Need a higher MPG, small, reliable easy to work on DD ($12k or so)

[exar333]

I would take the cheapest Fiesta + Sync over a Elantra. I have driven both this year and the Ford is superior. The Elantra may have a little better looks, but the Fiesta is a more satisfying vehicle IMHO and with the Ford tech options, much better overall.

Keep in mind I am not the biggest fan traditionally of either company, but I would choose the Ford hands-down. If you want the Elantra, wait a year and buy it for 1/3 off with a few miles. It's definitely a waste to buy new.

 

[LTC8K6]

Is it legal for you to turn left from the right lane? Looks like the right lane is for going right and the left lane is for going left. Did you get impatient and decide to go around and turn from the wrong lane?

 

[Kelvrick]

How come the grey car has a border and none of the other cars do?
Is it an option?

Because I'm vain and wanted to make sure to look special.

Is it legal for you to turn left from the right lane? Looks like the right lane is for going right and the left lane is for going left. Did you get impatient and decide to go around and turn from the wrong lane?

Yes, both lanes can turn left. See below for google pic with corresponding colored squares showing the cars.

Back on topic though, OP needs to chime back in regarding his price range and comments on the recommendations so far.

 

[LTC8K6]

Because I'm vain and wanted to make sure to look special.



Yes, both lanes can turn left. See below for google pic with corresponding colored squares showing the cars.

http://i53.tinypic.com/213oq6c.jpg

Back on topic though, OP needs to chime back in regarding his price range and comments on the recommendations so far.

I see. That is dangerous if someone ends up stopped in one lane coming off the highway, for whatever reason. The other folks just aren't going to be able to see well.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

I think I've narrowed it down to a new Fit. Assuming I can get a base model. Some folks are reporting dealers asking 2k over msrp, which completely misses the point...

I may just buy a beater and drive it for a year or until better deals are to be had, seems like a real shit time to buy something.

Or may buy an old 01-02 Corolla or Civic and tool around for a few months/year until a deal comes along.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You plowed into the back of a stopped vehicle and she's the wise and beautiful woman?

 

[Throckmorton]

Within her rights, but completely dangerous and a stupid thing to do. I almost got T-boned the other night because of someone who did something similar.

Coming off of the freeway off-ramp to a T intersection where cross-traffic both have stop-signs. I'm in the outside lane when a stupid bitch in an SUV (confirmed it was a female driver) decides to STOP in front of some other random car instead of completing her left turn, prompting the scion TC to proceed through the stop sign just as I'm coming around the outside of the Bitch.

I say SUV because the size of her SUV likely played a part in blocking my car from the TC's view. See paint picture below.

I don't see how that could be your fault if you didn't have a stop sign

 

[Kelvrick]

I think I've narrowed it down to a new Fit. Assuming I can get a base model. Some folks are reporting dealers asking 2k over msrp, which completely misses the point...

I may just buy a beater and drive it for a year or until better deals are to be had, seems like a real shit time to buy something.

Or may buy an old 01-02 Corolla or Civic and tool around for a few months/year until a deal comes along.

What is your zip code? Have you checked priced on truecar.com?

Throck, it wouldn't have been my fault. If you look at my original reply, it was in response to someone saying it was within her rights to yield (like the bitch in my scenario). I just chimed in saying just because you can do something doesn't mean it isn't extremely stupid and dangerous.

The random car in my picture probably almost slammed into her as well.

 

[ShawnD1]

Throck, it wouldn't have been my fault. If you look at my original reply, it was in response to someone saying it was within her rights to yield (like the bitch in my scenario). I just chimed in saying just because you can do something doesn't mean it isn't extremely stupid and dangerous.

Yielding when you're not supposed to really fucks up the flow of everything. About a week ago some retard did that at a 4 way stop.
-retard came to the intersection first
-retard doesn't go; yields to the people who arrive after her (old woman in a buick)
-after not going when she was supposed to and yielding when she wasn't supposed to, she made a left turn in front of a guy going straight and nearly got hit

 

[A5]

I think I've narrowed it down to a new Fit. Assuming I can get a base model. Some folks are reporting dealers asking 2k over msrp, which completely misses the point...

