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  1. #1
    mtbr mastah Site Administrator
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    Help me decide on a commute car.

    Ok, I've convinced myself that I need a commute car. My commute is about 70 miles a day.

    I love my VW Passat but I'm afraid I'm killing it. It's modded now and I'm afraid I'm quickly making it worthless on my boring commute. Also, I'm thinking of saving some money with a 30+ mpg car that runs on regular unleaded.

    Good news is there seems to be some great affordable cars out there. I've started test driving these puppies but would like some opinions from anyone.

    Not in any special order are the candidates. I like hatchbacks so it's gonna be a hatchback:

    Scion XB - The box. I actually like the way this looks (wife hates it). It's really nice inside and drives awesome. It's got the power of a lawnmower. Price is about $15k. It does 32 mpg on the highway but that quickly goes bad if you drive over 70mph.

    Can you fit two bikes inside this thing??



    Mini Cooper - Cooler than cool! About $17k and 35mpg on the highway. Will a bike fit in the back??? This is so cool that it's hard to get one. There's a one year waiting list in the bay area. I think I found a way to get one though. Does it come in orange?



    Toyota Yaris - This car is sweeet! This only available in Canada but will be in the US soon. Any Canadans have one? Again, will a bike fit inside?? Price is $12k and highway mileage is 41mpg.

    Look, you can mod it too.


    Those are the 3 real options. A couple notables are:
    Honda Element because they finally painted the dammmm panels. $21k though and the mileage is around 26 mpg, I think. So it's not a go.


    Check out this freaky new Civic Hatchback. It's only available in UK right now. I'm sure it's super efficient and all that.



    francois

  2. #2
    Spam Reaper Site Moderator Slanter's Avatar
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    Minis do come in orange, but for some reason, this is only available on convertable models. Coupes come in red or yellow, but not orange. I wouldn't be surprised if you can carry a bike in the back; I can do that on my Focus, which is about the same size. They've got a well-earned reputation for fun.

    The Yaris, xB, xA, and Echo all share the same mechanicals - although the Yaris that they're bringing here is going to be the second generation version. I've test driven an Echo before and concluded that it is not exactly a fun car for normal use, but trying to run one through a tight slalom course provides a lot of sick and wrong amusement. The Yarris has more aggressive suspension tuning, though - it may be a bit more fun to drive than an Echo or xB if you're willing to thrash it hard. I know one man who managed to get kicked out of the GM Auto Show In Motion for driving an Echo around on three wheels. (If you watched the remake of The Italian Job closely, you'll see the Minis doing this too.)

    I'd probably pick the Mini if you want maximum fun, or one of the two Toyota products for practicality. With the Mini, I'd be worried about BMW-sized repair costs - parts probably will not be as cheap as for Toyotas.
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  3. #3
    mtbr mastah Site Administrator
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    Awesome answer Slanter. Thanks.

    I'm the administrator at the mtbr.com site and we have this same thread going on there with some interesting insight.

    http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=151080

    regards,
    francois

  4. #4
    Senior Member Registered Member
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    So you are afraid of making your Passat worthless, so you are going to spend $12k-$17k on another car? That makes zero financial sense. Driving the Passat would make the most sense what mileage does it get? You can buy a heck of a lot of gas for $5k let alone $17k so unless the Passat is getting 8mpgs you will be ahead driving it.

    Passat's lose value pretty quick so just drive it and enjoy. Who cares about re sale, cars are the worst thing you can spend your money on they are not an investment. Re sale, so what the real value in them is getting use out of it.

    Besides a cheap $5k Civic will get mid 30's cost nothing to run and really makes a good case for itself as commuter car.

  5. #5
    mtbr mastah Site Administrator
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hattaresguy
    So you are afraid of making your Passat worthless, so you are going to spend $12k-$17k on another car? That makes zero financial sense. Driving the Passat would make the most sense what mileage does it get? You can buy a heck of a lot of gas for $5k let alone $17k so unless the Passat is getting 8mpgs you will be ahead driving it.

    Passat's lose value pretty quick so just drive it and enjoy. Who cares about re sale, cars are the worst thing you can spend your money on they are not an investment. Re sale, so what the real value in them is getting use out of it.

    Besides a cheap $5k Civic will get mid 30's cost nothing to run and really makes a good case for itself as commuter car.
    This is partly financial, partly cause I want a new toy car.

    Two things that are not obvious. My Passat has a body kit, upgraded suspension, wheels, chip and exhaust. I love driving the thing. It's great off the line and even better on corners. I'll be putting 30k miles on it in the next year. 30k, of boring 70mph, straight line commuting miles. If I had a choice, I would rather put 30k over 3 years. I want most of the miles to be fun, twisty miles.

    Some cars, like the Scion have great resale value in the Bay Area, CA. I can put 30k miles in it and resell it and just be down $2k. The Mini, it seems you lose even less money.

    Getting a 5k commuter is a good idea as well. Any recommendations for a fun and reliable one?

    francois

  6. #6
    Senior Member Registered Member
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    Well if you want strictly a commuter and don't need to carry a lot of stuff them look at a Mazda Miata. Super fun to drive, cheap to fix, very good fuel mileage. I am sure you could find one for $5k or so with around 100k on it. Run 30k on it and sell it a year later for what you paid for it.

  7. #7
    mtbr mastah Site Administrator
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hattaresguy
    Well if you want strictly a commuter and don't need to carry a lot of stuff them look at a Mazda Miata. Super fun to drive, cheap to fix, very good fuel mileage. I am sure you could find one for $5k or so with around 100k on it. Run 30k on it and sell it a year later for what you paid for it.
    Oh man, great suggestion. I drove the old Miata as well as the 2006 and I love that car. An old Miata will be good on the insurance bill too I'm sure.

    A quick scan on craigslist and I found this:
    http://www.craigslist.org/sby/car/117265226.html

    Good one??

    francois

  8. #8
    Senior Member Registered Member
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    That one looks pretty good. Now their is a fun car you can drive for a year and it won't cost you anything.

  9. #9
    Junior Member Registered Member
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    Hi everyone! yes I agree with you, Really good car

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