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[goinbig143]

I am getting rid of my car and buying a fuel saver.
The requirements are
$16000 or less
30 mpg highway or more
2002 or newer
less than 60,000 miles
kind of sporty but no rice.

The current front runner is the acura rsx....

[goinbig143]

Any suggestions are welcome. I am not really set on a certain make or model. As long as it is dependable and solid, I will consider anything.

[joedirt00]

If you want to spend your max, New VW rabbit. I think they are $16000 base.

Otherwise I would try and find a slightly used sub 10,000 Jetta or Golf TDI. Tough to beat 50 MPG.

[PimpinD2]

What about the Scion tC, or and older 2002 -2004 GTI 1.8T or TDI...

[8824]

not sure if you can see my vehicle, great gas mileage and total chick magnet,

the lid really helps to, drives the women crazy!

[chavez]

goinbig143, SVT Focus

Very hard to beat the bang for the buck factor there.

Although the GTI idea is a good one as well...

[finkle]

Given your specs, I would go for a camry personally.

[joedirt00]

chavez,

Did the GTI's come with the TDI? I was under the impression it was not an option on that model.

[chavez]

joedirt00, no. GTI was available with the 1.8T or the VR6 motor.

IMO, the 1.8T is hands down the better motor for the GTI.

The Jetta/Golf/Beetle TDI can be pretty stout, if you are willing to tinker. (ask somepunk22)

[8824]

chavez,
1.8t is solid

kinda slow out of the gate but between 35-70 it moves out pretty well.

i had that bitch at 110+ with more left

[ontrider]

muckmeister, I had that sucker at 130

Is slow at first, but the turbo f'n moves it.

[chavez]

muckmeister, I just had the MX5 at 120+ and climbing. Hey, I was late for an appointment!!!

[8824]

ontrider,
what car do you have that in?


chavez,
did you put a chip in it?

i was thinking about a chip, but I am not sure how that will affect our warranty.

are they easy to remove?

[chavez]

muckmeister, no, that is stock as stock can get. Top was down too.

Warranty will be affected with a reprogram. Piggyback computers I'm not so sure.

Reprogramming required only computer, software, cable, and the know-how to use it. Plug right in to the OBDII port.

[BigRed]

I just did a cost analysis for when we decide to buy a boat.

At current prices, I can save ~ $400 per season by keeping a tow vehicle stored up at the delta and travelling back and forth each weekend in my 1995 Honda Civic VX.

If gas prices go up, I'm saving that much more.

My Point? Go for gas milage, but make sure it's "cheap to keep" too. Make sure your choice isn't going to break the bank w/ maintenance and other costs.

[chavez]

BigRed, my father made this argument for his boat.

Tow vehicle (PSD): $40,000 appx
Maintenance on said tow vehicle: $????
Gas for said tow vehicle: $???
Insurance for said tow vehicle: $???
Local Storage for Boat: $???

In the end, he decided on a covered slip. Factoring only the cost of the tow vehicle (and assuming total depreciation), he can slip the boat for 250 months (almost 21 years!).

Now, the drawback is twofold: 1) you can't reposition it easily (aka go to other lakes); and 2) you have to keep the thing up i.e. acid wash, buy a lift, etc.

Still...

If you only go to the Delta, I would recommend calling a marina/harbor that can dry store your boat on a lift and getting a quote. Call 1hr ahead, arrive to boat ready to rock in water. Park econobox, unload, go ride. Return and let the crew put the boat back in it's bed.


So in other words - I agree 100% with your go for gas mileage/cheap to keep scenario, especially for a young person with other priorities. No reason to become chained to a vehicle. I think this is exactly what goinbig143 is getting at here.

[ontrider]

muckmeister, Audi A4.
I've heard of some people with modded 1.8t's getting up around 155 with chip and turbo.

[K-dub]

my girlie has an 04' Jetta GLI 1.8t....chipped, and a few other small mod's.

had that thing damn close to 150 a few weeks ago on 101 south.....

1.8t is a quick little motor, imo.

[Darin]

Not sure how sporty you want to get. But I just bought an 06 Saturn Ion. Great milage, and zippy enough. And affordable. But you can pay alot more just for the cool factor if you can't live without it. But that's all it is, thousands of dollars for the cool factor, nothing else.

[ontrider]

Saturn!? Aren't those made out of Nerf?

[BigRed]

Chavez. I'm splitting off the discussion to a new thread. Don't want to hijack.

[goinbig143]

[Lop]

[chavez]

Lop, I'd bet it would have been climbing a whole lot faster if the top was up.

goinbig143, Saturn makes decent cars. If you are ok with the looks I would certainly have them in that list.

[hammy]

That RSX would be a good choice...good resale on it.

I went and test drove a Mazda3 hatchback a while ago and loved it. I nearly went home with one (needed to pay down other debts first...).

I personally wouldn't want an SVT Focus. I've got an SVT Contour - it's fun to drive and was a good bang for the buck, but started rattling apart at 100k miles. Thanks Ford.

I hate Saturns.

[chavez]

hammy, you do realize that the Focus and Mazda3(VolvoS40) are the same car a generation apart, right?

FoMoCo?

[hammy]

Yeah, I do, but that’s a little apples to oranges don’t you think? Sure they’re cousins, but don’t really have anything other than the “blood” in common.

My opinion--> Ford branded cars tend to cheap out on the interiors and the non-essentials, particularly older models. That’s where my biggest problem is. Sure, my car starts up just fine everyday. It goes A-B and sometimes C without a whole lotta fuss…. But I could go on and on about the stupid crap that in my opinion shouldn’t have fallen apart in a relatively short amount of time.

[chavez]

hammy, it is not apples to oranges at all. They share motors, suspension parts, transmissions, etc etc.

Your Contour SVT is a very highly regarded car in many circles. Yammy power, SVT suspension, total sleeper.

Sorry to hear yours has fallen apart a bit, but I would not base your opinion of Ford on a hopped up fleet car. If you rode in our "family" 97 T-Bird you would quickly understand that Ford can and does make a solid product when they want to. 120k, a couple of accidents, and everything is still tight and everything works as new. My 00 F150 was the same way, and my current 02 Mountaineer is flawless.

[vawakemonster]

chavez, I really like hte way the mariner and mountainers look! they are my fav suvs by the ford family of companys

[8824]

I just read that VW is bringing the siroco (sp) back. Now that was a fun car back in the day.

[chavez]

vawakemonster, if the Mariner could tow a wakeboat safely, we would have one. It can't so the Mountaineer (V was the obvious choice.

The Mariner is hands down the best looking "cute-ute" out there IMO. It helps that it has a really good powertrain and solid build quality behind it.

[Dragonlady8]

The base on my 2001 Acura RSX was 20K. 2006 will be the last year RSX is produced.
TSX will be the new " lower end" Acura starting price @27k.

[chavez]

muckmeister, the new sc"IROC"o is nothing like the original.


Not to mention it is BUTT UGLY!!!!

[jdmcivicman]

if you are looking at the rsx only look at the type-s if you look at the base model then you might want to look at the 02-05 si also. they have the same motor. and many people (not mags or tv shows, but people that like to drive) say that the si is a better base to work with, unless you are looking at the type-s.
we just got an 04 si and aside from the previous owner blowing the motor we are very happy with it. well after honda put a new motor in it.

[Aubs]

muck - your dating yourself