I may just buy a beater and drive it for a year or until better deals are to be had, seems like a real shit time to buy something.

Or may buy an old 01-02 Corolla or Civic and tool around for a few months/year until a deal comes along.

Fits and other econoboxes frequently go over MSRP when gas prices spike. This year it's being compounded by supply disruptions due to the tsunami in Japan. You'll see similar results in relation to KBB values with used economy cars as well.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

What is your zip code? Have you checked priced on truecar.com?

Yeah checked and going for $500 over sticker or so. The price trending following an uptick each month since February

 

[Throckmorton]

Buy a Miata

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Buy a Miata

Not sure if serious...

 

[tortillasoup]

I think I've narrowed it down to a new Fit. Assuming I can get a base model. Some folks are reporting dealers asking 2k over msrp, which completely misses the point...

I may just buy a beater and drive it for a year or until better deals are to be had, seems like a real shit time to buy something.

Or may buy an old 01-02 Corolla or Civic and tool around for a few months/year until a deal comes along.

The fit was a pretty good car when it came out, but now it's dated and since Honda is on a precipitous slide, I doubt any successor will be that much better. Frankly I don't like buying new cars but when I saw that the new Elantra was kicking ass and taking names, I figured I'd chime in with it since for $16K, you could get a car with interior room that is in some ways larger than a Camry (head room) while providing fuel economy better than anything in its class. I mean why pay up for a very small Fiesta or a Fit when you can get a much bigger and more advanced car. The Honda Fit and Fiesta are too expensive for what they are and since you came from an older generation Elantra, I thought you'd be more receptive to the idea of another Elantra.

If you're not in the market for a new car and want to save some cash, then I'd get a 90s Honda civic and save the extra money for repairs you'll need to have done sometime in the future. Instead of looking for opinions on a car, why not try the ones that fit the bill. There have been plenty of suggestions here, now I recommend you trying it out. If you can, see if the dealership will let you test drive the car for more than a few hours. (For a day or two)

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Found a relatively local 1999 Monte Carlo Z34 with the 3800 series for $1700. Rebuilt title (saw the wreck pics, was just some hood damage). Under 70k miles and looks flawless.

A get around beater, what ya think?

 

[KIAman]

That's not a bad deal and you'll get good power with the 3.8 but how's the MPG?

I bet you can talk them down to $1400.

 

[tortillasoup]

Found a relatively local 1999 Monte Carlo Z34 with the 3800 series for $1700. Rebuilt title (saw the wreck pics, was just some hood damage). Under 70k miles and looks flawless.

A get around beater, what ya think?

But I thought you wanted a car that had similar fuel economy to your Elantra? This Car was rated 21mpg NEW and by now, it probably has dropped off a bit more. I think $1700 is too much despite having 70K miles due to the rebuild title (impossible to resell) and being an American car with terrible fuel economy (expensive to drive). I would keep looking.. maybe consider some lesser known economy car like a Festiva, Chevy Prizm (corolla), Cavalier (most economical Chevy), Mazda Protege, Corolla, Tercel, Saturn SL and SC, Hyundai Accent, Suzuki Esteem, Geo metro, Suzuki swift, Mitsubishi Mirage, etc.. Those cars all could be had for $1700 or less and would be far cheaper to maintain and repair than a Monte Carlo with a 3.8L.

Check out this thread on this website for cheap cars that are cheap to own and drive:
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=7449&page=2&highlight=sleeper

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Well with the money I could save, I could pay for more gas...but the 3800 II engines aren't that terrible on gas.

And looking at cars that are sub $2000, I don't think anyone buying them cares about a clear title. Just a guess though. All those cars you listed for the most part are on my list. The problem is a LOT of them are way over $1700, due to gas prices I'm guessing. Early 00 Prizms, Tercels, etc. are around $4,000.

On the topic of beaters, I found a 1995 BMW 318ti with 104k miles on the clock. Asking $1750. Those 4-cyls are supposed to be pretty high MPG and are decent cars from what I've read. Any input?

