Inspired by this thread, I thought to ask about commuter cars. I used to go a whole two miles between my house and the University, and then two miles in the other direction to get to work. I could drive, or ride my bike, or bum rides from people, or fly (well, I couldn’t fly, but that would’ve been so cool).
Now that I’ve moved, I live an hour and fifteen minutes from the University, which allows me a nice 120-mile a day drive to and from the college. It really is a better situation though, since we are living in the town we would like to and my wife is in a more career-oriented job while I’m finishing my last semester of college this spring (hopefully). I don’t mind my car, but it’s slightly wrecked. It’s an 01 Hyundai Accent, basic basic model with no air, no power windows, no cruise, (actually, no radio at this time, either). It gets decent mileage, but after being in 2-3 wrecks, it may need replaced soon.
What would a doper reccomend for a commuter car? I’m looking for cheap and durable. I had planned on purchasing an old (86-89) 4runner next spring as a graduation present for myself, but finding a higher priced hybrid or whatever would be much more useful for the situation I am in. (Of course, it should be noted that we travel by car a lot as well. We live in a town that is 30 minutes away from any McDonald’s or food establishment other than pizza shops, so for a nice dinner, we’re driving an hour each way.)
Plus, I like to think about buying a new car. Dopers, advice?
I recently shopped with Kia. They offer a brand new car for about $7,900. It’s a very basic model and has no A/C or radio, but has a full warranty, etc.
Well, I can’t identify that car on the KIA website. I think it was a stripped Kia Rio. The dealership I went to had 3 on the lot. The salesman told us the dealer had to take one for every (can’t remember the number) of cars they ordered. He said his cars usually go to Mexico or up north where people don’t need A/C.
Of course, the salesman could have been not telling the whole truth about why he had the cars or where they go, but I certainly did see three on the lot.
Hyundai Accent. I have an 02 (2dr hatchback), it gets 40 mpg (mixed street/highway) and bought new, comes with 10yr/100K warranty. You can get tons of stuff in the back with the seats folded down. Performance isn’t too bad – its not a putput but not exactly a zoomy either. Its a getabout. Mine’s silver. Starts at 10.7K
A/C and dual front airbags come standard. Not cruise control though.
Right now, I’m looking at a Toyota Yaris. You can find them reasonably equipped for around $13K (or less if you’re willing to go with last year’s model). My sister gets about 44 mpg highway with her '07 and they have the reliability of Toyota behind them.
I’ve only had it for a short while, but I like my Saturn Ion, not sure if they’re still doing the 0% interest thing, but I got an exceptionally good deal on mine
2.2L four cyl 5 speed manual (I’ll NEVER own a sludgebox) (26 city 35 highway)
dual front airbags
side curtain airbags*
antilock brakes*
air conditioning*
passkey transponder key antitheft system
roughly around $15K ($209/mo for 72 months)
*these are options on the Ion
I plan to pay it off early, and from what I’ve been reading online, the Ion is generaly a reliable car, getting 200,000 miles off it is considered normal, one person on a saturn fansite actually got 360K on his before failure, he used it as a courier delivery vehicle
yes, the Ion is a plain, utilitarian car, but taken for what it is, simple, basic transportation, it’s a great value
I’m just about coming up to the one-year anniversary of purchasing my Honda Fit. Love it to death! I got the sport automatic, though, which might be more than you’re looking to spend. IIRC, the base model is something like 13K.
I just bought a Scion XB, almost new (5,700 miles), for about $14,000. It gets 33 mpg, has one of the highest reliability ratings in Consumer Reports, and is a versatile, pleasant to drive station wagon. I highly recommend these.
I’ve got the 07 model of the Accent hatchback in green, and I like it pretty well. Not as much as my Honda Civic before it, but it’s cheaper. How’s that warranty working out for you, Hello Again,? It’s a pain taking it to the dealer for all the maintenance, but it will be worth it, I guess, if something hideously expensive breaks.
For maximum versatility I’d rocommend any of the four-door hatches: Yaris, Fit, Versa, Aveo, etc. Or the slightly larger segment containing the Matrix, Aerio, Focus, etc. The B-class Mercedes can also fit here, but further up in the ‘luxury’ bracket.
I’m not sure whether any of them qualify as ‘cheap’ though. And you’d have to wade through them to find out which one was most reliable or most fuel-efficient.
A pure commuter car would be the Smart, but it’s not as versatile as the four-door units. The Mini can also be considered, but it’s a two-door luxury sub-compact. Great if you can afford it.
My Dutch Consumer’s organization has yearly tests and test updates where they list the real cost of cars. So not just how expensive they were new, but they also take into account how fast the resell worth goes down, the costs for fuel, and average repair costs. Those they calculate with data from their members panel of several thousand car owners, who list how much their cars cost in repairs.
Based on all those facts, the cheapest way to own a car is to buy a two or three year old small Japanese car and keep driving it untill it is about 9 years old.
[QUOTE=MacTech]
I’ve only had it for a short while, but I like my Saturn Ion, not sure if they’re still doing the 0% interest thing, but I got an exceptionally good deal on mine
I plan to pay it off early, and from what I’ve been reading online, the Ion is generaly a reliable car, getting 200,000 miles off it is considered normal, one person on a saturn fansite actually got 360K on his before failure, he used it as a courier delivery vehicle
QUOTE]
Hey Machtech, I had a SL2 that had 248,000 on it when I sold it. It had just started burning a little oil at that point.
Also owned a Volvo 240DL with over 300k, and a BMW 318i with 224k before I sold it. I used to routinely buy cars with well over 150k and run then for a few years. This time, I just bought brand new. Kinda mix things up a bit. 06 Sentra at the beginning of this year. Have driven it for about 9 mos and have 20k on it. And it was a steal at 11,500.
I have a Kia Rio, and I like it just fine. It’s five years old and has been extremely reliable. I get about 30MPG with a daily commute totalling 70 miles.
Sorry to not be back in the thread for a few days. I’m really not sure how much I’d like to spend. I honestly used to just go by what I had cash-wise and what I could afford, but the idea of buying a decent car is much better than the idea of spending a ton on one that needs work every week. I would hate to spend more than 10k though, but I also don’t usually look at things newer than late 90’s or early 2000’s. No real vehicle after 2006 has made a good impression other than the Smart Car, and I don’t think I can do that yet (mostly because of the fact I kind of like having a 4-door car big enough to be used with the baby)
I have the Accent (01) now but like I said, it is nearly totalled. It has been in at least 3 wrecks, maybe more, but is only pushing 100k now. I considered a Jetta TDI but wasn’t so sure about them. I have never looked at an Ion though, but I know a few people who have had them. I also love the Toyota Matrix - but my wife hates it. I may take that into consideration when I choose because she often has to drive my car as well. From what I understand, the Kia Rio is very similar to the Accent - which would be ok - so I may look into that some more this weekend.
One thing to keep in mind about the Ion, it’s officially a dead-ended platform, it’s been discontinued by GM, the replacement is the Astra (specifically the Opel Astra), so Saturn dealers have shall we say, “incentives” to clear out the remaining inventory of Ions to make room for the Astra (hence the 0% for 72 month dealie)
It’s cheap, and plasticky, but still rather endearing, and the manual is exceptionally fun to drive, the sludgebox model is an absolute slug though (I’ve driven both varieties, the manual version is worlds better, it’s like a completely different car…)
Starts at 10.7K