FUEL EFFICIENT yet cool cars

[magman007]

Ok, gas is going to be hitting the 4 dollar mark predcted to hit soon, my ol windstar with its 3.8 v6 just aint gunna cut it any more. SO, im looking for something cool yet efficient. Something between 5000 and 7000 dolars, no more. keep in mind, at the 7000 mark, i would have to take out a loan. Some thing in the 95-99 range in years. so far its come to mind for a eclipse or a civic, any one care to help?

[WickeDKlowN]

http://www.feldballemc.dk/pics/ducati/d_749dark_10.jpg

Probobly out of your price range though.

[BobTheCow]

Wait... does that mean you considered that Windstar "cool"? :p

[digitard]

Get a toyota or a Diesel Jetta.

[Hairball]

I want to lick that Ducati.

A basic Civic isn't "cool," but it's not a bad car.

[Alley]

I say go for a jetta or a golf...cute cars.. well, maybe cute isnt good for a guy. But, I think they make them both in diesel which makes them a bit higher gas milage. But, Im not sure where the price of diesel is gonna end up if its worth it.

[rkjunior303]

http://www.feldballemc.dk/pics/ducati/d_749dark_10.jpg

Probobly out of your weight range though.

edited for truth.

a civic or a diesel jetta.

[magman007]

question is, is it possible to find a diesel golf in that price range? any one have any ideas where to start looking?

Also, no takers on the eclipse idea?

edit, id love topick up a bike, but id never get support from the parents to do that

[wad04]

I don't understand why so few people drive diesel cars, they're soooo much more effecient then unleaded gasoline its insane. VW golf TDI gets about 55 mpg, thats amazing! While you look at a car like the honda prius which has a tiny 70hp engine while that will only get you MAYBE 5-10 more mpg then the vw TDI's.

Which brings me to my next point, the prius sucks! They're not safe at all for the following reason. The prius is no properly grounded (gas/electric) so if you get in an accident with one, they have no way of getting you out with such tools like the jaws of life. is it really worth it? I think that the majority of people who drive the prius are either flaming libs, or college professors. whatev....my rant. go flame me.

[Cameo]

question is, is it possible to find a diesel golf in that price range? any one have any ideas where to start looking?

Also, no takers on the eclipse idea?

edit, id love topick up a bike, but id never get support from the parents to do that

vehix.com.. your map to the automotive world.. your a big boy, do a search.

[Bear_Claw]

DEFFFINATLY gona vote on the Diesel VW.

I LOVED mine and it was a 1987 VW Golf with the 1.6 N/A Diesel (actually still have it but its for sale). It aint the most powerful vehical but at 50+MPG i aint complaining. It was an incredibly FUN car to drive as it handels awsome and has some good low end Torque to it.

I only selling it as i just got my motorcycle and can only afford to inshure the bike and one of my cars and being i NEED the truck im forced to sell my VW. (oh and a side note YES my trucks Diesel TOO LOL).

And shure ya can find a GOOD VW Diesel in that rang. I got mine for $1400cert/etest (CANADIAN) with two engiens and trans spare doors, and all body panels and even a spare exhuast and fuel tank. (im a mehcani so this stuffs good for me LOL.

a 97 Golf with say 100k miles on it should be in that area and would treat ya awsome.

[steimway]

Which brings me to my next point, the prius sucks! They're not safe at all for the following reason. The prius is no properly grounded (gas/electric) so if you get in an accident with one, they have no way of getting you out with such tools like the jaws of life. is it really worth it? I think that the majority of people who drive the prius are either flaming libs, or college professors. whatev....my rant. go flame me.

My family just ordered a Prius, and the only thing that sucks so far is the wait time to get a black one. If I ever get in an accident with one, I'll report back to you. While I disagree with your rant, I am puzzled by why you seem so upset with people buying hybrids.

To the OP, go with the diesel.

[bofh]

a 97 Golf with say 100k miles on it should be in that area and would treat ya awsome.

Indeed, I have a VW TDI, with about 150k on the clock, and it's a awesome, most of the driveline is bulletproof. You'll want a TDI from 98 onward, I think that's the newer style engine.

You're looking at a 6/7 year old car that only cost $18k to begin with. So $5k to $7k shouldn't unreasonable.

[PyRo]

Get a FIAT
http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/5884/fiat1316iz.jpg

[lopxtc]

Go for a MKIV Golf GLS 1.9L TDi which is what I am looking at trading my MKIV Jetta in on. The base TDi is about 40 mpg highway on plain diesel and can get close to 50 mpg on BioDiesel. However you will only get the best mpg if you are driving a stick, so if you only drive an auto dont go this route.

With the MKV Golf/GTi coming out in 2006 you might be able to get a discount on a current model. A fully loaded Golf GLS TDi in my area is running $20k. Thats the four door model, its a little cheaper in the regular 2 door model.

Aaron

[Lohman446]

I'm going to chime in on this one. Diesel is overrated - consider the repair costs if things do go wrong and the lack of qualified personal to work on them besides dealerships (driving labor up).

[lopxtc]

Depends on your area, in my area those of us in our VW club can handle all repairs aside from directly reprogramming the ECU on any model from the original MKI's to the newer MKV's gas or diesel.

I would never by a vehicle without first checking for a local owners club, almost every vehicle I have ever owned was worked on by only me or with the help of the people in a local car club. VW's especially have a huge onwers club base in America with many of the dealer repair people in the clubs and doing work on members cars outside of the service shop.

Aaron


I'm going to chime in on this one. Diesel is overrated - consider the repair costs if things do go wrong and the lack of qualified personal to work on them besides dealerships (driving labor up).

