Fuel-efficient, reasonably priced shuttle/commuter vehicle

[KimL]

My beloved Saturn at just a hair's breadth away from 200,000 miles threw a rod in the engine the other day. A rebuilt engine with a warranty will be expensive, so I'm--sniff, sniff--looking at other vehicles. I need a vehicle for the occasional shuttle (although we have the subaru too), plus I drive more than 120 miles round trip to work from 2-5 days/week. I loved the liftback station wagon shape of my SW-2, and I loved the fact that it still got at least 34 to the gallon on my commuting/running around. Any good or bad stories with cars with similar or better gas mileage? My choices in that shape of vehicle look really limited now. I will not go any lower on the mileage, and, frankly I'm shocked at how much lower overall gas mileages are today than they were 8 years ago. Absolutely crazy.

[epatt250]

I love our outback. Perfect vehicle for us outdoorsy types, but my wife only gets 27mpg driving back and forth to work.

If I were to get another vehicle to go along with it I would probably go with a Jetta diesel. Something about 45mpg just rubs me the right way. I would not want it as our primary camping/hiking/boating vehicle though.. the hatchback just rules for that along with the fact that all wheel drive is amazing on dirt.

[Randy Dodson]

Kim you might want to look at the Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe. They're pretty much the same vehicle made by Toyota. I think they get around 36 mpg. There is a thread about this right now at cboats.net. and the general feeling is that the Vibe is actually better for paddlers because of possible rack configurations or something. go check it out.

[KimL]

Thanks for the advice--I did see the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota plus the Honda Fit (can't beat the price but it drives like a lego), but after I got a second estimate on an engine that was much lower, I decided to keep the good old Saturn. I'm holding out for greater options in hybrids in a few years.

[Jody]

I ADORE my Outback which got 28 miles per gallon as we drove through Kansas with the cruise control set at about 80. Wonder if they could ever make a hybrid Outback? That'd be cool.

[epatt250]

Outback hybrid is being worked out.. and I am pretty sure once they get the new emissions worked out on the engine that the Outback TDI diesel will be released. It is an H4 boxer engine like they have always used, only diesel. I would imagine it will have some torque hehe.

[Muffman]

Kim keep me posted if you decide to scrap the saturn. It might make a neat project vehicle. (like I need more cars)

[DH2O]

Go with a Nissan Versa Hatchback.

[Dannyboy]

Does anyone have any experience with the Forester? My wife is leaning towards one, as the recent spike in price for a TDI Jetta has begun to outweigh the benefits of the increased fuel economy. Thanks,

Danny

[Richard]

Half the Foresters in central AR are owned by ACC members. i.e. the only time I have seen more than one at a time was when paddling the Cadron. There are only two dealers in the state of ARK. Fayetteville and LR. I think most of the Subaru's are in Eureka Springs.

I bought a 2002 thru ebay in 2004 and picked it up in Albany NY. I have put 40K on it since. Current odometer is 87500. I love the car and it has fit my needs very well. Here are some things to think about.

The car weighs 4K. That and the fact that it is AWD cuts down on the potentially very good gas mileage. I get 25 mpg avg.

If you do not need AWD, I would not recommend the Subaru line.

Routine maintenance can be pricey.

Back seat leg room is tight.

Do not get manual transmission. The pedals are too close together. On more than one occasion I have had my foot on both the brake and gas pedals at the same time.

You will want to replace the roof rack if you are going to haul boats.

I just got back from Colo. Four adults and one child. I pulled a light, low profile trailer. I averaged 24.7 mpg. Here is the mileage.

Date- -Odometer - Gallons- $/Gal- - -Cost- - -Miles- -MPG
07/07/07- -84845- -10.2- - $2.689 - - $27.42 - -248- -24.3
07/07/07- -85151- -12.2- - $2.999 - - $36.72 - -306- -25.1
07/07/07- -85433- -13.1- - $3.159 - - $41.47 - -282- -21.5
07/08/07- -85668 - - 9.3- - $3.089 - - $28.68 - -235- -25.3
07/10/07- -85903 - - 9.2- - $3.159 - - $29.11 - -235- -25.5
07/13/07- -86196 - - 5.1- - $3.279 - - $16.68 - -293- -57.5
07/13/07- -86303 - - 9.0- - $3.189 - - $28.74 - -107- -11.9
07/14/07- -86615- -13.6- - $3.299 - - $44.93 - -312- -22.9
07/14/07- -86953- -13.5- - $2.839 - - $38.23 - -338- -25.0
07/14/07- -87299- -14.1- - $2.879 - - $40.40 - -346- -24.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado- -2702- -109.3- - $3.058- - $332.38 - -2702- -24.7

[KimL]

Richard, what did you sing around the campfire?

Like I said above, I decided that the cost of a new car that would match mine in size and mileage--which is actually impossible today, I think--that is, to get a small station wagon with good mileage--was not worth the cost compared to a new engine. I may regret it in a few years. Meantime, we'll be a Satty-Subbie family until the auto industry gets its act together and produces something worth buying.

[Richard]

Uh . . . Kim . . . we . . . uh . . . sang . . .

Hell! Hell! the waters too low. . . sung to hail hail the gangs all here.

Then there was the one sung to jack and jill went up the hill . . .

It went like this . . .

John and Hill went-a-rafting.

Both fell out and

John nearly drown and Hill broke her finger.

Hmmmmmmmm doesn't quite fit the song . . .

Anyway . . . no campfire .. . no songs

And I went geocaching instead