Recommend me a commuter

[mountjonas]

Ok, so my commute is skyrocketing from 30 miles each way to 100 miles each way. Crappy, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Anywhooo, i've got a few options for what I can do. My 05 wrx has 47k miles on it.

I can...
1) I can continue to drive the wrx and rack up about 50k miles a year from now on. That would pretty much kill the car in 3 years.

2) I can get a commuter car that's safe, uses regular, and gets 35+mpg (civic?) and keep the wrx for weekends and our once a year trip up to the mountains in the winter.

3) Suck it up and sell the wrx in since it probably won't get driven anymore.

4) Something I haven't thought of yet

We got one daughter with another on the way and my wife has a mazda5 as our "family car."

 

[jred321]

honda fit or toyota yaris.

if the wrx is paid off i'd keep it, otherwise i'd just get rid of it and get a cheaper project car

if i were you i'd move. a 1.5 hour commute each way is absurd

 

[Tom03es]

If it's not paid off, I'd say you have 3 options:
Civic
Saturn (I got 35 mpgs on my 92 SC, others have modified theirs to get mid 40s on the highway- aftermarket blows though)
diesel (Jetta comes to mind)

 

[Sacrilicious]

i'm with jared...something in the honda fit/toyota yaris class. the civic is going to be safer, but it's going to cost you several thousand more...=/

 

[mountjonas]

The wrx is paid off. After 5 years, we just moved from Los Angeles back to San Diego. I work in LA 2 days a week (stay over night), but in mid Jan I'm going back full time. The commute isn't the problem. Unfortunately I work in TV and the market and pay in SD doesn't compare. (I make more in 2 days in LA than my friend does in SD in 5, and yes, we have the same job). I don't mind the drive and frankly, I hated every minute of living in LA.

i though tabout a yaris/fit, but something doesn't see, right with those, and i wouldn't mind paying a little more for added safety.

another thought. use the wrx until either the new vw diesels come out, or hondas small hybrid.

 

[Sacrilicious]

well, if you're worried about reliability, i would seriously think twice about VW. their name has not been synonymous with "reliable" in a number of years...^^;

 

[vindication]

diesel. I love getting 50+ mpg

 

[ZoomZoomH]

^agree with the diesel suggestion

probably drive the paid-off wrx for a couple more years, and wait til more car companies start bringing their Euro-spec diesels over as US grade diesel fuel gets upgraded to Euro quality as well.

 

[jred321]

isn't diesel very expensive now?

 

[Sacrilicious]

isn't diesel very expensive now?

ya, but at 2x the mpg, it's still a damn good deal! (alright)

 

[jred321]

i thought they were only like 50mpg

 

[ZoomZoomH]

isn't diesel very expensive now?

here in northern VA, diesel is only about 20-30 cents more per gallon than premium gasoline.

 

[Tom03es]

What options besides the VW are there right now (excluding trucks) for diesels?

I think diesel is a little more expensive than premium right now but not by much. The increased price is easily justified by the increased range.

 

[jred321]

2001 jetta tdi
<TABLE class=factbox cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Fuel economy city <!-- itemData= '42 mpg' --><!-- itemDataEscaped= '42 mpg' --> </TD><TD align=right>42 mpg </TD></TR><TR><TD>Fuel economy highway <!-- itemData= '49 mpg' --><!-- itemDataEscaped= '49 mpg' --> </TD><TD align=right>49 mpg </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


i think around here it's a good 40 cents/gal more than regular gas, or around 11%. i'd rather have a fit/yaris at 40mpg

 

[ZoomZoomH]

2001 jetta tdi
<TABLE class=factbox cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Fuel economy city <!-- itemData= '42 mpg' --><!-- itemDataEscaped= '42 mpg' --> </TD><TD align=right>42 mpg </TD></TR><TR><TD>Fuel economy highway <!-- itemData= '49 mpg' --><!-- itemDataEscaped= '49 mpg' --> </TD><TD align=right>49 mpg </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


i think around here it's a good 40 cents/gal more than regular gas, or around 11%. i'd rather have a fit/yaris at 40mpg

i think with the amount of driving he does, that gas mileage advantage will quickly outweigh the initial lower cost of yaris/cheaper gas for lower mileage

besides, the diesel engine is much more robust than any gasoline engine, 200-300k miles is regularly achieved in a diesel, iirc.

but wait, does CA even allow diesels???

 

[Sacrilicious]

i'm pretty sure diesels also yield much better power for the mpg.

it's sorta like the whole higher octane thing...we're paying MORE for gasoline which has LESS energy in it? +_+;

 

[vindication]

yeah, not only better gas mileage but much better longevity out of the engine too.

 

[mountjonas]

but wait, does CA even allow diesels???

not yet.

 

[mountjonas]

screw it. we did some math and trading my car in would only save me 150 a month on gas. no thanks.

 

[ZoomZoomH]

screw it. we did some math and trading my car in would only save me 150 a month on gas. no thanks.

having a paid off car > having a car loan.