[bofh]

Cool and somewhat fuel efficient.

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/MGB/mgb2.gif

I'm picking mine up this weekend.

[Muzikman]

Cool and Fuel Efficient do not go together. This is America, if it doesn't put out atleast 400HP and get less than 12MPG it's NOT cool! :)

[BD_Paintball]

get a motercycle. they are cool, fast and fuel efficient

[Dend78]

get a honda insight like 10,000.00 at a dealer so a used 01-03 should be in yr price range man 58mpg as far as cool goes well..... it gets good gas mileage :D

[magman007]

Indeed, I have a VW TDI, with about 150k on the clock, and it's a awesome, most of the driveline is bulletproof. You'll want a TDI from 98 onward, I think that's the newer style engine.

You're looking at a 6/7 year old car that only cost $18k to begin with. So $5k to $7k shouldn't unreasonable.



problem is, they are rediculously hard to find with a diesel engine. Trust me, id love to have a gold tdi, but god damn if i can find one. its seeming more and more like the eclipse would be a good deal, and be a fun car after all this gas crap is over with. plus, i can get a turbo version, and still be more efficient than my van

[magman007]

Cool and somewhat fuel efficient.

http://www.mgcars.org.uk/MGB/mgb2.gif

I'm picking mine up this weekend.



bofh, you really wanna do that? :) have fun repairing it every few miles :) dad used to have one actually, fun car that is for sure, but its rediculously un reliable.

[TMAXXKING1]

<a href="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=320462&c=500&z=1" title="Hosted Free at MyFishingPictures.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.hunt101.com/img/320462.jpg" border="0"></a>

get an old mini cooper ... hot lil car and zippy

[bofh]

bofh, you really wanna do that? :) have fun repairing it every few miles :) dad used to have one actually, fun car that is for sure, but its rediculously un reliable.

Um, I find your second hand knowledge unreliable. Since I've owned quite a few british cars, and all they take is proper preventitive maintience.

I'm fully confident that it will be reliable. Well, as reliable as any 30 year old car would be.

[TheTramp]

its seeming more and more like the eclipse would be a good deal,

I had an Eclipse and it was pretty good on gas.....until you turned on the AC or went over 75 mph. If you did both of those at the same time you could almost watch the gas guage go down.

[Cameo]

FYI there is a big sale on Honda motorcyles this weekend...
We decided to go with an aveo...neat little cars. decent amount of leg room,get free gas for 6 months, still under the gm associate price and trade in your old vehicle you left over cost would be 4 or 5 grand.... Just note that my friend who is a finace manager said that banks are more willing to give a lower interest rate (like the o%-3%) if you finace the 5,000 rather than the 4,000....so if you only need to finace the 4,000 do the 5,000 anyways and use the other grand for gas.

[Recon by Fire]

My wife has been complaining also about the fuel costs and is considering getting something better on the mileage. She likes the Minis, this one don't look too bad for a skateboard:
http://us.autos1.yimg.com/img.autos.yahoo.com/ag/mini_cooper_sconvertible_2006_exterior_2_346x270.j pg
I could always just claim it is hers! A Cooper S and get the Cooper package too.

[wad04]

steimway you're an idiot...please go buy a prius.

[Gitaroo Man]

I've heard from a lot of owners and other forums that the VW TDIs have some issues and break a lot but their like for the car outweighs how much they break. So be careful of that

[Cameo]

Test Drove a Suzuki Reno Yesterday... I can not belive how much interior room that thing has.. runs about 14,000 includes Air. front wheel drive, cd player with 8 speakers, 40/60 folding seats, 10 year 100,000 mile warrently, 24/7/356 roadside, and a ton of other things that I do not remember.. those are sharp wittle cars.. The pick up and go was really nice and drove a million times better than the Accent, focus, Aveo, and Neon; and quite fuel efficient to boot.. Just might have changed our minds on the Aveo..Only tommorrow will tell. Did I mention there is a 2,500 rebate and possible extra rebates depending on owner loyalty/college/military? Actually sharp little cars and can't go wrong with suzuki with being cool.

[bofh]

I've heard from a lot of owners and other forums that the VW TDIs have some issues and break a lot but their like for the car outweighs how much they break. So be careful of that

I've had my TDI for almost seven years and 150k miles now.

The major problems I've had:AC condensor got holed by a rock, AC compressor got holed by a rock (A year after I repaired the condensor), Factory Radio went to hell, Window regulators (both!) broke (fixed under warrenty at like 75k miles, these was a recall on them) Water pump wore out at around 90k (also fixed under warrenty) The windows switches break, (about every three years, $20 to fix) Snapped the knob off the power mirror controls. And the MAF went bad (Used to be a $400 part)

For a seven years of ownership, I'm not unhappy with it, Except the window regulator. Since they didn't issue a recall before mine broke, and I had to wait a few days to get it fixed. A few days when my window didn't go up. But that's not even a TDI type part, just a VW thing.

[50 cal]

Just bought the wife a Scion tc.

http://www.pdxguide.com/cars/Scion/TC.jpg

[Echo419]

Guys when posting your cars, please post the average MPG it gets, because I am looking for a car too and would like to know.

Not really pertaining to your pircerange, for all the thread readers... Here is a list of Hybrid Cars from Vehix.com

http://www.vehix.com/pages/research/HybridVehicles.aspx

[Alley]

Here is a pretty good site to compare some of the new model sedans if your on the curb seeing them side by side usually helps!
http://www.theautochannel.com/newcardb/cccars.html?bodystyle=All%20Sedans&titleid=115406
:)

[Pacifist_Farmer]

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Shazam!