I'm thinkin econobox
 

f'real. I checked out the 07 Honda Fit, and really dig it, for some reason! Not a lot of power, but it gets 33/38mpg. Not UBER great, but with me averaging about 21 in the Tiburon (if I get some highway driving mixed in) or as low as probably 16 or 17mpg, and gas prices going up... jumping up to 33mpg would be a 50%, if not more, increase in economy.

As for the Fit, what do I like about it:

Honda quality - I should be able to drive it until the wheels fall off... in maybe 20 years or more!
Efficiency - gas prices go up, I'd like to get more for my dollar
Four doors - not that I carry passengers often, but it could be handy
Seats that fold 10 ways to Sunday - I can haul stuff as there will be plenty of space. You can shove a mountain bike in there, there's enough room from floor to ceiling
Stereo - option to include an iPod controller. Plug your iPod in via cable in the glovebox. Nice, I can take my toonz with me, easier than burning to a CD like I do now
Starts at $13k. If I save up a couple grand, and get it below MSRP, I could have the sucker paid off in a couple years.
Did I mention it's a Honda?


For my fun, I'll be keeping and working on Stinky. Maybe after I have her nice and fixed up, I might sell her and get a used Boxster... or maybe if I can afford it, a Cayman. The econobox will be for commuting.

Has anyone else considered or actually switched to an econobox for commuting?

Yes it makes sence to have a fuel efficiant vehicle for the daily comute................but............If you double your fuel milage you will save X$ per week. After you spend 15-20k on the econo-box, pay the taxes,insurance and dvm fees, you must drive how many weeks at X$ savings to break even?
Factoring in the routine cost of driving (oil changes and tires) baring the arival of any major repairs. It doesn't make sence to buy another car just to save gas money. (unless you have one of those 4 gallons to the mile mobiles)
I'm going to use the recent gas pricing to my advantage, I can sell my little Nissan truck for the cost of a full size rig. I don't use it much so the milage isn't much of an issue.

With all the posts of the need for cars that deliver good gas mileage, I wish to tell of the best gas mileage run I was involved in, back in 1962. My now deceased buddy David & I made it from Sacramento to Alturas California in his sports car, on less than a single tank of gas. Roughly 300 miles...and his gas tank held only 7 Gallons. Once we found ourselves in eastern California without a gas station open in sight, we dropped wayyy down on the revs, and thus the cruising speed, since this tiny car topped out at around 80 mph. As David said then: "Slow driving beats hell out of walking!" When we finally reached Alturas, an open Shell station looked like heaven. We had about 3 quarts left in the gas tank. I calculated the mileage...over 48 MPG! The car? A box stock (other than muffler removed, a straight 2" diameter pipe for exhaust giving it a lovely little rap.) 1960 Bug Eye Sprite...948cc's with two tiny little SU carbs. I loved that little car of David's...but I'd be terrified to take one out in today's traffic conditions. :)

If your willing to consider diesel, a tdi like mine gets 45 with AC, 50 without. Don't know about the new ones though. Heck even my dad's 85 merc diesel gets mid 20's and that thing is 21 years old.

My 81 diesel VW rabbit truck was getting 40MPG when I was driving it, and I have owned 3, one had 450K when traded off and was still going strong. You can pick up a older VW diesel for between $2 to $5 grand, and they make adapters to run Porsche wheels, so you can still have fun while being slow:D

The deal is, if I trade in, I'll end up financing just a little more than I owe on my current car anyway (didn't get a good deal on financing on it...). Since I already know my Tiburon is not a car I intend to keep until the wheels fall off, I think it would be better to get something more practical and versatile to keep until it's wheels fall off. I'd have it paid off in a few short years, and then, if I get the Honda, that thing will probably see well over 150,000 miles (which in my current average would be 15 years).

Rick V, it's not about breaking even, it's about getting that one car I'll keep until I drive the wheels off of it. Once paid off, cost of ownership will be very low. The Honda Fit compared to my current daily driver has many advantages in that type of ownership, IMHO.

