# Sell me a fuel-efficient car, please! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 29, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146 "2008-10-29T21:14:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/101 "2008-11-01T04:57:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > snipped > > When you said “They didn’t make very many of them and the demand was so high that no incentives were offered,…” you’re right- but \*they made the choice \*to make so damn few! Actually there was a huge snafu of a supply issue with the batteries. The plan was to have lots more to sell, but it never came to fruition. We got exactly three '08 Aura Hybrids for the entire model year to sell. They didn’t even get any lot dirt on them before they were gone. And in my market area there have be no “available to everybody” ASTRA incentives, only to people who were currently in leases and those people who are GM Employees or Suppliers. GM loses money on every one they sell. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/102 "2008-11-01T05:09:08Z")
> [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#): > > What Peugeot is sold as a Chrysler? Chrysler sells mostly the same models in the rest of the world, under the Jeep and Chrysler marques (Dodge becomes Chrysler, so the Viper is a Chrysler Viper). Maybe some of the diesel versions use Peugeot technology since PSA Citroen Peugeot is a technology leader in small diesel engines, but lots of companies i.e. BMW also do that. Chrysler had a joint venture plant in Beijing producing Jeep variants for the Chinese until Daimler grabbed it in the merger and converted it to assembling C/E-class Mercedes for the Chinese market. None in the States, and in skimming the Chrysler France website, it looks like they’re going with all USA based models. They might have quit selling the Peugeots in Europe with Chrysler nameplates (I’m not digging around all night to find this out). None of that changes the fact that the European operations _aren’t_ a part of the “mothership” to the degree that Ford’s and GM’s are. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/103 "2008-11-03T21:51:48Z")
Help me out people! I want to buy the first new car I have ever owned. I am an old fart, and this will probably be the last new car I ever buy. Unfortunately, the car I want is unavailable in America, so I’m asking you to email Honda to bring this car to our shores. I present you the Honda [Airwave](http://www.dancewithshadows.com/auto/honda-airwave-photo.asp). It’s a Honda Fit in a station wagon configuration. I want the tiny engine with great mileage. I’m used to driving a 1984 Toyota 4Runner that is hazardous to drive on the freeway due to it’s 0 to 60mph stat measured on the order of minutes. I don’t normally carry a lot of passengers, so slow acceleration does not bother me (even though I grew up in LA!). Hell, when I drove over the continental divide on the way to Denver, my car would only do 45mph. It’s pretty much the same ordeal heading up to Park City. But, having owned only air cooled VWs and this terrific but mind bendingly slow Toyota, I can deal with the slow car. So, help me with my dream and get this damn car over to America! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/104 "2008-11-03T21:59:25Z")
No. Ees oogly. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/105 "2008-11-03T22:14:42Z")
What makes this better than the regular Fit that’s already available here? You already said you don’t carry passengers often so why do you need the extra length of the wagon? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/106 "2008-11-03T22:16:42Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > I present you the Honda [Airwave](http://www.dancewithshadows.com/auto/honda-airwave-photo.asp). > > It’s a Honda Fit in a station wagon configuration. I want the tiny engine with great mileage. > > So, help me with my dream and get this damn car over to America! That is the std engine, available now. True, the USA FIT does not have a moonroof, but that’s more or less it. Great car, huge inside, slow accelleration. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/107 "2008-11-04T04:00:28Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > And Aveos ARE junk. In 10 months of driving one, I haven’t found that to be true. It’s a smooth comfortable ride, it’s got decent pickup, and it gets me where I’m going. I don’t need Formula One performance to get to the grocery store. People have stopped us in parking lots several times to ask us about it. And on tonight’s mileage check we got 38 MPG. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/108 "2008-11-04T06:22:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That is the std engine, available now. True, the USA FIT does not have a moonroof, but that’s more or less it. Great car, huge inside, slow accelleration. Yeah, I thought the Airwave in Japan had the smaller 1.3L engine, which would probably make it intolerably slow, even for me. The Airwave (length = 151.4 in) is however, a different car than the Fit (length = 171.3 in). It’s almost 20 inches longer which means that you can actually fit an 8.9 foot long piece of lumber inside the car. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/109 "2008-11-04T17:41:05Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > In 10 months of driving one, I haven’t found that to be true. It’s a smooth comfortable ride, it’s got decent pickup, and it gets me where I’m going. I don’t need Formula One performance to get to the grocery store. People have stopped us in parking lots several times to ask us about it. > > And on tonight’s mileage check we got 38 MPG. My freind owns one, and yes it is “no frills” but it’s fairly decent basic transportation. Sure, in that class I’d pick the FIT over it, but with a limited budget you can do worse thatn the Aveo. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146/110 "2008-11-04T18:17:08Z")
Nissan Versa is also a good choice, not quite as expensive as the Fit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sell-me-a-fuel-efficient-car-please/470146.md?page=5)