrysler 300M for sale, damn comfortable car with heated leather seats, sunroof and all the other goodies, got 25-26MPG on a road trip I took last weekend

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/838700612.html

BTW - I am in North Central CT which is an easy drive to or from Queens

 

[RedEB]

We bought my wife a 2001 Volvo S40 with the 1.9L turbo. mileage has been incredible with city:26 and highway:38 (hit 40 on a long trip). Really classy car and it has been incredibly reliable. It has 110K miles and the only thing it has had replaced was the timing belt and headlights. We got it for around 6K, they might be a good option.

 

[ZBlackBeast]

i have a SHO and city driving with 3 or so races(one to 120) i averaged 22MPG.... when i drive it REALLY nice i can touch 30 on the highway.. but im bias...!!

 

[XxxMonoxideChild]

^

your SHO does alot better then my old 94 mtx with a 3.2/3.0 hybrid. i dont think i ever saw 20 mpg with that thing, but i also abused it 90% of the time.

ive owned litterally over 100 car's. (i know, i have a problem) lol. and the best car ive ever ran across for gas mileage was a 1st gen acura integra. (pop up headlights) actually a pretty rare car that you dont even see on a weekly basis much less a daily one. even when i would rev it out and mess with it, i was seeing 35+ mpg out of it. and one of the cyl was pretty much dead at only 63psi. lol.

i hate honda's more then most, but it took me probably a month after selling that car to regret it. and now, how gas price's are so much more then 4-5 years ago when i sold that car, i could be saving so much money if i still had it.