1fastredsc, if there were something in the economy ~$15k range with TDI/diesel, it would definitely be on my radar, unfortunately, I'd have to step up probably $10k more to get to one.

Another part of going with a cheaper car is to get my car note down, so I can apply the saved money there to other debts, then 'snowball' it all up until I'm taking all that money and adding it to my car note to pay it off way ahead of time.

Anyway, nothing is decided yet, but I'm pretty sure that I WILL either end up trading my Tiburon in on something more efficient soon, or I'll keep it until it's paid off and then buy a cheaper, more economic car for a daily driver.

My wife will sell her 02 Saturn. It gets good mileage. :D

VW TDI! i think that is the ticket.

but for japanese econo...i like the yaris.

I'll second the mileage on the Sprite. My also now deceased buddy had a Mark 2 Sprite - the model after the bug eye. We used to drive over to Santa Cruz from the San Joaquin Valley with just a couple of dollars in our pockets plus a smallish gas can and a siphon hose. When we got low on gas, we'd siphon a little and get going again.

What the mpg on the good old Volkswagen bug (70s model, not the current one)? Seems to me I used to drive that thing forever on a tank of gas...

I'm considering fixing up my 912 this summer. I think I could get close to 30mpg in it.

Europeans have lots of little diesel vehicles, some will probably be here in the next couple of years, with the advent of clean american diesel in October of this year. How about a chipped 1.4 toyota diesel in a Mini Cooper that rivals an S and still gets 60mpg? And even mpg's like that are just temporary. Put electric motors in the wheels of that Mini and lop off a cylinder or two and 100mpg and super-torque off the line.

Interesting how mechanics seem to frequently have POS cars. I don't know if that says so much about the finances of wrenching for a living, or if it's some sort of badge of pride that they have--keeping a POS running for far longer than the original manufacturer or NHTSA intended.

I think it will be interesting to see what happens when we get good clean diesel fuel available to us. There are definitely some great cars in Europe that get great fuel economy on small diesel engines.

I'm not considering any of the available ones right now (VW, pretty much), as they start about $6k over what I'm lookin at.

'econobox' is not just a car that gets good gas mileage.

I think I could probably get away with a Fit for about $15k, as I want it, trade in my car, put a little down, and carry a little over from my previous loan. Get my car note about $150 lower, and apply the savings to other debt. Once the other debt is all gone, all that extra gets put into the car to pay it off early.

as I recall my '67 was somewhere in the 20's, maybe low 30's. They weren't as efficient as today's engines...just seemed like it next to a chrome-covered Buick with a v20 egine ;)

I know a few like that too, they have nice cars & stuff, but just like the cheap beaters as if they are tired & dirty, who cares. I drive a little beater Toyota PU because it stays under the radar, I drive it all the time:D

I would go for a diesel.
Plenty of torque and power.
No plug wires, spark plugs, dist etc.
Oil change every 10,000 miles and the filter is on top.

Plus when we run out of oil in 4-5 years you could convert it to bio-diesel.

Check out www.tdiclub.com

No diesels in available econoboxes yet. Hopefully we'll see some in a few years. Maybe later on I'll switch to one of those.

If you don't have to haul stuff how about a Mazda Miata? Cheap on gas, drop dead reliable,drop top and drives like a go kart and cheap to buy used and cheap to insure. I would rather have a Boxster but for a considerable bit less you can have a clean Miata.

I've thought about a Miata, but that would have to be in the 'fun car' position, not the daily commuter/versatile/keep it till the wheels fall off vehicle position.

I think I'll get an econobox, pay it off in a couple years, and just keep it. Once I have everything else paid off, then I'll have most of my income, with which to save up and buy a 'fun car'. :)

In the mean time, I still have Stinky, and will be working on her. Maybe after all is paid off, I'll find a 3 liter for her, and make her hella fast!