YACT: A Commuter Vehicle

[Vic]

45 mile one-way daily commute + lease = bad idea

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
For pure practicality, either a Hyundai Elantra GT or a Sonata. Good price, comfy, fuel efficient.

ZV

Is your 86 for sale?

Not at the moment, but for the right offer...

Gets 30+ mpg on the freeway if you stay at legal speeds and out of boost.

ZV

 

[LordMorpheus]

Lincoln Town Car! 26-28mph highway, most comfortable domestic ever produced, good used ones can be had for 5k, the Ford 4.6 is bulletproof (except for a bad intake manifold that affects certain years), and the 90-97 models have more class than anything short of bentleys and rollers.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Lincoln Town Car! 26-28mph highway, most comfortable domestic ever produced, good used ones can be had for 5k, the Ford 4.6 is bulletproof (except for a bad intake manifold that affects certain years), and the 90-97 models have more class than anything short of bentleys and rollers.

Watch that AOD-E though, not the most solid transmission.

ZV

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Lincoln Town Car! 26-28mph highway, most comfortable domestic ever produced, good used ones can be had for 5k, the Ford 4.6 is bulletproof (except for a bad intake manifold that affects certain years), and the 90-97 models have more class than anything short of bentleys and rollers.

Watch that AOD-E though, not the most solid transmission.

ZV

maintain the sucker and you shouldn't have that many problems. You'd be amazed how many transmissions are written off or rebuilt when their only problems were a sticking accumulator valve that is fixible without even dropping the transmission.

The good news is that there are approximately four gigizillion of them out there so you can get rebuilt parts for nothing.

edit - sorry, my car (1997) has the 4R70W, not the older AOD-E. I haven't had major problems and haven't heard of too many other people having them either. I think they use the same casing but have different internals.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
If you switched jobs and your new company was 45 miles away and you had a car allowance, what car would you get in order to

1. maximize your comfort
2. minimize the gas expense
3. enjoy the, mostly highway, drive

?

2002 Chevy Prizm

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
Lincoln Town Car! 26-28mph highway, most comfortable domestic ever produced, good used ones can be had for 5k, the Ford 4.6 is bulletproof (except for a bad intake manifold that affects certain years), and the 90-97 models have more class than anything short of bentleys and rollers.

Watch that AOD-E though, not the most solid transmission.

ZV

maintain the sucker and you shouldn't have that many problems. You'd be amazed how many transmissions are written off or rebuilt when their only problems were a sticking accumulator valve that is fixible without even dropping the transmission.

The good news is that there are approximately four gigizillion of them out there so you can get rebuilt parts for nothing.

edit - sorry, my car (1997) has the 4R70W, not the older AOD-E. I haven't had major problems and haven't heard of too many other people having them either. I think they use the same casing but have different internals.

The 4R70W is the same as the AOD-EW, which is mechanically identical to the AOD-E, save for the gear ratios.

I started losing the 1st-2nd shift on cold mornings at 85,000 miles on my Mark VIII (AOD-EW). Talked with several service shops and the agreement was that it was probably the 1-2 valve sticking (Ford has a TSB out on this) which, on the Mark, did require dropping the transmission. Quote for a rebuild was $2K (no sense in taking all the labor to get the thing out of the car and then not going over everything) and the car was worth about $2.5K, so I just traded it in but made sure it had warmed up before the dealer looked at it. Got $2,500 for it in trade.

ZV

 

[masshass81]

Originally posted by: brikis98
civic si or corolla sport. awesome gas mileage, best reliability in the industry, comfortable, inexpensive and not terrible to drive.

I agree with all of the above, except for the comfort. But that all depends on the expectation and build of the driver.

I'd suggest an Accord/Camry/'07 Altima/TSX...

 

[lyssword]

scion tc they say is comfy/low mpg. Pontiac GTO, less mpg's tho and fasterrr

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Vic
45 mile one-way daily commute + lease = bad idea

Agreed, althouth, to be fair, I would not be making the drive every day.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Vic
45 mile one-way daily commute + lease = bad idea

Yeah. Trust me, a 52 mile one-way daily commute + a 10,000mi/yr lease on a German sports car is even worse.

Stupid job transfer

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: Vic
45 mile one-way daily commute + lease = bad idea

Yeah. Trust me, a 52 mile one-way daily commute + a 10,000mi/yr lease on a German sports car is even worse.

Stupid job transfer

:Q Oh dear god that sucks - looks like you are buying out the lease, eh?

 

[radioouman]

This will sound a little strange, but I have a Chrysler Sebring convertible as my commuter car. I have a 60 mile one-way commute, and I like being able to put the top down. I'm 6'5", and incredibly comfortable in this car. I get 27-28 mpg out of it with the V6.

Now, the downsides. The 2.7 liter V6 has a history of oil sludge problems. So make sure you change your oil often. The a604 transmission isn't the best either. It doesn't usually fail, but it starts shifting weird. Then the dealer has to hook up the tranny computer to their diagnostic box, and reprogram some of the fluid pressures.

But, it is all worth it for comfortable, top down driving.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: Vic
45 mile one-way daily commute + lease = bad idea

Yeah. Trust me, a 52 mile one-way daily commute + a 10,000mi/yr lease on a German sports car is even worse.

Stupid job transfer

:Q Oh dear god that sucks - looks like you are buying out the lease, eh?

Yeah, I bought out the lease at the end, since I was about 25,000 miles over. It's still a nice car, though.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Vic
45 mile one-way daily commute + lease = bad idea

depends on who has to eat it at the end.