 

[tortillasoup]

But that BMW requires premium gasoline and I would never call a BMW a "beater" unless by beater you mean beat yourself over the head several times for making the mistake of buying one.. I mean yeah you can buy a lot of older luxury cars for a low price but I don't recommend it because parts are so very expensive on those cars.. I don't know where you've been looking but I've found on craigslist for several cities tercels and paseos for around $1000-$2200 though a lot of them do offer an autotragic which may be a deal breaker for you. Just remember, the difference between one of the beaters you've been looking at and a economical beater may be a few hundred dollars up front but after only a year of driving, you could easily recoup that via gas savings. A '95 BMW is not going to average 23mpg, regardless of the miles and requiring premium fuel seems like it should be a deal breaker regardless.

 

[yottabit]

I really love the new elantra's. It really does seem noticeably bigger than something like a fiesta to me but it could be perception. I was able to sit in the back seat comfortably at 6' 1". Plus they have a decent amount of horsepower and still get really good fuel economy. It's what I would buy if I needed a new car right now

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Thanks tortillasoup, didn't know they required premium, even on the 4cyl. Kinda defeats my purpose on higher MPG. I think I'm going to wait out this guy on the Monte Carlo.

I forgot to mention my dad's business has a mechanic that works pretty much only on 80s and 90s domestics.

I think I'm going to hold out for a beater and pay cash rather than take out a loan.

 

[tortillasoup]

What about Chevy Metro, Chevy Prizm, Chevy Aveo, Dodge/Eagle/Plymouth Colt, Dodge Shadow, Dodge Neon, Ford Escort, Ford Aspire, Ford Festiva, Ford Focus, Ford Contour? Those are all "american" cars... Though have to emphasize that you should get these vehicles with the M/T so that if the transmission fails, the repair will be fairly cheap and easy compared to an autotragic.. I just think the idea of working on "domestics only" is kind of crap especially if you're a competent mechanic but whatever.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

What about Chevy Metro, Chevy Prizm, Chevy Aveo, Dodge/Eagle/Plymouth Colt, Dodge Shadow, Dodge Neon, Ford Escort, Ford Aspire, Ford Festiva, Ford Focus, Ford Contour? Those are all "american" cars... Though have to emphasize that you should get these vehicles with the M/T so that if the transmission fails, the repair will be fairly cheap and easy compared to an autotragic.. I just think the idea of working on "domestics only" is kind of crap especially if you're a competent mechanic but whatever.

For clarification, the guy is a mechanic on the side. He works day labor/installer for my dad. He doesn't really work "only" on domestic, just what he has the most experience on. He was going to fix my Elantra until he got under the hood and the transmission was toast.

 

[Throckmorton]

Well with the money I could save, I could pay for more gas...but the 3800 II engines aren't that terrible on gas.

And looking at cars that are sub $2000, I don't think anyone buying them cares about a clear title. Just a guess though. All those cars you listed for the most part are on my list. The problem is a LOT of them are way over $1700, due to gas prices I'm guessing. Early 00 Prizms, Tercels, etc. are around $4,000.

On the topic of beaters, I found a 1995 BMW 318ti with 104k miles on the clock. Asking $1750. Those 4-cyls are supposed to be pretty high MPG and are decent cars from what I've read. Any input?

I found some threads discussing E36 gas mileage. It's surprising how efficient they are even with the I6 engines. I think I'm going to buy one. Maintenance costs are high but in return you get a RWD car with good handling and clean styling. The asking prices I see on Craigslist are low compared to Japanese cars. An E36 is half the price of a Nissan 240sx of the same vintage.

 

[ShawnD1]

What about Chevy Metro, Chevy Prizm, Chevy Aveo, Dodge/Eagle/Plymouth Colt, Dodge Shadow, Dodge Neon, Ford Escort, Ford Aspire, Ford Festiva, Ford Focus, Ford Contour? Those are all "american" cars... Though have to emphasize that you should get these vehicles with the M/T

As a general rule you should probably never get a compact car with an automatic transmission. They either lack gears and get terrible gas mileage (3 speed auto) or they have lots of gears and the transmission fucks up in a very short time because it's constantly jumping between all of the gears. Google search "ford fiesta transmission problem" and see how many billions of complaints you can find about them screwing up. Apparently 6 gears is too many so it never picks one; it jumps around until the whole tranny is destroyed.