Which GM car has the best mileage?

[Riotz]

I'm in the market for a new car. I was looking around to see which General Motors car has the best mileage, but there are just so many GM brands. I figured, there is no better place to ask than on AO.

As some of you may know, GM owns

Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Pontiac
SAAB
Saturn
GMC

Plus whatever else.


If anyone can please give me the make/model of what they think the most cost efficient car would be, that would be excellent. Don't say HUMMER, hehe. As much as I would love one. I don't think I can afford it right now. (Well, not the one you drive anyways) <-- can he say that. :eek:


Thanks AO. :)

[Zumina]

The Chevrolet Cavalier (Z24 is a MUST), Pontiac Sunfire, and, almost all the Saturns get mid 20s around town and 30+ on the highway. Personally, I'd opt for the new Sunfire or Cavalier LS sport coupe. Both get good mileage, use cheap (to replace) parts, look cool, and are pretty quick.

[Fatjon]

Your not going to like my answer but a 3cyl Chevy Metro my dad has one to get to work because he has to drive 160 mile to and from work every day but it gets about 42 miles to the gallon. Its not the fastest car but it gets the job done.

[Riotz]

Thanks guys. I'm not really looking for the faster car right now. I plan on doing allot of driving myself and I'm on a tight budget for the time being. So looks and speeds are not of importance at the moment. :)

[banzaimf]

the metro gets around mid 50's

My cousins metro made 52 on a tank where we were driving at 80+ for most of the time.

[bornl33t]

GM and best gasmilage in the same sentence is just wrong. We buy Gm cause they are american, have v-8, look powerful, are cheap and we can fix them ourselves.. put not for the gasmilage. Any car person knows that if you want gasmilage, go honda.

[Riotz]

I can't find the metro on the chevvy site anymore. Did they discontinue them?

[Fatjon]

Originally posted by banzaimf
the metro gets around mid 50's

My cousins metro made 52 on a tank where we were driving at 80+ for most of the time.

I was talking about city miliage not highway. I do not think they have discontinued it. My dads is a 98 with almost 200,000 miles and it still drives like the day he bought it, I would highly recomend this car for someone doing a lot of driving.

[Riotz]

Originally posted by Heat
GM and best gasmilage in the same sentence is just wrong. We buy Gm cause they are american, have v-8, look powerful, are cheap and we can fix them ourselves.. put not for the gasmilage. Any car person knows that if you want gasmilage, go honda.

The 2003 Chevy Cav Sport Sedan says it gets 26/33. Which seems to be pretty decent. Of course I'm sure honda gets way better. But it has to be a GM. =|

[bofh]

Originally posted by Riotz
Thanks guys. I'm not really looking for the faster car right now. I plan on doing allot of driving myself and I'm on a tight budget for the time being. So looks and speeds are not of importance at the moment. :)

You want a 1983 GMC diesel Truck!

I knew it!

The bug bit you pretty bad huh? :)

[banzaimf]

Looks like it. They were msrp of around 9k. Apparently they went out of production in 2k1.

The prizm would be your next one to look at for gas mileage, but it seems that these too were cut from chevy's line-up. Geo is now dead.

[Zumina]

The Prizm is a repackaged Toyota Corolla. It's a decent car. My buddy had a 2001 and he thoroughly enjoyed it until he hit a telephone poll with it.

[Mango]

I'm with Zumina, the Cavaliers and Saturns definetly. Saturns are really nice cars for the money.

[DaosBeoulve]

Originally posted by Riotz


The 2003 Chevy Cav Sport Sedan says it gets 26/33. Which seems to be pretty decent. Of course I'm sure honda gets way better. But it has to be a GM. =|

Hmm... That sucks. Civics are just as inexpensive as a bunch of GM vehicles, and get MUCH better gas mileage (esp. the HX and the new hybrids).

I have a 2001 Civic EX Coupe, and I still get between 37-40 on the highway. I only paid 15.9k for mine (+ taxes and all that other stuff they charge you). Good luck with your search. I still say go Honda! =)

(Did I mention I'm a huge Honda fan...?)

[dogEmedic]

Get a Chevy Impala.

