Looking for a gas saver

onepieceatatime · Dec 16, 2015

Little brother just got out of the Army and got some money when he got out. He currently drives a 04 F150 on 35s and wants another car to save the miles on the truck and get better gas mileage. If you were 23 and had $10k to spend on a nice daily driver what would you get?? I don't know **** about these new cars so I figured Id get some good responses on here.

kevinhumphrey · Dec 16, 2015

I'm in middle Tennessee and I'm sure you can find one closer but I know this is a good car a friend of mine bought for his daughter to get back-and-forth to college. Pretty sure he said 05 Altima around 170,000 miles asking 5000.

TacomaJD · Dec 16, 2015

Infiniti FX35, this one is sharp. GF has one and gets 22mpg and she ain't an easy driver. Plenty of power and I have always thought they look badass.

http://bham.craigslist.org/cto/5283955582.html

Here is hers

TacomaJD · Dec 16, 2015

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Or any cheap Toyota car.

I personally am glad I gave $3k for a clean 02 Saturn L200 with 2.2L ecotec in it, about 4 yrs ago. 170k miles on it now, still runs and drives tight as a new one. 30mpg's. Has paid for itself multiple times since I've owned it.

I like it as a secondary vehicle because I dont have to wash it, I can throw my trash (mainly empty water bottles) in the back floorboard and not give a ****, parts are cheap for them, and reliable with regular maintenance. I don't want s secondary car I have to spend as much time washing and caring for as my primary vehicle. For $10k, I would buy dang $3k cheapo car with a track record for reliability, and do something else with the other $7k!

This is the only pic I can find of it on the day I bought the FJ.

Rokcrler · Dec 16, 2015

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Got an 06 Saturn ion 115k miles $4000

TRUCNUT · Dec 16, 2015

http://www.hardlinecrawlers.com/forums/index.php?topic=47962.msg550639#msg550639
check this out

dynajeep · Dec 16, 2015

Not to be a downer, but I've ran through this in my head a thousand times in the past... I can't justify buying another vehicle plus the plates, insurance, and maintenance on it. $10k is a **** load of gas, and maintenance on the truck. To me buying a second vehicle for gas savings is stupid.

TacomaJD · Dec 16, 2015

dynajeep said:
Not to be a downer, but I've ran through this in my head a thousand times in the past... I can't justify buying another vehicle plus the plates, insurance, and maintenance on it. $10k is a **** load of gas, and maintenance on the truck. To me buying a second vehicle for gas savings is stupid.

Everyone's circumstances are different....it's certainly not stupid. Just because it doesn't make sense for you to do, doesn't make it stupid. :gay:

dynajeep · Dec 16, 2015

TacomaJD said:
Everyone's circumstances are different....it's certainly not stupid. Just because it doesn't make sense for you to do, doesn't make it stupid.

Your right, but it's my opinion. It's an option maybe he hasn't thought about... If his truck gets 14mpg and gas stays around $2/gal he could drive 70,000 miles on that $10k. This is thr advice id give my little brother at least.

TacomaJD · Dec 16, 2015

dynajeep said:
Your right, but it's my opinion. It's an option maybe he hasn't thought about... If his truck gets 14mpg and gas stays around $2/gal he could drive 70,000 miles on that $10k. This is thr advice id give my little brother at least.

Or invest the money in a vehicle, drive it 70k miles, and be able to sell it for at least half the initial price. There's no return on fuel purchases. Not to mention the fact of keeping miles off the nicer primary vehicle, which retains a higher resale value and in better cosmetic shape inside and out by not being on the road as much.

Dwill817 · Dec 16, 2015

Honda Civics are about to most reliable and fuel efficient cars around. We've had awesome luck with all of our Honda cars and SUV..

For a lot less than 10k, you can get an awesome Civic and put the other 3-4K in the bank for gas and stuff.

I HIGHLY recommend a Civic.

TacomaJD · Dec 16, 2015

When I bought my Saturn, the only vehicle I had was my old 2006 GMC 2500HD with the 6.0L gasser in it. Roughly 11pmg's. Gas was expensive. Gave $3k for the car, which got 30mpg's, car literally paid for itself the first year or so as much as I was driving. Now I've had it for 4 years. Everytime I take a trip somewhere far off, I drive it. Much better fuel economy and the consumable parts like brakes, tires, and such are much cheaper for it. I don't have the 2500HD that got 11 mpg's anymore, but the FJ Cruiser I have now, after bigger tires/wheels, gets 13-14 mpg's, so the 30mpg's I get in the Saturn, is still very valuable. I will probably keep it til it dies. Timing chain driven and proven 2.2L Ecotec, I shouldn't have a problem seeing 250k miles out of it.

TacomaJD · Dec 16, 2015

Dwill817 said:
Honda Civics are about to most reliable and fuel efficient cars around. We've had awesome luck with all of our Honda cars and SUV..

For a lot less than 10k, you can get an awesome Civic and put the other 3-4K in the bank for gas and stuff.

I HIGHLY recommend a Civic.

Truth.

Also, older model Lexus ES cars like late 90's/early 00's get good mpg's and are solid reliable, built by Toyota. :dblthumb:

j-mox · Dec 16, 2015

I'm in on the Civics also. Cheap, reliable, easy to find parts. I'm on my second one and will probably buy another after this one.

Also sometimes if you have an older vehicle a your "primary" driver on insurance it will make it cheaper. Before I was married I had an old Jeep that didn't run but carried insurance on it to make my newer vehicle cheaper. I could pay for both for less than what the newer vehicle alone was.

onepieceatatime · Dec 17, 2015

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I've been trying to get him to lower his budget to about 3 grand and tell him that he can clean his truck up and keep it nice and use it for picking up chicks (although it is a Ford so that may be hard to do). With all the money he saves he could get a quad or a cheap sxs and go riding with me and all my friends.

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TacomaJD · Dec 17, 2015

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Winner winner chicken dinner ^^^

MoparMan · Dec 17, 2015

Yep, you'd be surprised how many good reliable cars you can find for less than $3k

I just bought a little car to run around in and let the wife drive back and forth to work. 2003 PT Cruiser GT turbo, loaded with heated leather, sunroof, cd, power everything, etc. 1 owner, 99k miles, new tires. Everything works perfectly, only issue is the clear coat is fading/peeling. Only paid $2200 for it.

felipecj · Dec 17, 2015

I'm surprised no one has mentioned an older VW diesel.
I have 2 friends with '02-03 model TDI's. Pretty good cars that get roughly 50 mpg.

5BrothersFabrication · Dec 17, 2015

X3 on an older shivic. Also +1 on a Nissan Hardbody. 22mpg on a 90/10 city/hwy ratio. 130k miles and still kickin' ass.

onepieceatatime · Dec 17, 2015

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We're going to look at a 95 Saturn tommorow. 5 spd coupe 170k looks to be in really good shape. I've looked at the VW diesels but don't know much about diesels or VWs myself. This whole deal makes me want to get something beside my Tracker to drive everyday and get real good mileage, but the Tracker works good for what I use it for.

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