Feedback on an economy car

[brshooter]

I have always driven trucks in my adult life. Never had a car. The job I took a couple of months ago is racking up 60 plus miles a day on the new Tahoe. Thinking about breaking down and getting a more economical ride for the commute and save the wear and tear on the Tahoe.

Don't know anything about small/economy cars. Never thought they had a useful purpose in this world until I reviewed my gas bills for the past two months.

I saw a Kia for 10K with a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. I'm sure it is a throw away car, but the price is right.

Any other suggestions?

Toyota?
Nissan?
Mitsubishi?
Kia
Hyundia?
Saturn?
Honda?

Any feedback is welcome.

Thanks,

[CATCH AND EAT]

Toyota Prias is one heck of a hybrid car. 60mpg city and 48 on the highway (and yes I know that is backwards but that is how it is with hybrids). $16,000 with a $2000 fed tax credit and $1000 state tax credit. Something to consider.

BTW they are great on the highway and I have interview every client that has brought one in for collision repairs and they absolutely love the car.

You might also be interested to know that they will have a hybrid pickup coming into the market soon.

Nissan is owned by the French car company Renault. Nuff said. (edit: So that Dan S. and others are satisfied this is not a statement intended to bash the French people or Government. Purely Renault itself.) Notice I said the "French car company Renault"? Not the French government or people Dan S.?

Honda, everyone has them and they are great cars. Honda hybrid cars are butt ugly.

Hyundai, not a bad little car from Korea. Seem to hold up okay

Kia, definitly and up and coming company. Actually kinda like them and they are cheap.

Diawoo, JUNK< JUNK> JUNK.

Diahatsu, JUNK JUNK JUNK>

Mitsubishi, nice little care but impossible to sell when you are done with it.

Isuzu, same deal

VW golf or jetta. Great cars but spendy.

Saturn, I have owned a bunch of them from the early days. They were okay. Have worked with the newer ones and they are still okay.

[ 10-06-2003, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: CATCH AND EAT ]

[DanS]

Nissan is owned by the French car company Renault. Nuff said

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">And?

Did you see what the Renault V-10 did in the Formula One World Championship a couple years back?

[CATCH AND EAT]

Who cares Dan. We are talking about a reliable car here not a race car. :tongue: :grin: Your point is well taken though.

[DanS]

It WAS reliable........and more ponies than anything else on the track. Reliable and powerful is a pretty good thing, racing or otherwise.

I know what you're saying though......French and all. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

[BonkBonkBonk]

1# quality=toyota
#2 quality=honda
another thought is a turbodiesel jetta. i belive they get ~60mph freeway, and no ignition system to tune up.

[ 10-06-2003, 03:41 PM: Message edited by: BonkBonkBonk ]

[FallRiverGuy]

I too have heard very good things about the turbodiesel Jetta. That is a car I would seriously look into if I was in the market for a new car.

[CATCH AND EAT]

Originally posted by DanS:
I know what you're saying though......French and all. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">No Dan, I don't think you do. Purely referring to poor service history of Renault. That's all. And since Renault is sticking their ideas into Nissan I have a hard time getting excited about the cars at this point. No intent to offend. Just an experienced FORMER Nissan owner. :shocked:

Right back at ya Dan [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img] I added an edit line to my original Statement Dan S. Did'nt change anything else. Go back and read it and stop reading what you think is between the lines.

[ 10-06-2003, 05:38 PM: Message edited by: CATCH AND EAT ]

[Rocky]

Hey Bill. A couple of years ago we had the same uh...problem. Until then we always thought "who needs them things?" We ended up getting a Hyundi Accent for about 10,000 and have basically had no problems as of yet, they have the 100,000 warrenty and such. One minus is that most, if not all, do not have anti-lock brakes, which is no big deal if there is no kids driving it (read experience) and no cruise control, which you dont need anyway.

[happybrew]

I have had two Geo Metros, and I was very happy with them. 50 mpg, front wheel drive that could go nearly anywhere a 4WD could go. In the snow and ice, I tried to spin it in a parking lot, and could not. Great handling, very nimble car. Bad side: factory installed fuel injectors went out at 40k on both that I had, but that was the only maintenance issue I had. Not too bad. Other bad side: so light, I could pick up either end about an inch or two. If you get in an accident, it probably won't go to well for you. But of course, it's a smaller target for the other guy to hit. :grin:

happybrew

[DanS]

Uhhh.......OK.

Maybe it ISN'T what you were saying........it WAS what I was saying.