I get 280 to 310 miles city driving with the rare run up the gsp. On my last road trip to dover del. for nascar i filled the tank(17 gal) at 117 on the gsp went to the track and back without refilling. I was shocked to get 453 miles out of one tank.

Plus their a mid to large car, lots of room inside and in the trunk. Good power, good ride, good looks (i think), and a white impala gets all the traffic outa my way :D

[bofh]

Originally posted by DaosBeoulve
I still say go Honda! =)


It's possible that he has a good deal on finiancing with GM, from his family loyalty or something.

[kevdupuis]

The Saturn cars depending on size and trans are rated up to 50 mpg. The body panels are made from plastic, (They are what the Pontiac Fiero experiment was about). They are'nt great on power, but are reliable and inexpensive. If I hadn't picked up a van, I was going to pick up a Saturn wagon for driving and hauling my paintball gear.

I...am... not.. a GM fan, but the Saturn is a great car.

[Thordic]

Blah blah blah, I'll throw in my two cents even if I doubt Riotz cares very much.

I have a 1995 Saturn Sl2, and it gets pretty good gas mileage, and is very reliable. I beat the hell out of my car, and except for a shot suspension due to my driving, it has held up great. About the only maintenance I do to it is give it an oil change with Mobil1 every 7500 miles.

I get about 26 mpg city, and between 30 and 40 highway. This past weekend, on my trip to Virginia, after a fresh oilchange, I was getting in the neighborhood of 40 if not more MPG on the highway.

A few of my friends have the Saturn Sl1, and it is underpowered. It's not as bad as some economy cars, but I think it has a 87 hp engine. The Sl2, which I have, has a 124 hp engine. It's not a beast, but it's enough pickup that you aren't screaming at your car when you are trying to come out of a toll booth.

0-60 is about 9-10 seconds, top speed is around 110, at least that's as fast as mine will go.

The plastic panels and bumper are great. First off, as a few AOer's know, I have a tendency to kick my car when it annoys me. With metal panels, I'd have broken toes and dented panels. With my car, I can kick all I want with no problems.

The real benefit, though, is that any small "bump" accidents leave no damage, and you don't damage other cars. Twice since I've had the car I've hit someone else's bumper. One of those times I skidded in the rain, and the other time it was also raining, and someone hit me from behind and knocked me into the car in front of me. Neither was a hard collision or anything, but with a metal bumper there would have been damage. Due to the flexibility of my bumper, however, there was no damage to either car.

The ONLY thing that has broken on my car was I managed to crack an engine mount. My mechanic told me its a relatively common problem with Saturns. I think it cost between $100 and $200 to fix, parts and labor.

Mine is up to 100,000 miles currently, and besides the shot suspension still works fine. I'd reccomend them to people looking for a car, if this one does die there's a good chance I'd pick up another one.

[Riotz]

Ok, so can anyone recommend ANYTHING ELSE besides a saturn... haha :p :D kidden

[cphilip]

Yes...well if you want to hear what I recomend its not going to be a GM. Although I got nothing against em but when it comes to small cars they are still playing catch up. I would recomend a Nissan Altima made in the good old USA or even a Honda Accord made in the good old USA or even a Toyota Corolla made in the good old USA! They all are you know?

all these will get in the high 30's or better and commonly go 200,000 to 250,000 miles on an engine and if you think you can fix ANYTHING on a car yourself these days you nutz! You can but you better know the new stuff and have a good diagnostic tool as well. Things will go out in time on anything. But it will not be the engine or tranny most likely on these. I would take the Nissan over the others for one simple reason. Price. The other two think a bit more of their stuff than I think. Nissan is cheap. I would not hesitate to pick up a Nissan with higher milage on it. If the price it right.

No I am not a jap car nut. I just know they are pretty darn good. When it comes to bigger vehicles I take several other slants as you know. Although I will include a few of their name brands on my list there will not be as many of them as my short list of economy and small mid size cars will have on them.

[Riotz]

Well bofh was right before. I am going to get a good deal on GM car through family "loyalty". So as much as those other cars sound, I just can't do it. Thanks though.

[fire1811]

i have a chevy silverado 2500 heavy duty with a 496 big block in it, i think that mileage should do u good i get about 11-12mpg on the highway
8)

[Archangel Damien]

check out this car

http://www.miniusa.com/crm/mini_entrance.jsp