Reliable, Good Looking, Good gas milage car

[LBarr2002]

I'm graduating from college in December and accepting a job offer that requires a 100 mile interstate commute daily. I'd like some opinions on new, or only a few year old cars, that get good mileage but are still sporty and could have some fun with. (As I don't think my 91/92 Explorers would do to well with the long commute with already 225,000 and 236,000 miles respectively and get ~18 mpg in the 91, ~15 in the 92.

I'm looking for something around $20,000 new price.

So far I've looked at Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Scion Tc, and Chevy Cobalt SS. I really like the Cobalt because it is very comfortable and available with a 205 HP supercharged engine. I also like the Tc and its a little more reasonable. Any other suggestions? Any input at all I'd appreciate.

Thanks,

Larry

 

[chrisis]

buy Aldives explorer. 30-34 mpg you just can`t bid that.

i'm pretty sure that $20000 it should be about right for his explorer.

 

[chrisis]

if you want mileage have a look into hybrid cars.

i'm not sure how long they going to last and how much is the cost of keeping them in a good shape, but they have a huge saving in gas.

good luck

 

[snoborder42]

How about a Subaru... The bare bones non turbo Impreza starts at around 18K...

 

[LBarr2002]

I'm not interested in a hybrid because of the upkeep and battery replacement, etc. I have not looked at subaru yet, but I probably should. AWD would be a plus too. Thanks, and keep them coming.

 

[toypaseo]

Toyota Corolla XRS?

Scion TC with TRD supercharger?

 

[LBarr2002]

Scion TC with TRD supercharger?

YES! I would love to have that, but I haven't been able to find out how much the mileage suffers from the supercharger...or if you have to use premium gas.

 

[chrisis]

AWD is not the best think if you look into gas mileage, but subarus proved very reliable awd cars.

 

[toypaseo]

This might tell you what you need...

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/pastroadtest/off-the-shelf-horsepower-606/index.htm

Overall fuel economy remained unchanged at 26 mpg, compared with 23 for the Cobalt SS. But installing the supercharger requires a switch to premium fuel; the nonsupercharged tC uses regular fuel.

 

[OZexplore]

if you want fuel economy go with deisel over here we get vw, mazda, GM, etc
that can do over 600 miles on a tank that are about 12 gallons

 

[JDraper]

The Mazda 3's are pretty decent vehicles. They advertise 28 mpg with a turbo 4 cylinder. List price is about 22-23k, so you can probably get one for around 20.

 

[briwayjones]

Jetta TDI (Diesel), Mitsibishi Eclispse

 

[jobunn]

I recently was in the market for a roughly $20k vehicle. I wanted good gas mileage, safe, midsize vehicle for my wife who has an 80 mile roundtrip commute each day. I settled on a 5 speed manual, 2002 Volkswagen Passat 1.8L Turbo. We got it for $12,000 and it had 38,000 miles. We love it. She gets 29 miles per gallon average, it is quick, drives like an Audi and so far is trouble free. It will take 87 fuel but it drives much better and gets better mileage with premium fuel because of the turbo...and without shelling out another $8000 I dont mind paying $5 extra per fill up.

My suggestion is to keep your eye out for a good used private party deal. You can get a much more fun and better car for cheaper than some econobox that you'll hate in 6 months.

 

[briwayjones]

Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky

Edit:

Nevermind, they are way over 20,000.

 

[vervepipes]

Drive to Canada and buy a VW CityGolf for like 14K CAD base

 

[l1k2gadd]

$20,000.00 can buy an awful lot of gas, and repairs, in the Explorers you already own. Granted you will use more gas but you won't have the high-dollar full coverage insurance premium to pay, the monthly payment for the vehicle you decide to buy plu$$$ the gas you still have to put into the new vehicle too.
You could buy a new vehicle, or somebody's nearly new (new to you) vehicle and wind up stuck on the side of the road with it the first week. It's a gamble with any vehicle you own and drive. New car warranties are nice too, but the potential of a breakdown is still there and anything that isn't covered by a warranty will co$$$t you on top of all of those payments.
AAA Plus is the fix for the potential breakdown with your existing Explorers. If one has trouble you can have AAA tow it home and use the other until you get it fixed.

Of course you can tell, I haven't ever owned a new car or truck. I actually prefer my 1960's Mustangs and Cougars to my Explorers. The mo$$$t I have ever paid for a car is the $5,000.00 I did some "creative financing" to come up with it to purchase my daughter's 1966 289-2V Mustang Coupe. I paid $4,995.00 for a 1989 Clubwagon XLT van once, but the '66 Mustang has that beat.

 

[IAmTodd]

Get a used '03 Saab 9-5. Linear has 185hp which it puts to good use. Will get 30+mpg and is a great car to sit in and drive. Ok, so I'm rather obsessed

 

[LBarr2002]

$20,000.00 can buy an awful lot of gas, and repairs, in the Explorers you already own. Granted you will use more gas but you won't have the high-dollar full coverage insurance premium to pay, the monthly payment for the vehicle you decide to buy plu$$$ the gas you still have to put into the new vehicle too.
You could buy a new vehicle, or somebody's nearly new (new to you) vehicle and wind up stuck on the side of the road with it the first week. It's a gamble with any vehicle you own and drive. New car warranties are nice too, but the potential of a breakdown is still there and anything that isn't covered by a warranty will co$$$t you on top of all of those payments.
AAA Plus is the fix for the potential breakdown with your existing Explorers. If one has trouble you can have AAA tow it home and use the other until you get it fixed.

I agree completely on the $20,000 will buy lots of gas, and I definitely don't want a new car payment. But, both of my explorers are over 225,000 miles now. I'll be driving the '91 (if I don't have anything else by January) because the '92 is lifted, doesn't get as "good" milage and doesn't like interstate driving as much. My concern with driving them for long is at that milage they won't make it many months of this. 2,500-3,000 miles a month is gonna be hard on them. Oh, and the '91 already leaks a quart of oil every 1,000 miles...

 

[OZexplore]

and the '91 already leaks a quart of oil every 1,000 miles...

a gallon drum of oil in the boot will solve that problem

hi-way miles are alot easier on cars then around town miles

 

['97 V8]

a 97-98 Mark 8. Gets 28+ mpg and have mustang cobra engines. They run about 4-10 grand