They don’t hold their value at all, but they’re shockingly reliable (I only got the first one because of the warranty, but it was absolutely bulletproof up to 100k, so I bought another one) so you can get them dirt cheap and if you buy from a dealer the balance of the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty is transferrable.
I have a lead foot and I average 30mpg in mixed city/highway driving. I’d guess a normal driver will be in the 34-37 range.
It’s also ridiculously roomy compared to other Civic-sized cars.
Only downside is the badge (not exactly a prestige marque) and the (auto) gearbox, which tends to be a bit indecisive and likes to swap up and down repeatedly if you’re cruising between 32 and 34 mph.
ETA: You can get a leftover new 2008 model for $12k, or a low-miler 2007 for $9k. If you go to the 2006 model it’s the old shape and not as nice.
I think it’s far more useful to try and find out why diesel costs have gone down and see if those factors will remain viable, than to merely extrapolate from the past.
Which ten years are these? According to my recollection (and this chart: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/txt/ptb0524.html) diesel only got higher than gasoline in 2005 and was only significantly so in 2008 in the wake of the changeover to ultra-low sulfur diesel. As far as I can tell, that was a one time deal and there’s no particular reason to think that the price of diesel is ever going to wander that far away from the price of gas on a consistent basis.
And to follow your logic, diesel was significantly cheaper for the previous sixty years to that, so which trend is more likely? I think it’s a case of previous results do not guarantee future performance.
For the record, when I picked up my used '07 Elantra with 11300 miles from Marhofer Hyundai in Akron about 12 months ago, I was told the powertrain warranty was NOT transferable.
I have a 2006 vw Jetta in diesel, and get 40-43 MPG, and it is a very comfortable car for long commutes. I have a sportish package, I had no choice because I bought it used. It has heated seats and side mirrors which are great in the winter. mrAru is actually commuting in it as I am unemployed scum
I’m guessing we’re now experiencing a semantic dispute rather than a question in point of fact, so I’ll kill this particular hijack of this particular thread.
Let’s hope the OP makes a wise decision.
Have Tauruses improved, reliability-wise? They used to be pretty awful. I think that’s got to be the real deciding factor among different models. I’d pay more for a more reliable car. It’d suck to be stuck 100 miles away from home because your car broke down.
Thanks for all of the informed responses. Boy, THAT really clears things up!
I was thinking that since I’d be putting 80K Kms per year on this thing then I’d better buy new. Sounds like the depreciation of a year or two might make used well worth it though.
Can I put 300 or 400 thousand highway kilometres on a Hyundai, for example? That’s a lot of mileage.
Honestly, I don’t know. I put 100,000 miles on my first without a simple mechanical/electrical failure and then I started having problems with the suspension, but those were due to me crashing it (and driving like a maniac).
Current car is vintage 1996. It needs replacing anyway. The reliability for said mileage just isn’t there: the transmission won’t shift into 2nd gear when cold, the heater core needs replaced since I can’t stay warm under about -10C, the front stabilizers are toast, the water pump has been replaced twice in the last 2 years and the seal is starting to leak AGAIN! No, I need a new(er) car.
From what was mentioned about the possible weather conditions up-thread, I’d suggest looking into a Subaru. All of their current models are all-wheel drive and I’ve never read anything really negative about them (mainly the about the styling.)
The last one I owned was a rwd 1974 model, but it lasted 225,00 miles and 20+ years.
Based on JD Power rankings, the Elantra has world-class reliability. I believe it beat the Corolla for reliability within its segment during a recent year.
Let’s put it this way: you’ll have as good of odds of making it to that mileage as you would in any other vehicle.
The real question is how much you’d run into in repairs. Any car will have at least some parts wear out during the course of 250K [I speak American units, sorry].
With any vehicle, you’ve got a very good chance that you’ll wind up needing a transmission rebuilt before you get to 250K. Your application is an ideal candidate for NOT needing that, and you can help yourself substantially by avoiding jack-rabbit starts, hard passing and speeds above 55 MPH.
If you’re only doing it for the money, then it may not be worth it depending on what your salary closer to home was. Assuming that you’re commuting an extra 3 hours / day, that’s 3 hours * 250 working days / year = 750 hours over a year on top of 2080 hours in a 40 hour work week.
So if you were getting $40,000 close to home and $50,000 far from home, that’s $19.23/hour versus $17.66 taking into account the extra hours spent in the car.
It you were making more money close to home, the numbers are even worse… $60K with no commute is $28.84/hour, $70K with a long commute is $24.73/hour
This doesn’t even include the price of gas and car maintenance – 4400 miles/month in a 35mpg car @ $3.00/gallon is $4500/year in gas alone.
You might be better off taking a $9/hour part-time job at Starbucks closer to home for 10 hours/week, you’ll still add $5000 to your household income, save lots of gas money, but have more time at home and be closer to home in case of emergency.
Of course, that all depends on how you value your time in the car. If you enjoy long drives and feel like your time in the car is not wasted (maybe you listen to books on tape, or you practice your singing career, whatever), then perhaps you don’t need to allocate that time to “work”.
In my case, I pay a lot of money for a small apartment in the city close to my job so I have a 15 minute walking commute that gets me home to my family quicker. It seems like a fair tradeoff compared to living in a bigger house out in the 'burbs that would give me an hour commute each way.