The raspberry was for the French, thank you very much.

[ 10-06-2003, 06:42 PM: Message edited by: DanS ]

[love2fish]

I got a '91 Geo Metro about 4 years ago with about 75,000 miles on it, and have been driving it from Vancouver to Gresham almost everyday. I was spending about $40 a week driving my truck and now I only spend about $8 a week. I think it paid for itself in about 6 months. When it breaks, I'll just get another one. I have made many trips to the coast or Seattle and haven't had any problems on the freeway. I get about 43 mpg. They are easy to work on, and U-Pull-It has lots of parts for the do it yourselfer. :grin:

love2fish

[happybrew]

The really cool thing is everything in it (the Metro) is so small that they didn't have to engineer it so tight you need to dismantle the car to change a belt or something. My Accord when I was in college, you had to yank that engine to change a belt! The truck I have now needed a water pump, and I could see everything I needed to loosen, but there was no way I could get a wrench in there without taking apart half the truck. I had to take it in, and sure enough they had to take half the truck apart to change the water pump. [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

happybrew

[Dipnet]

We have a '96 Geo Metro, bought new. My husband drives it back and forth to work. It isn't the most luxurious ride, but for the mileage , it's hard to beat. It gets 48-50 mpg highway and about as good in the city! It has saved us many $$ since we have had it. We just recently had to put new brakes on it and that was at 95,000 miles. Other than that, change the oil every 3000 miles and that's it. It won't pull the boat though!!! LOL

Dipnet :grin:

[DanS]

The main thing that concerns me about commuter cars is their lack of safety. If one gets killed to save gas money, that's a shame.

Not that you can't get killed in any vehicle, but their sheer lack of size makes commuter cars vulnerable.

[happybrew]

Ironically, it's the size of all the other vehicles that makes a smaller car unsafe. However, my wife did run a red light in our Metro once [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img] and got T-boned pretty good by a delivery truck on the right side. My son was in the seat, and he was fine. I picked up a new door at the junk yard, and while it wasn't a perfect seal, it worked.

happybrew

[CATCH AND EAT]

Had a metro once. Made me a bit nervous because of what Dan S. Said. A little unnerving when a semi rolls by and all you see is tires and lug nuts. If you are just driving in town it is not as big a deal. The Freeway is another issue.

Bare minimum would be a corolla or prias size vehicle. Toyotas are by far the easiest to work on and are very simply constructed econo-boxes unless you get into the high dollar stuff. Stay simple and save your money.

Dan S. are'nt you a Citroen owner? :shocked:

[DanS]

:grin: Good one, C&E.

Actually I drive a Toyota Tacoma......small enough to get pretty good milage, but not so small that I feel too exposed when driving the freeway.

[CATCH AND EAT]

Dan, you driving naked again. :whazzup: "Exposed"??????

[DanS]

Well...........yeah...........so? I have tinted windows, though. :tongue:

[happybrew]

Originally posted by CATCH AND EAT:
A little unnerving when a semi rolls by and all you see is tires and lug nuts.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">The good side to that is you can't see it when they give you the bird!

happybrew

[CATCH AND EAT]

Thank goodness for tinted windows.. :grin:

[brshooter]

Thanks for the feedback. Got some shopping to do. Don't want to wear out the tow rig on something as ridiculas as work. I can go through several of the throw away cars for the price on one Tahoe.

[Thumper]

Toyota, Honda, Nissan. All three are top notch. Have owned nearly 100 as fleet courier cars and personal vehicles. Never retired one, ever, with less than 250,000 miles on it.

[fish assassin]

You might also want to check out Subaru. They have some really great incentive
deals going on this month. We just got one night before last. 2.9% financing for
a 4 year contract (costs about 500 bucks in TOTAL finance charges ... how the heck
are the banks making any money on *that*?). We ALSO got a $2000 rebate!! Brought
the rig down in price a considerable amount.

Subaru has about the same gas milage as a Honda of Toyota but has more horse power
and a *lot* more leg room both front and back.

-assAssin-

[DanS]

Don't want to wear out the tow rig on something as ridiculas as work.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">That's hilarious ! Your priorities are definitely in order.

[CATCH AND EAT]

Hey you could always buy one of those "Segways". Earth shattering speed, easy parking and you can even drive it in the mall or right to your desk. :grin:

[Fishingaddict]

Segways are not safe on highways.
They tend to attract gawkers, and when that happens... you have pile ups.

[jokester]

brshooter....sent you an e-mail

-jokester